eclipse23

Well, I've tried almost everything else from plumbing to electical and now it's time to tile the place (landing, kitchen and bathroom. As a novice tiler at best what kind of hell am I getting into. I don't know why but I have a sinking feeling I am going to hate tiling but I really don't want to pay to have it done and I know if I put my 100% into it I can pull it off.

Are my fears irrational or is tiling a fucking pain in the ass?

eclipse23

To add: Im talking ceramic not vinyl tiles here.

Scrib

As long as the sub-floor is is good shape, there's not much to it. Boring as fuck, though.

JLatimer

If you can plumb and do electrical you are obviously competent. I have done some tiling jobs. My 3rd was better than my 2nd, better than my 1st - this means that practice definitely comes into play if you want good work.

As far as being a pain in the ass... It isnt so much the ass as it is the knees and back.

Advice:
- Put aside a lot of time - the pros fly through tile, you will probably need 4 hours just to lay 100sq ft. not including grouting which is another 2hrs. The more cuts, the more time it takes. If you rush your work will suffer. One space I did in my house was 100sq ft and it took 10hrs.

- Layout. Many tiling craftsman will lay almost every tile on the floor before putting any cement down. Test your layout, make sure it works, plan your cuts *before* you have the cement on the floor.

- Materials. There are different kinds of cement and grout, make sure you have the right stuff for the tile you are laying, the traffic you expect and the subfloor you are working with. Follow the mixing instructions to a 'T', you will find out about "slake", it takes a few minutes more before you can get going, but is pivotal to a successful job.

- Subfloor. Talk to someone in the know about tile and read up on the materials. Probably one of the biggest problems I dealt with on my jobs is being lazy about the surface I put the tiles on. The result was popped tiles, or uneven lies.

- Buy kneepads. You are going to be on your knees more than a presidential intern. Buy kneepads.

It is rewarding so if you have the patience and ambition - go for it. Maybe for practice buy some cheap tile and tile your laundry room floor to get a feel for it - or somewhere else where appearance isnt a huge issue.

eclipse23

Wow, thanks for the advice Jlatimer, I'm going to start with the landing at the door because it's only 6X6 and I can take as long as I have to with it.

moeronn

Great info in this thread. I'm also considering doing some tiling, but am a little more hesitant because it is a larger area over multiple rooms. The main reason I leary about doing it is because all of the rooms are connected (entry way, kitchen, dining area, hallway and 2 baths), so a screw up in one room could mess up the entire area.

The other issue is disposal. Our condo complex doesn't "allow" you to dispose of materials in the dumpsters (though, that doesn't stop many people). Still, I haven't made a final decision.

gatrhumpy

iTrader: (1)

Yes, you should try to tile it yourself. I just tiled part of my garage, and it looks fantastic. I'll try to post up pics later, but imageshack is slow as fuck.

03typeS6spd

Just tiled out my kitchen and entrance, about 120 sq ft. Used 12 x 12 in. porcelain.

Wasn't that hard, didn't buy kneepads and should have.

The suggestions above are dead on, I did a few other things too.

1. Bought a wet saw. Made life much easier, the cheapest one from HD/Lowes worked fine since I don't plan on using it more then 2-3x ever.

2. I used the pre-mixed mortar/mud. Didn't feel like making a big mess with my own mix, cost a little more but much easier to use.

3. Laying out the tiles is totally the way to do it. Laid everything out, made all my cuts, and then put them down in about 3 hours. I have one tile that isn't sitting right out of over 100, so going to pull it out and redo. Pretty happy with that for 1st time. (Cutting took me like 6 hours, but I had all kinds of angles and small pieces to deal with, square rooms are much easier than angled walls.)

4. Don't use too much mortar. The first few tiles I put way too much down, they ended up being under the oven but they took 2-3x longer to dry than everything else.


I haven't grouted yet, because I f'd up and ordered a frig that was too big for the space in my kitchen. So I ordered new kitchen cabinets instead and have to change out another 2-3 tiles. I'll also try to post some pics if I get a chance.

good luck

yuhoo22

the suggestions are great here....listen to them for sure.

The only thing I have to add is to get this stuff that automatically levels the ground for you. I forget what its called but basically you mix this stuff up, pour it in the center of the room and it spreads to even out the floor.

agean

I just did a 200 square foot room, it was a total pain but well worth it. I definitely made some mistakes I will learn from next time.

A few more tips:

-- lay down chalk lines to follow. i forget the name, but it's that string that you pull across the room and then snap down to leave a line. best way to keep the tiles straight
-- definitely rent or buy a wet saw. HD rents them
-- start in the center of the room and work your way to the edges. any crooked lines or off-spacing will be less evident towards the edges than in the center
-- don't forget the spacers. these are your best friend.
-- and definitely buy pre mixed cement and grout.

good luck, prepare to spend the next day curled up in a ball, my legs were soar for a week from all the bending and crouching.

gatrhumpy

iTrader: (1)

Tylenol will be your best friend.

poohlikeshunny

good shit...i just posted in gatrhumpy's thread about how I am gonna tile our basement, but this is great info!!! I maybe another one coming back for more advice!

agean

This is definitely not a quick job, and what seems like fun in the beginning, gets very tedious very quickly. You have to stay focused throughout to keep the tiles straight and even.

I laid down around 200 1-foot tiles, took upwards of 8 hours with someone helping me. The grouting took another 5 hours or so by myself.

moeronn

Question for the tilers - When you laid the tile, did you:
1. Pull off existing base boards, tile, then replace/place new base boards over tiled edge?
2. Leave existing base boards, tile, then place quarter round?
3. Other - eplain?

JLatimer

^^^
In one install I pulled baseboards, then reinstalled. This was because the tiling raised the floor level by approx 1/2" and the baseboard was easy to remove.

In another install I went the qtr round way since the baseboards would have been destructive to remove.

Your best results are going to occur when you can pull the baseboards, but if you cant the qtr round will work.

eclipse23

Update:

Lessons learned:

1. CLEAN YOUR TOOLS RIGHT AFTER AND DURING THE JOB. Mortar is messy and if you added an adhesive to it (i didnt) it becomes impossible to remove.

2. If you are using a cordless hammer drill to mix your mortar be prepared to piss through an entire battery per batch.

3. Measure accurately. The mortar goes down MUCH BETTER when you didn't over water it or fudged the mix up.

4. Measure twice, cut once.

5. Old fashioned tile cutters work great. I took the advice of a 75 year old italian mason who was in the tile aisle with me at home depot and paid $17.99 for a workforce tile cutter.

6. When asking a black sales associate where you can find a good nipper, be sure to have your pronunciation just right

7. Tile nippers are great for putting in odd pieces of tile.

Results: (I still have to grout it)

moeronn

Looks like you did a damn good job, first time or not.

JLatimer

Awesome job... Nice work on the layout the border work adds a lot to the look.

Is that a ceramic tile?

As for lessons learned

1. You can buy a powdered acid mix - just add water. It help for cleaning tools, or any residue left on tiles. Just wear gloves and eye protection.

2. You can burn a motor out too - dont use your favorite drill unless it is super powerful.

5. The old fashioned ones actually work better than a saw as long as all your cuts are straightline.

6. What do you do if the salesperson is asian?

poohlikeshunny

@ # 6...(is it # 6 or # 4?)

fsttyms1

Nice job

I like doing floors better than walls. I did the floor in the bathroom, and the walls for my shower, doing vertical surfaces is much harder to keep the lines straighter.