Tiling Tutor

Wall and floor tiles are a simple way to improve the look and value of your home. If done carefully tiling can be an easy skill to learn. The main thing with a tiling project or any project for that matter, is proper planning. (Measure twice cut once.)

First off, you must measure the area you want tiled. This includes al the small sections such as inside closets, and under appliances. To calculate the area, your better off dividing it into sections and then adding the sections together.

Depending on what your existing flooring is, you may need to lay down a new subfloor to properly support your new floor. One thing is that you have to make sure your subfloor is at least an inch thick and the spacing of the floor joists is adequate. add joist may be required to strengthen the floor.

Once an adeqate subfloor is in place, chalk line must be drawm perpendicular to each other to get an idea of how the floor will be laid out. Starting from the intersection of the chalklines, do a dry layout along the lines as seen in the diagram. The important thing to remember is that you want at least half a tile where the floor meets the walls. this is also a good time to make sure your pattern is somewhat symmetrical on both ends.

Please note this step may seem like a lot of extra planning, but doing this step properly will ensure that that the finished look is clean and professional. This will also save time and materials, knowing what type of cuts are needed to be done.

Once you figure out your layout it now time to start laying out your tiles. Before you begin you want to make sure you have all the neccessary tools to get the job done. Besides the building materials you will need the following:

-Mixing bucket
-1/4 x 3/8 trowel(some recomemend other sizes. I found that this size works best for the novice tiler)
-mixing tool(drill w/ mixing bit)
-sponges
-spacers
-level

When begining you want to be sure to start from the middle and work your way out, unless its a narrow hallway your doing, then you'd just go from one end to the other. You want to mix a small amount of mortar with water. About enough to do about 4 - 6 tiles and spread it evenly on your prepped subfloor.

Using your notched trowel you want work the mortar onto the surface. once you have the neccessary amount on the subfloor spread the mortar horizontally to the direction your working. Once you've got good even coverage you could place the tile.




When placing the tile you want to put it down 1/4-3/8 above or below where you want it. Then when its down on the mortar press down and slid it into place continuously applying pressure. If the tile is not lying flat, slightly slide it forward and back applying pressure.



This ensures that all the gaps from your notched trowel are filled in with the binding mortar. This will provide the best adhesion for the tile and will prevent tiles from cracking in the future. As you lay more and more tiles you want to be sure that there is not to much mortar in the grout lines. You could use the spacer to scrape out the excess grout.

This is the basic proccess of laying the tiles. From here you will just be placing the spacers vertically to give you aa even gap around the tiles. Note that most tiles are not perfectly square and exactly the same size, so you must compensate to give you the most even finish. So continue the tile laying proccess, checking with your level often to ensure your tiles are flat and even.

Tiles can be cut with a varity of tools which can be rented, but for those who are novices i would reccomend getting your tiles cut at your local home building centre. Once you've layed out all the tiles for the room, you have to be sure to let the mortar dry for at least 24h. Once fully dried the grouting process can proceed.

When grouting you want to only mix small quantities at a time because it tends to dry out quickly.spread out the grout along the tiles making sure you push it into the gaps. Depending on the size of the are you could completely grout the room and follow up with a moist sponge to wipe the excess grout left on the surface of the tiles, or it coulds be done in sections.

Once completed try to avoid walking on the floor for 8-10hours to ensure the grout is fully hardened. These are the basic steps to laying out tiles, but the tiling process take time and practice to perfect. I would suggest trying small projects, such as tiling a table top, before enbarking on a huge investment.

There is quite a lot of good literature, and websites pertaining to this project so be sure to get as much information as you can before starting a project such as this one. And if you are still confuse about anything, best thing to do would be to talk to a professional.

HAVE FUN!