Any suggestions/tips on installing ceramic tiling??

Question

My husband and I are building a new home. I would love to put ceramic tiling in my kitchen/dining room (they are combined). Do you think that 14'X23' is too large for tiling? Its a concrete slap, and we will be doing the work ourselves. Any tips would be helpful!! I am looking for tips, suggestions, tools needed, extra supplies, ideas, horror stories, "turned out good" stories, I will take it all! Thanks so much!

Answer 1

My first experience with installing tile taught me three things.

Be patient.
More is not better.
Clean up the excess thin set as you lay the tile.

Patience is necessary to insure that you get equal spacing between each tile. You can purchase spacers that will fit between the tiles as you lay them, I had mixed success with them. You might consider a piece of fiberglass or oak board board that is the correct thickness to set your spacing.

Do not lay too much thin set concrete on the floor. More is not better, and it's important that you clean up any excess as you lay the tile. This is particularly important in between the tiles. Once the thinset gets hard, you will not be able to get it off. It is much hard than the grout you will use later.

Generally tile is layed down, starting in the middle of the room, and moving outward. This means that you will likely have to cut tiles at the walls to get the correct width for the last row of tiles at each wall. If possible however, you may consider starting with a whole tile at one side and moving toward the opposite wall. This will work well if you have something at the finishing end that will hide or diminish the last row of tiles. Then you don't have to hassle with scoring and breaking each individual tile.

The size of each tile can make a difference in how much difficulty you have in cutting tile. A typical 4 to 6 inch tile is generally easier to cut. Large tiles 12 inch and larger are much more difficult to cut.

And don't even think about trying to make a curved cut. It takes a pro to do that.

Once your tile is cemented and set to the floor you will then have to add the grout between the tile. At this point it is too late to clean cement from in between the tile. Remember rule number three.

Depending upon the spacing between tiles, the addition of grout can be more or less tedious. Generally do small sections at a time, because you will have to clean the excess off the face of the tile. Be sure to have lots and lots of cotton rags and paper towels available. You will need a large bucket with clean water for rinsing the rags.

Since this is your first attempt I would suggest you practice in an area not readily visible, maybe under the stove or refrigerator, or pantry. Do everything, including the grout and cleanup. Practice scoring and cutting tiles. You don't want to spend time learning while the cement is drying.

And finally, remember that people who do this for a living charge a lot for a reason. You won't finish yours in a day or even a weekend. But practice and patience will pay off.

Answer 2

A quality tile saw will make things easier but understand going in that tile saws use water and make one hell of a mess. Plan to do your cutting outside (I speak from experience).

Also expect that this job will take a LOT of time to complete. Plan your layout so that there are no tiny or thin slivers of tile where the walls meet the floors.

Unless there's a good reason to do otherwise, be certain that your layout lines are perfectly parallel with the longest wall and are perfectly straight.

You'll need a notched trowel (available widely and cheaply) to smooth out the adhesive/mortar.

You'll need to be sure your subfloor is level, smooth and very clean. If it isn't smooth AND level, ask an expert for advice on how to correct it BEFORE you begin.

If you are going to leave a space between tiles, you WILL need spacers (available at Lowe's, Home Depot and every hardware store).

Above all, TAKE YOUR TIME. Tile is not a job to rush. You will look at this floor many times a day, every day for many years. The final result will be no better than the time and attention you devote to it. Most big box hardware stores have occasional classes in varying trades. Taking a tile class can't hurt.

Answer 3

Ceramic tile is a great choice and you can do it yourself if you prepare yourself with a little knowledge and a few tools. My suggestion is to go to Home Depot or any other building supply place and pick up the information they have there on doing tile work. It is usually pretty good and will suggest tools you will need. The biggest problems you will run into is cutting the tile, you might consider renting a water bath cutter. I also suggest you consider going with a smaller tile if it will fit into your plans. Tile that big is not only harder to install neatly but is also more prone to cracking if there is any shifting in your slab. So read the stuff and make sure you have everything on hand before you start and be patient doing the work, especially making the cuts so it fits neatly and you will have a professional looking floor.

Answer 4

All I can say is: its probably not a great idea to put it right on top. It becomes more likely for it to come up. And then the process of taking up a layer of laminate and a layer of ceramic tile would be that much harder when it came about. I think the only way to make that work without taking up the ceramic tile is to make an air tight seal between the 2. I couldn't give you any ideas on how to do that though.

Answer 5

Big rooms are awesome for tiling, and fun too! You will need the mortar (which is the adhesive for the tile), a spreader for the adhesive, and it's always good to have a tile cutter, because you will probably have to make cuts. You can get a decent tile cutter for about $60. We did our kitchen tile on a diagonal, and it turned out AWESOME! Once you have the tile layed, remember to let it dry for a few days before you grout it.
Go to Home Depot and other home improvement stores, and just talk to people. They can steer you in the right direction, show you the tools you need, and tell you how to do it.
Good luck!!! ;)

Answer 6

# 1 don't walk on it for two days. #2 don't wash floor for one week. #3 get a mid-level color grout, this will make it easier to clean in a year or so, trust me on that. It will get dirty reguardless on how much you mop it. #4 get the closest match size to your floor ( on the tiles size I mean ) there are a lot of tile from diffrent sizes, so add the area of space you wish to layout and then find the best size tile that will fit there. This will help you do less cutting on the tiles and making mistakes. The bigger the tile thie easier it will be able to cut nicely.

Answer 7

This is the site I used when I installed my tile in my bathroom. It turned out great. Most important use a level and tile spacers!! Best of luck

Answer 8

Step by step directions to installing ceramic floor tile.... http://voices.yahoo.com/how-install-ceramic-floor-tile-12699134.html

Answer 9

Look here:
http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:FcPLTLseh33h7M:http://membres.lycos.fr/christophepons/_borders/chuck_norris.jpg