Ceramic Tile

I've always thought that ceramic tiles look fantastic.  When we bought our house, the bathrooms had old laminate peel-and-stick flooring in both bathrooms.  We decided to put in ceramic tiles for the flooring in both.  It was a fantastic decision because the end result looks terrific!  The small mistakes and issues that an amateur installation always has are not even noticeable!  Take a look at the picture on the right of our mostly finished bathroom...

Difficulty Level:  Hard
Now this certainly isn't an easy project, nor cheap.  The tile itself isn't too expensive but all the tools you will need will probably cost as much as the tile!  Of course that depends on the area you are trying to tile....  Just to give an idea, the wet saw alone that we purchased was from $250 - $300.  All the other tools and materials cost over another $300.  We were tiling a relatively small area (two bathrooms) so the material cost is highly dependent on the square footage.

Tools you will need:

• Wet saw
• Power drill with mixing attachment
• Adhesive Mix
• Grout
• Tile spacers
• Buckets
• Tiling kit including:
• Trowel
• Tile cutter
• Rags and cloth to clean
• Sponge

Wet Saw (slightly used)

Drill with mixer

Tiling Kit and accessories

Step One: Prepare the Surface

Other materials you may need include concrete board or maybe some demolition tools.  Concrete board is necessary in some cases to ensure a nice level, flat surface to lay the tile down.  We used concrete board in the upstairs bathroom but not the downstairs.  Upstairs we had some inconsistencies in our plywood and needed the boards. It is necessary to have a flat surface so the tiles that you lay are not uneven and catch on things like feet or stub toes :/  The concrete board installs very easily to a plywood subfloor, simply cut the concrete board to the right sizes and then drill (wood screws do fine) the concrete board onto the plywood.  Like always, try to drill into the studs.

Step Two: Mix the Adhesive

Look onto the bag of mix that you have for instructions such as times and ratios of powder to water.  The mix we had involved mixing the water and adhesive for about 10 minutes, waiting for a few minutes and then mixing for another 5 minutes.  Times may vary.  It will be a difficult goopy mess when you are done...see the picture above.  It needs to be thick, but not too thick that you cannot easily spread it.  Probably a little more runny than peanut butter.

Step Three:  Plan

If you bought an actual tiling kit, it will also come with instructions.  Make sure you have a plan as for how many tiles you want and where they will go in order to have the largest tiles possible on the sides.  Start in the middle (without any adhesive) and lay out some times with the spacers.

Make sure you like the look and make sure you won't end up with little slivers of tile on the sides.  You will need at least 2 inches for the tiles on the sides of the room, preferably much more than that.  Professional installation will use chalk lines and all kinds of other things during this step to make sure the tiles are where they need to be.  Think about you other fixtures, toilets, vanities, and plan well!

Step Four:  Lay that Tile

Separate the room into 4 corners (or more depending on the size of your room).  Start in the least accessible corner (but still stick with your plan from step 3 to cover your room the way you want!) and using the trowel start throwing down that adhesive mixture!  Don't be shy with it.  You will be thinning it out as the tile is laid.  My wife actually did (fantastically so) this part.  You can wear gloves if you'd like but you will lose some dexterity.  Without gloves, your hands will get very very dry.  Pick your poison!

Once you get a decent layer of the adhesive down, use the patterned side of your trowel to essentially 'plow' the adhesive leaving strips of the stuff on the ground.  Once you have a good area covered (we did one row of tiles at a time) start with the tile in the corner and carefully place it straight down onto the desired spot.  BE CAREFUL as when you put the tile down, it won't easily come back up!  Once it is down, wiggle it back and forth a few times to make sure there is a good amount of the adhesive attached to the tile.  For the first tile, you don't need to worry about the spacers.  As subsequent tiles are laid, be sure to get the spacers in as soon as you can, on all four sides of the tile.  Don't worry about getting too close to the walls, as most places will have trim boards installed onto the drywall which will cover any gaps.

Step Five: Cutting the Tiles to Fit

Keep on laying the tiles down.  Once you get to the next wall you will need to start cutting the tiles to fit the remaining space.  If you planned will, you should only have to cut tiles to cover 2 of the 4 walls in your room.  If you have a goofy shaped space like my bathroom (see middle picture above) you will need to cut a lot!  Make sure make sure MAKE SURE you wear safety glasses any time you start cutting!  Be sure to read the manuals associated with your saw as every saw is different.  Make sure you know how to safely use your saw!

Just square with the fact that you will be very very wet.  The design of the saw is meant to keep recirculating water but it is a blade spinning very quickly through water.  Its going to spray!  Gloves may not be a bad idea as there will be little shards of tile everywhere also...after the first night I had about a hundred little cuts all over my hands.  However, gloves make everything more difficult, especially when they get soaked too...  Be careful and go slow.  Measure twice and cut once!  Also, keep your scraps as they might fit perfectly for the next wall!  Any tiles you don't use can be taken back to the store to get refunded.

Here are some pictures of our halfway finished bathroom.  You can see all of the spacers.  Make sure you don't get a bunch of adhesive in between the tiles because that is where the grout goes!  My wife laid the tile as I measured and cut.  It worked well and we were able to do each bathroom (separately) in about 2 hours.

Also be careful around your room transitions.  See the middle picture above.  We had carpet going into the tile.  As this was the basement, the sub floor is concrete.  Most transition pieces need to be nailed or screwed down.  We simply left the basement alone but bought a small transition piece (wood) for the upstairs bathroom and screwed that down onto the plywood.  There are many choices, you will need to decide for yourself!

Last Step:  Grout

You must wait at least 12 to 24 hours from laying your tile before you can grout.  Look at the instructions on your packages to find out more specifically.  Be sure NOT to walk on your tile until the adhesive is dry!!  Otherwise you might end up accidentally knocking some tiles askew.

The grouting process is much like the adhesive. You will need to mix the powder with water using your drill and mixer.  The mixing times are probably going to be less than for the adhesive.  The grout should be much runnier than the adhesive was.

Applying the adhesive is simple.  Just layer it on!  Of course make sure its filling up all the spaces in between the tiles.  Don't worry about trying to keep it neat and clean.  Just be generous and spread the grout all over the tiles!  Once sufficiently applied, use the sponge and clean water to clear off the excess grout.  Once finished, use the cloth and rags to make it shiny and sparkly clean!  The best way to get a nice groove in between the tiles is to use your fingers.  Of course, you will get dirty and very dry, gritty hands!  Again, you can use gloves but I'd recommend against gloves.

Also like the adhesive, start in a corner and work your way out of the room.  Make sure you can finish the room without stepping over your recently laid grout.  Again, you will need to wait 12-24 hours before walking on your pretty newly grouted tile!

Its tough work but I think well worth it.  Plus, doing the work yourself will save hundreds on a professional installation!  Places like Home Depot will rent equipment like a wet saw if you don't have one or don't want to purchase one.  Good luck!