I have been meaning to make a new house number for our house since we moved in (we have been here for 2 years !!)
I was trying to decide what base to do the number on since it will be permanently outdoors, subject to lots of sun, wind and sea-air. The base you choose is vital, as you dont want it to warp 6 months after you have made your masterpiece.
I chose to do the mosaic onto mesh first then straight onto the house wall, that way there would be no warping!
You can use a base if you like, just make sure that its very well sealed if its wood. You could also use a floor-tile or perspex. (metal is not such a good idea for outdoors as it expands and contracts in the sun)
Step 1 : decide on the size of your number. I used a piece of brown paper to draw the design. You can see that I created several folds to determine the centre of the paper and various other angles.
Draw your design using a thick dark pen so that it will show through the mesh.
Step 2: Cover your design with cling-wrap. Its important that you do this so that your design does not stick to the paper, or you will be spending hours picking it off later :0)
Step 3: Cover the paper-plastic design with your mesh. I just staple it into place through the paper
Step 4: start glueing your tiles according to the design, directly to the mesh. You can use ordinary white wood glue for this.
Step 5: Once you have finished sticking down your design, allow it to dry for a few hours. Then carefully turn over the mesh so that your mosaic is up-side-down, carefully remove the paper and plastic layer, and allow the glue to air-dry overnight.
Step 6: Use a builders level-ruler to draw a line where you would like to place your number, to make sure that it is level.
Step 7: Spread tile adhesive to the back of the mosaic (you smear it on the wall instead, but I find this way is easier and less mess to clean after ). Not too thick, but enough to hold the mesh onto the wall. If you buy powder adhesive , it is mixed to the consistency of toothpaste. Ready-mixed adhesive is easy to use, just more expensive.
Step 8: Gently push your mosaic onto the wall, ensuring that all tiles touch the wall properly. Use a damp cloth to remove any tile adhesive that has squished up between the surface of the tiles too much. (a little is not a problem, but you need it to be low enough so that you can add grout afterwards)
Step 9 : double check that your mosaic is still straight using the builders level.
Step 10: Leave the mosaic to dry fully overnight, then grout. Grout is wiped as clean as possible using a sqeegee or sponge, then left to dry for about an hour, then cleaned again with a just-damp cloth. Dry overnight, and buff to a shine.
I grouted my mosaic in white at first, but it looked very bland, and did not show up the colours very well.
So a couple of days later, I regrouted ( just a thin layer over the origional grout) in a dark grey, much better! The background patterns show up much nicer. It was a little difficult to photograph the final product for you, to show the colours properly, but I love the final result.
Washing Powder is getting so expensive, and its the one thing you cant do without!
