Drawing up a sketch of a future picture of a picture of a machine for a garden, fences, steps, paths on the plot, garden furniture, the ability to lay out a mosaic will turn the dream into reality. This is especially important for those who try to use everything around with maximum benefit, even those materials that are rubbish for most people. After all, fragments of glass, mirrors, dishes, bottles, decorative ceramic tiles, pebbles, and small pebbles will also be used. Some even use wood chips. 
What can you decorate with mosaics?
Oh, this list is quite long!
After all, it is decorated with
- house walls;
- garden furniture;
- fences;
- steps;
- pools;
- flower beds;
- paintings on the walls;
- tracks;
- playground under the seating area.
A master class of laying out a mosaic of tiles
Drawing up a sketch of the future picture
First of all, it is necessary to decide what the plot of the future mosaic will be. If the master has a fantasy and is able to draw, then he can draw up a diagram on his own. And all the rest will have to be content with other people's drawings, of which many are represented here. How to increase the picture to the desired format, they know almost everything.
A 1 cm X 1 cm grid should be superimposed on the image, and the scheme should be lined with the required magnification. For example, if you want to make a drawing 5 times larger, then the squares are drawn with a side of 5 cm, 10 times - the side is 10 cm. Then carefully transfer all the dashes from the sample to the scheme. Even primary school students can easily cope with such work.
Read also: How beautiful it is to make concrete flower beds for your own hands?
Procurement of material for the mosaic
Most often in each house after repair there remains some part of unused ceramic tile, or an old one taken from the walls appears. This may well serve as material for the mosaic. But perhaps for the selected pattern will require a tile of other colors. Then you can contact the hardware store and there for a meager price, if not for free, to purchase a battle or the remnants of ceramics.
In order to lay out a mosaic, the master needs fragments of a small tile. Part of the tile can be left intact. The rest of the tile is either cut by a professional tile cutter or split with a hammer wrapped in cloth.
As you work, it may become clear that smaller pieces may be required. Then the fragments "rule" with the help of wire cutters or pliers, removing excess. Special accuracy is not needed here, it is only important that the pieces of ceramics are not larger than the remaining free space.
Surface Preparation
It is best to lay out a mosaic on a plaster, cement-sand screed, drywall or putty. A very important condition is absolute smoothness and surface finish. Therefore, before starting work, it is necessary to carefully level it and seal the cracks, treat it with a primer, since this will allow to increase adhesion( adhesion force).
It is best to transfer the sketch of the drawing onto the mosaic's base with a pencil in order not to get lost and to lay out the picture in compliance with the required proportions.
Preparation of glue for mosaic
This question is almost the most important when creating paintings from fragments. You should choose the most suitable mixture, which has the highest adhesion to the materials with which you have to work.
Read also: How to make a tandoor with your own hands( video)
For concrete bases, experts advise taking white cement glue( Kreps Strengthened White, Litoplus K55, UNIS Belfix, Ceresit CM 115).But for work on a wooden surface, reactive tile epoxy glue, epoxy-based grout or liquid nails are best suited.
Laying out mosaic
When working should remember these basic rules.
It is very important to apply a bonding mass on both surfaces: the base and the material with which the pattern is laid. Moreover, one of the surfaces should have an easier smearing.
First of all, use the material( splinters, pebbles, bare, shards of dishes), which are the thickest, in order to then drive all the others under it, so that the alignment is the most accurate.
Apply the adhesive mass only to small areas previously selected in the sketch. With a larger area, only light areas can be coated, which require a minimum of time to be laid.
After smearing the glue mass on the base surface with a conventional trowel, you must then remove the excess mixture with a trowel with teeth.
Uniform in thickness pieces spread on an even adhesive layer. If in the composition it is necessary to use pieces of different thickness, then the leveling of the base by adding glue will help the master here.
Thinner tiles and smaller fragments will penetrate the adhesive mass more quickly - this should be remembered and you should try to avoid “falling through” the pattern in the overall composition.
Read also: Artificial stones and sculptures made of concrete at the cottage and in the garden
It is necessary to begin the composition of the composition from the center, so it will turn out more qualitatively in terms of matching the sketch and proportions.
Finally, the background and abstraction are left, because first of all you need to lay out those objects that have complex geometry: people, animals, plants, and the like.
Grouting the joints
The final final step is this process. It touches the mosaic on the floors, walls, countertops. Do not do without grout and paintings of fragments of tiles on the paths and areas in recreation areas.
After laying out the mosaic should wait at least a day. Then, right on top of the picture, the glue base is smeared and carefully pushed between the mosaic components with a rubber trowel, at the same time leveling the entire surface as much as possible, especially in the seams. Excess grout is removed with a sponge.
After drying, it is necessary to wash the glue from the tile pieces themselves and other mosaic components. If necessary, you can apply a metal brush or washcloth, but they need to act with extreme caution.
Litochrom Starlike Crystal - epoxy with the effect of a chameleon is most suitable for this stage of work. After all, this material has the ability to take the color of the piece of the mosaic that is closest to it. But cement grout or putty can be used, although the effect will, of course, be less bright.
Decorating a mosaic of garden furniture
When making a mosaic on a rectangular tabletop, it is best to fill the curbs vertically on its edge. The composition itself must be laid out from the edges to the center.
Video about creating mosaic paintings
