Ceramic Floor Tile - Install It Yourself And Save
Installing ceramic floor tile is a step-by-step process that can be done by any handy person. It's like many other home projects. The pros must be fast to make money and a pro must handle a wide range of job situations.
But amateurs can go slow and may just do a room or two, so they don't have to handle all kinds of situations. No reason why you can't do a professional job and enjoy the satisfaction of installing floor tile and save some money too! Plus you can get books to show you how to do it. There are even some videos that show every step of installing ceramic tile flooring .
There is no more beautiful or practical floor than ceramic tile. A ceramic tile floor can literally last for generations with minimum maintenance. Especially in kitchens, bathrooms, and foyers it's the perfect choice.
The Base.
Ceramic floor tile can be installed over several different materials, including old tile, vinyl floors and concrete. Wood materials are usually poor bases for ceramic tile. The shifting of the wood will cause cracking of the tile joints. The best base for floors and walls is Hardibacker cement board. This material is cement based and is not damaged by water. It's stable and fairly easy to work with too.
Gather Your Tools.
Gather your tools first. You'll need:
- Plastic 5 gallon buckets
- Tile saw
- Nippers
- Cutter board
- Hammer
- Screwdriver
- Notched trowel
- Margin trowel
- Chalk line
- Pencil
- Tri square
- Spacers
- Tape measure
- Level
- Tile sponge
Lay Out The Floor.
Usually your first step to lay out a tile floor is to find the center of the room. Do this by measuring the width and length of the room and striking lines to determine the center. Use these lines as guide to lay the tile. You'll continue to strike chalk lines on the floor to give yourself guidelines as you proceed along the floor.
But the appearance of the floor must have eye appeal. So you may need to start along a wall, so that you have a cut tile only on one side. Just depends on the room and on the situation. But starting in the center is the most common method.
You will want to lay some tile on the dry floor spaced like you plan. This dry setting of tile lets you better visualize how the finished floor will look before applying adhesive!
Thin-Set.
The adhesive, or thin-set, is a mortar mix especially designed for ceramic floor tile installation. There are many brands and types of thin-set. Different additives are used for different applications. Your dealer can help you choose the best product for your job. Thin-set comes in different colors too.
You can get ready-mixed thin-set. Pros use thin-set that comes as a powder, like mortar mix and is mixed with water. For the amount used on a floor, you'll want to use a stirrer with an electric drill to get it mixed well.
Laying Ceramic Floor Tile.
The thin-set is spread with a trowel. You'll want a trowel with notched edges to build ridges in the thin-set. The ridges will help you gauge just the right amount of thin-set. Enough to get good adhesion, but not too much so it oozes out and causes a mess.
You'll leave your chalk line guide lines uncovered, so you can put the tile edge right on the line. For a floor you will want about 3/16 inch gaps between tiles. To get consistent spaces you can buy regular tile spacers made for just that purpose.
At the floor edges, you will be cutting tile pieces to fit. Ideally many of the edge pieces will be cut to the same size. But keep checking, since most rooms aren't exactly square.
Keep coming across the floor, striking lines every row or two to keep yourself lined up in each direction.
Grouting.
After the tiles have set for 24 -48 hours, they are ready for grout. Grout is used to fill the spaces between the tiles.
Grout comes in a variety of colors and is easy to install. Mix the grout with water making sure to mix well, so it isn't lumpy. Grout is applied with a rubber trowel.
Grout comes as sanded or unsanded. The sanded grout does include sand to make it stronger. Sanded grout is used in joints larger than 1/8 inch wide.
Clean the grout off the tile after about 30 minutes. You'll see the grout is glazing over on the surface of the tile! Clean about an hour later for a second time. Use clean water in your sponge for cleaning. For stubborn areas a little vinegar will help you get it perfectly clean!
After 24 hours drying time, the tiled area is ready to use...for generations!
Get a video series showing you just exactly how a pro lays tile at the ceramic floor tile link... Save time and money and get your questions answered here...