I'm planning on doing an outside wall. I'm going to put my design on hardibacker board first. You can get it at Home Depot or Lowes or probably any lumberyard.
there are many with outdoor experience here, so you will probably get tons of advice. I think the prefered adhesive is thinset mortar.

The search at the top of the page should keep you busy until they chime in

Welcome!!

Maria

Welcome, plucknhammer! You are taking on a big challenge for your first project. I have not done a large wall but agree with shrty if I was going to do one I would start with the hardibacker. The main reason is that it could be removed later. You can mosaic on that in reasonably small portions then hang it. You will need to make sure the wall will support this first. Make sure you pre-drill your holes, then leave your tile/glass off those spots until it is hung, then mosaic over it.

Maybe you could contact a local art center and see if they have any expertise to help you. Good luck!

Welcome! Sounds like a very ambitous endeavor!! I'd say backer board too, and mortar, what design will it be?

I just finished an outside wall - about 8x8. I attached mine directly to the wall (stucco over concrete block) with adhesive. Because I was using broken tiles I applied the goop to each tile piece before I stuck it on the wall, rather than spread it on the wall directly. I used a ziplock baggie with the corner cut off as kind of a pastry bag. Made applying stuff to each tile easier.
Good luck with the wall! It will be fun!
Kate

Are the kids in the school going to helping you with the project? If that's the case then use a mesh backing or pieces of cement board numbered and arranged so they can work with you on the design and implementation. If it's you alone you don't have to take their little hands into consideration.

I like all the ideas mentioned above about working in sections, etc. If you like the indirect method, you can work on mesh or paper backing, then butter the wall with thinset and set your tile/tesserae right into the mortar - works out flatter that way.

Once the tesserae is set make sure none of the adhesive sticks up above the level of the shards. Are you planning to grout? If you use thinset you might be able to use the mortar/thinset as grout rather than adding a second step (kind of like a stepping stone). It's all pretty much up to you.

Best of luck.

Hi
Heres my two cents .All the above sounds good but two years ago I put glass marbles as a tile trim in a bath area.
I used silicone adhesive moisture proof drywall .because I wanted everything on the same forward plane . The marbles are oval with a flat bottom So ispread a small amount of the silicone pushed a marble into it until it began to climb the side.With a fingerger i removed excess adh.
The advantage to this is the adhesive also acts as a grount and sealer all in one operation as well as providing a background color for the transparent marbles. It is very strong, water and mildew proof.
For the down side it is rather expensive.will glue your fingers together and DONOT get it on your clothes. Great material for kids??
I'm going to use this method on a shower stall but using regular ceramic tile. good luck
gary

Hi all, thanks so much for your responses!! The rough template for my project is to be a drawing the children are helping with. its of the nursery garden and has a main focal point of a large tree and some flowers. i was going to use red marbles on the tree for apples/cherries, and yes ive heard a rumour that the kids will want to help place pieces of tile on!
I am planning on grouting it, and after reading on here about that subject ive decided to steer clear of white and go for beige or dark grey..... ideas anyone?

ive never heard of hardibacker.... is this a USA product? Would it have a different name in the UK? (if im being dense sorry...lol...these are all new terms to me tho!)

I cant wait to get started.....wish those little horrors would finish their pic so i can get cracking!!

I didn't realize you were in the UK! Ask at you local store that sells tile etc. They use it in wet areas like bathrooms and showers.

Maria

If you are in the UK you can get something that's almost impossible for us to get - WEDI board.

HERE

I'd love to try it but it's almost impossible to find.

Go with black grout . . IMHO.

Thats great... thanks a lot for the advice. id hate to muck this one up!
I clicked on the link and i will give the phone number to the nursery so the boss lady can sort us some out.

might get a bit of practise in while im waiting and attack my crumbly old dining table......hmmmmm