Tile Stone & Glass
Beautify Your Floors With Tile
Beautify your Floors with Tile
The basics of laying a tile floor are the same whether you’re working with ceramic, slate, marble or granite tiles. But be sure to use only floor tiles when tiling your floor. This may seem elementary, but there is a difference. Floor and wall tiles look similar but floor tiles are thicker and textured to make them safer to walk on. They are generally too heavy for wall use.
Preparing Floors for Tile
Tile can be heavy and must be installed on a flat, rigid surface. The subfloor must be sound enough to support it and should be at least 1” thick. A flexing floor will cause cracks to show up in the grout later and may cause tiles to break. If your floor "bounces" when you walk over it, try adding rigidity by renailing the subfloor to the floor joists. Uneven or damaged floors are best covered first with an underlayment as the tile base. Cement-fiber board is often recommended by tile manufacturers for use on floors in a moist environment.
Two Tile Patterns
You have an almost endless list of patterns you can use when laying tile. You are truly limited only by your imagination. Try researching patterns in home décor magazines or online to spark your own creativity. There are two basic patterns, however. They are the “Jack-on-Jack” pattern. This is when your tiles are laid like squares on a checkerboard. This is the most common pattern used when laying tile. The other basic is called the “running bond” pattern. This pattern offsets the grout lines on each row. The “running bond” is harder to do than the “jack-on-jack” pattern.
Layout of the Floor Area
You should begin laying your floor tiles at the center of the room for the best visual appearance. This will also prevent from having to lay an excess of partial tiles. Measure and find the center of two opposite walls. Use these points to snap a chalk line across the length of the room in the center of the floor, dividing the room in half. Then snap another chalk line perpendicular to the first so the two lines cross in the center of the room. Find the center of two opposite walls and lay tile along the chalk lines. Lay a row of tiles down both lines to the width and length of the room without using adhesive. Leave equal spacing for the grout joints. Most floor tiles do not come with spacers like wall tiles do, so you will need to approximate the appropriate spacing.
Installing Tile on a Floor
Begin laying the tile where your two final reference lines cross at the center of the room. Start by laying a tile at the intersection of the lines, and then use the lines as a guide as you work your way outward toward the walls in each quadrant. Spread the adhesive with the trowel's notched edge, combing it out in beaded ridges. Spaces between ridges of adhesive should be almost bare. If adhesive oozes up between the tiles, clean out the excess before it dries. Immediately wipe any adhesive from the face of the tiles with a solvent-soaked sponge or rag.
After you have installed several rows of tile, set them into the adhesive with the tile leveler and a mallet. After laying all the whole tiles that will fit, begin cutting and adhering tiles to fill around the perimeter of the room.
Cutting and Fitting Ceramic Tile
Nearly every tiling job requires you to trim tiles to fit around electrical fixtures, pipes, toilets, countertops or basins. Straight cuts are relatively simple. Shaping tiles to fit curves is more difficult and requires practice and patience. For small jobs, use a glass cutter or a tile cutter. Larger projects might require a wet saw. Do-it-yourself wet saw models are relatively inexpensive to rent and they make clean cuts with little waste.
Grouting the Joints
Mix grout to the consistency of a thick paste (like peanut butter) and apply it by forcing the grout between tiles with a rubber float held at a 45 degree angle. Hold the float almost perpendicular to the floor. Wipe away excess grout from the surface of the tiles. Take care to pack all joints. Use a toothbrush to shape the grout.