Hardboard tends to make a excellent foundation for your mosaics as extensive as you limit the measurement of the overall mosaic, restrict the tesserae sizing, and never screen the mosaic in a wet surroundings. Steer clear of hardboard for outdoor apps mainly because of the opportunity for deterioration. Assuming your tesserae are the size of a quarter or much less and the overall measurement of your mosaic is considerably less than 24″x24″, I have observed that 1/8-inch thick hardboard presents an satisfactory foundation. If your tesserae are smaller, it is really stunning how flexible the mosaic is, even with grout, which implies it can endure some warping ahead of the grout cracks or glass items pop off. If your tesserae are large or if you integrate big parts of stained glass into your mosaic, the thickness of your foundation have to be larger since the mosaic can’t face up to as a great deal warping (i.e., the thicker the wood, the a lot more resistant to warping). For case in point, suppose your mosaic is 24″x24″ and you use a single piece of yellow stained glass to characterize the vivid sunshine lighting up the environment. Suppose the sun’s diameter is 10 inches, which helps make up a excellent chunk of the mosaic. It truly is quick to see how a very little warping can anxiety that single piece of glass resulting in failure (i.e., breaking, popping off). It is like ceramic tile on a concrete-slab foundation. As the concrete cracks and moves, tension is utilized to the ceramic tile and, if the strain is fantastic enough, the tile breaks. As a result, you have to think about the tesserae dimensions when picking the thickness of your mosaic’s foundation.
Around the yrs producing quite a few wall mosaics that are 24″x24″ or significantly less, I have identified that my most loved basis is 1/8-inch hardboard. It is the dim-brown things that pegboard is designed from but with no the holes. It really is slippery clean on just one side and rough on the other. I use this material only for dry, indoor, wall mosaics that will not be exposed to dampness. I use this materials mainly because it truly is: 1) Relatively slim, 2) Relatively lightweight, and 3) Rough on one particular side so the glue grabs keep of it well.
The 1/8-inch thickness permits the concluded mosaic to fit in a regular pre-produced frame. My glass tesserae are about 1/8-inch thick, so the full thickness of the completed mosaic is only about 1/4-inch. This enables me to get a prepared-designed body for practically absolutely nothing. I plan my indoor wall mosaics to be 16″x24″, 18″x24″, or 24″x24″, which are popular dimensions for pre-built frames. If I ended up to use 3/4-inch plywood or MDF as the foundation, I would then have to use a custom made body with adequate depth to address the entire thickness of the mosaic (i.e., 3/4-inch wooden foundation as well as 1/8-inch tesserae equals almost a 1-inch thickness). Tailor made frames price up to five instances extra than typical pre-produced frames. For case in point, by getting gain of their biweekly 50% sale at my beloved pastime shop, I can get a pre-created 18″x24″ frame in a charming type and color that very best satisfies the mosaic, have the mosaic mounted in the frame, have the hanging wire mounted, and have paper backing mounted, all for less than $25. That is suitable! Considerably less than 25 bucks. A custom made-produced frame could value as significantly as $150.
Not only do I help save on framing expenditures, the hardboard is inexpensive as opposed to 3/4-inch plywood and MDF. I buy a pre-lower part of hardboard alternatively of a entire 4’x’8 sheet. The pre-slash portion is 24″x48″. Understanding the peak of my indoor wall mosaics is generally 24″ (which is the width of the pre-slice portion), this will allow me to reduce the hardboard supplying me a 16″, 18″, or 24″ width for my mosaic foundation. For instance, suppose I want my mosaic to be 18″x24″. The pre-slice width of the hardboard I buy is 24″. I evaluate and slice 18″, which final results in a piece of hardboard which is 18″x24″. The piece suits beautifully in a common 18″x24″ pre-made body. I measure and cut the hardboard employing a regular circular saw and a “rip fence” that I make by clamping a 3-foot level to the hardboard with two C-clamps. The rip fence enables me to force the noticed alongside the straight edge of the amount to be certain a straight and exact lower.
I put together the hardboard basis by portray it with two coats of white primer. The key explanation for portray it white is to get a white background onto which the glass tesserae will be adhered (Note: I usually adhere the glass to the tough aspect of the hardboard). Despite the fact that I ordinarily use opaque glass, the white background allows brighten it up. The dim-brown color of the hardboard makes the glass items seem boring and darkish, even nevertheless the glass is intended to be opaque. The secondary benefit of painting the hardboard with primer is that it seals it. I will not know if sealing hardboard does everything, but it helps make me really feel better believing it truly is sealed. I will not know the material or chemical houses of hardboard and how it is really manufactured, so I do not know if it requirements to be sealed, but painting it provides me a pleasant, warm-and-fuzzy emotion. I have a practice of sealing all the things whether it wants it or not.
Following implementing the tesserae and grout, you can expect to be stunned at how versatile the mosaic is without having causing glass or grout failure (assuming your tesserae are rather compact). When I initially used 1/8-inch hardboard as the basis for a mosaic, I experimented and observed that I could bend the mosaic a full two inches devoid of affecting the glass and grout. I was way too frightened to bend it more than two inches! Immediately after the experiment, I assumed if the mosaic can bend a whopping two inches, then it can endure any warping that may possibly occur. Then, just after the mosaic was set up in the pre-built body, I understood that the mosaic was installed in these kinds of a method to inhibit any warping at all. The mosaic was pressed and held in-location with the little fasteners in the back of the frame to retain it from slipping out. The only way the mosaic can warp is if it really is sturdy adequate to induce the frame to warp with it. I’ve never ever experienced a challenge with any indoor wall mosaic warping when employing 1/8-inch hardboard installed in a standard pre-designed frame.
1/8-inch hardboard is also light-weight ample so the excess weight of the overall mosaic just isn’t so large that you have to rework your residence to develop a support structure stout ample to hold the weight of a mosaic. Typically, my 24″x24″ (or a lot less) mosaics are light adequate to adequately hold by implies of a photograph hook and nail put in in drywall. I don’t have to reduce into the drywall to install 2″x4″ items among the studs and then switch the drywall. This is extremely useful, in particular when offering or giving absent the mosaic (i.e., you is not going to drop customers that you could possibly otherwise drop if you inform them they have to dangle the mosaic by doing a little something additional than pounding a nail into wall).