Installing ceramic tile...things to consider
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2005
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Installing ceramic tile...things to consider
Greetings, all:
I do not pretend to be an expert about this, but I have done it for myself a few times.
Step one: calculate the amount of square feet to be covered.
Step two: settle upon a grout line width. This is very important. You will see why later.
Step three: Visit your tile outlet and settle on the size and style of tile you want to use.
Step four: If your tile outlet offers installation with a no cost quotation, by all means, now is the time to get it. Remember, if you are a do it yourselfer, YOU get to load up to hundreds of pounds of tile in the trunk, unload it, and cart it up God knows how many flights of stairs or whatever. Not trying to discourage you, but this CAN become work.
If you want to lay new tile over an old tile surface, forget it. Arm yourself with good eye protection, a good heavy hammer, and have at it. Yes, you will have to replace the drywall. In bathrooms and kitchens (anywhere remotely exposed to water) you should use a special form of gypsum wallboard (known as "blueboard".) The drywall need not be painted, but should be taped and sanded smooth. Here is a tip: my wallboard laying friends practice putting on too LITTLE drywall mud, and build up until smooth, thereby avoiding the sanding process entirely.
Besides the obvious tile, buy tile adhesive, the proper toothed trowell, grout spacers (small "crosses" of a defined width, do this especially if you are a first timer), grout, and a grout applicator called a "float". And if there is any tool that is essential for tile installation, you better have at least a good three foot long level.
THE WRONG WAY TO DO IT!
Unless your home is built of steel stud construction vs. pine 2 x 4s, there is very little chance that your walls are plumb and square, and even with steel studs it is not likely either, hence the need for a level.
From here on in, I will assume you are tiling a bathtub, three sides. You will WANT to have a grout line in the two corners.
Using the silicone rubber spacers (crosses) you bought, lay out your tile, starting in a corner, laying them on the sill of the bathtub, and progress along. What you MIGHT FIND as you get to the next corner, is that the cut piece of tile that is required is so slim that it cannot be cut with hand tools that you can rent from the tile supplier. This would be a hand operated scribing tool, and another tool called a "nipper", used to break away the minor side of the scribed tile. Conversely, you can rent a diamond tile cutting saw, and it will cut any size tile you like, but you better work fast. Rental of these things on a per day basis is expensive.
Either way, it will still look funny, and unprofessional.
The proper solution is to take the width of the first full tile, add the width of the sliver left at the far corner, sum them up, and divide by two. This is the distance from the mid height level of your first full tile of your first corner where you will use your brand new level to draw a very level vertical line. What you have essentially done is to put equal width cut pieces in the corners, where they belong.
Extend the line from the sill of the tub to the top of the height you wish to tile. Apply the adhesive to the desired thickness using the proper tool and lay your tile, using the silicone rubber spacers. DO NOT lay the spacers in the same plane as the tiles in the corners. They will become a bitch to remove. Instead, use only one leg of the spacers to make the space, such that after the adhesive has set up, the spacers can be easily removed by hand. The spacers should be used both hrrizontally and vertically by us novices. Experienced tile layers do not need these, but don't get cocky. And by the way, how well you do on that first, vertical course of tile determines the quality of the overall job. Tile does not stretch or bend.
When you are done, stand back, admire your work, and apologise to nobody. You did the best you could.
Tileing, I could do all day. However, I really despise grouting. I will leave that for someone more versed than me to comment on.
I do not pretend to be an expert about this, but I have done it for myself a few times.
Step one: calculate the amount of square feet to be covered.
Step two: settle upon a grout line width. This is very important. You will see why later.
Step three: Visit your tile outlet and settle on the size and style of tile you want to use.
Step four: If your tile outlet offers installation with a no cost quotation, by all means, now is the time to get it. Remember, if you are a do it yourselfer, YOU get to load up to hundreds of pounds of tile in the trunk, unload it, and cart it up God knows how many flights of stairs or whatever. Not trying to discourage you, but this CAN become work.
If you want to lay new tile over an old tile surface, forget it. Arm yourself with good eye protection, a good heavy hammer, and have at it. Yes, you will have to replace the drywall. In bathrooms and kitchens (anywhere remotely exposed to water) you should use a special form of gypsum wallboard (known as "blueboard".) The drywall need not be painted, but should be taped and sanded smooth. Here is a tip: my wallboard laying friends practice putting on too LITTLE drywall mud, and build up until smooth, thereby avoiding the sanding process entirely.
Besides the obvious tile, buy tile adhesive, the proper toothed trowell, grout spacers (small "crosses" of a defined width, do this especially if you are a first timer), grout, and a grout applicator called a "float". And if there is any tool that is essential for tile installation, you better have at least a good three foot long level.
THE WRONG WAY TO DO IT!
Unless your home is built of steel stud construction vs. pine 2 x 4s, there is very little chance that your walls are plumb and square, and even with steel studs it is not likely either, hence the need for a level.
From here on in, I will assume you are tiling a bathtub, three sides. You will WANT to have a grout line in the two corners.
Using the silicone rubber spacers (crosses) you bought, lay out your tile, starting in a corner, laying them on the sill of the bathtub, and progress along. What you MIGHT FIND as you get to the next corner, is that the cut piece of tile that is required is so slim that it cannot be cut with hand tools that you can rent from the tile supplier. This would be a hand operated scribing tool, and another tool called a "nipper", used to break away the minor side of the scribed tile. Conversely, you can rent a diamond tile cutting saw, and it will cut any size tile you like, but you better work fast. Rental of these things on a per day basis is expensive.
Either way, it will still look funny, and unprofessional.
The proper solution is to take the width of the first full tile, add the width of the sliver left at the far corner, sum them up, and divide by two. This is the distance from the mid height level of your first full tile of your first corner where you will use your brand new level to draw a very level vertical line. What you have essentially done is to put equal width cut pieces in the corners, where they belong.
Extend the line from the sill of the tub to the top of the height you wish to tile. Apply the adhesive to the desired thickness using the proper tool and lay your tile, using the silicone rubber spacers. DO NOT lay the spacers in the same plane as the tiles in the corners. They will become a bitch to remove. Instead, use only one leg of the spacers to make the space, such that after the adhesive has set up, the spacers can be easily removed by hand. The spacers should be used both hrrizontally and vertically by us novices. Experienced tile layers do not need these, but don't get cocky. And by the way, how well you do on that first, vertical course of tile determines the quality of the overall job. Tile does not stretch or bend.
When you are done, stand back, admire your work, and apologise to nobody. You did the best you could.
Tileing, I could do all day. However, I really despise grouting. I will leave that for someone more versed than me to comment on.
Homeless
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 9,210
Likes: 0
From: Northern DEL-A-Where?
The proper solution is to take the width of the first full tile, add the width of the sliver left at the far corner, sum them up, and divide by two. This is the distance from the mid height level of your first full tile of your first corner where you will use your brand new level to draw a very level vertical line. What you have essentially done is to put equal width cut pieces in the corners, where they belong.
*Tiling a floor is very tough work. Buy some high-grade kneepads if you attempt it.*
*If your floors are unlevel/house is very old, purchase mastic/mortar with a poly compound for some measure of flexibility to prevent cracks. Seal with grout of the same family(with an additive).
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