How to install ceramic wall tile?

Question

New handyman project involves putting ceramic tile on bathroom walls. Never tried this before. Any tips or suggestions? What about a web site with do it yourself directions?

Answer 1

Are you looking for the easy way or the hard way? The hard way would be to follow AEN's instructions. That definitely will produce a tile wall that will last forever and a day. Do you really need that though? Most bathrooms become obsolete in design within 25-30 years. If I install a tile wall and it lasts that long I, and my customers, are more than satisfied. Durock is a fabulous substrate, but very difficult to work with. I would recommend either 1/2 in hardibacker or vinyl covered drywall made for tile underlayment. Both are easier to work with and less flexible when laying on 16 in supports. The Hardibacker is available from any Home Depot or similar outlet. The vinyl covered drywall which is the easiest to work with, is more difficult to find. You have to go to a professional tile outlet to find it. Both products offer installation guarantees that will pay for replacement should they fail, if you follow the installation instructions. Although cement based mortar makes a fabulous cement, it also is difficult to use. I simply use a mastic that comes in a can. They make 2 types, a long setting and a fast setting. The long setting is my favorite as you can spread it on the wall and tile 25-30 sq/ft before it starts to dry. You need to let the tile set and grout the next day. The quick setting type will allow you to do a complete tile job in a day as you can grout it within an hour of setting the tile. You can only spread enough mastic that you can cover in 15-20 minutes as it starts to skin over very quickly. Both mastics will allow you to set tile without anchoring a straight-edge to the wall. Now the important part,,,, the layout. I prefer to run the tile edging pieces down the side of the tub to the floor. This makes the side walls relatively straight forward. You stick a level on the side of the tub, move it over a tiny bit, and draw a dark pencil line vertically up the wall to the rough height of the finished tile. You go to the other side and repeat. The only exception would be if when dryfitting the tiles you discover that the cuts on the corners are less than 1 1/2 inches. I will usually then shift the line over 1 1/2 inches to make it easier. The 5' long wall is a little trickier. First you find the center and draw a short line. Then you hand fit the tiles(no glue) across the wall to see how big the corner cuts will be. You have 2 choices here either set the tile with the edge on the line or the center of a tile on the line. Both ways will give you an even cut on the edges. Usually one works easier than the other. Dryfit the tiles across the wall and make a choice. I do not like little cuts(less than 1 1/2 inches) as they are difficult to make and need a saw. Once the choice is made draw a dark line up the wall with a sharp pencil. That will give you all of your verticle reference lines. Next is your horizontal line. Run a level around your tub to see if it is level. If it is, I simply dryfit the tiles about 4-5 high(I hate bending over to see it as I go) make a mark, raise it about 1/8-3/16 and draw a pencil line with the level around the tub. If it isn't level, I'll find the high spot and do my layout from there without adding the 1/8-3/16 so the tile will be tight to the tub at the high point. I prefer not cutting the bottom row unless your tub is more than 1/4 out of level. I'll then dry stack tiles up from the level line to find out where the top row will end and make another line. You are now ready to set the tile. I do one wall at a time spreading the glue making sure to pull the trowel across your reference lines(so you can still see them) and start laying tile from the reference lines up. You as a rookie may want to do 1/2 the wall or less at a time as you'll probably be a little slower. Just make sure the glue doesn't skim over. If it does simply scrape it off, toss it, and spread some more. The key here is to firmly push the tile on the wall and wiggle it a little as you do. You want to make sure you get them set well in the glue. A glue transfer of at least 75% to the back of the tile is recommended. Continue until all of the field tile is set. Any cuts necessary can be made with a simple tile cutter and tile nippers, except the faucet and shower spout holes. For stem faucets and shower outlets I use a hole saw designed for drilling tile. They cost about $20 and usually drill about 100 holes before wearing out so you'll have it(If you can find it) when you do your next tile job. For the large single lever faucets I use tile nippers or a saw. Nippers also cost about $20 and last forever and are my preference. They take a litle practice but work just fine once you figure them out. The key is to use a sharpie to mark your cut-line, score a cut on the tile cutter from point to point, remove the major section, then carefully nibble out little amounts until you get to your finished line. Be careful with the nibbled pieces as they can easily scratch the tub. Clean them up from inside the tub as you go being extremely careful not to step on them. Figure on a few extra tiles to practice on. You can buy both of these tools for less than you'll pay for a saw rental. I've done 100's of tubs and seldom had to use a saw. I then set the border tiles starting from the top outside corners and working all the way around the tub. I prefer to hand butter these rather than spread the glue on the wall because it is less messy and allows you to tile a wall without getting glue where you don't want it. That was simple wasn't it? You let them set until the next day. Now your ready to grout. 1st I check to make sure that the tile faces and joints are clean. If not, use a razor knife to scrape out any excess glue from the joints and a tile sponge to clean the faces. Use unsanded grout and spread the grout as recommended earlier, across the joints at a 45, rather than in the the same direction. The idea here, is to make sure you push the grout into the joints, completely filling them. and scraping off as much as possible from the face. Stay away from both the inside corners and the bottom tub joint with the grout. You'll want to fill these areas with caulking rather than grout. Keep them clean as you grout rather than later as it's easier. I do one wall at a time starting from the bottom and working up. By the time you reach the top it is usually ready to wipe down with a sponge. The grout needs to set up for at least 15-20 minutes. I prefer a slight recess to my grout rather than flush as it usually looks better. Most tiles have a slight rounded edge. Where the rounded edge starts is where I like my grout depth to wind up. Be careful to not wipe out below that point as you'll get below the glazed area of the tile and cause water problems later. The previous warnings about cement definitely apply here. Use rubber gloves! Your wife/girlfriend/mistresses and your hands will definitely thank you for this. I will fill a 5 gallon bucket with clean water and start wiping. For my first wiping I will allow the sponge to do the work simply going across the joints at a 45 until all of the excess grout is removed from face of the tile rarely rinsing the sponge. This will allow the grout picked up in the sponge to fill any small holes. Let the grout set for a few minutes and then wipe it again this time going with the joints to get the grout to the final depth, rinsing out your sponge often. Move on to the next wall and repeat. When done toss out your grout water and starting with clean water. You then go back to your 1st grouted wall. Wipe down the wall with a clean sponge fliping it over with each pull, rinsing each time. This will get the wall as clean as you can get it removing almost all of the grout residue. Go to the next wall you grouted and repeat until done. Let that set for a half hour or so and you will notice a slight haze on the tile. Take a towel or soft rag and buff the haze off. You are now ready to caulk. Make sure the corners and bottom edge are clean without any grout remaining in them. You should have done this as you go but it doesn't hurt to check. The corners and bottom edge are the areas where most people have moisture problems. The simple reason is they move. Grout in those areas rather than caulk is a recipe for future problems. The wall or tub moves, the grout cracks and the problems begin. You've got a couple of choices here as far a caulking goes. Best and longest lasting is silicone but that is very difficult to work with as it does not wipe out at all. It's impossible to remove if you get it where you don't want it. If silicone is your choice, I recommend using masking tape on both sides of your joint. Set the tape about 3/16 on both edges, tape up the whole tub and you're ready to go. Caulk it, wipe it out with your finger or a tool, and remove the tape before it sets up. Far easier and much easier to work with is a caulking product called PolySeamSeal. It's water soluble so it can be put on and formed with a wet sponge. Once set it's a long lasting (20+years) waterproof caulking. It only comes in white, almond, and clear. If you need to caulk colored tile clear works or you can use a colored caulk made by the tile companies that matches. I've found that Poly works better and lasts longer than the tile caulk though and will usually use clear Poly when I'm dealing with colored tile. After caulking up the corners I will caulk a tiny bead along the sides and top edges and Voila! You're done with the hard part! The tile is ready to use. No need to spray down the grout if you do use it. If you don't use the tub spray a few times over the next couple of days to help the grout cure. Let the grout dry for a couple days and use a wipe-on silicone grout sealer and I'd put the job up against anything done by anybody. Pardon the wordiness, but I was trying to give you all the info you need and save you a class.

Answer 2

This can be a relatively straightforward operation if you do it right.

The important thing is to have a good base. While you can cement ceramic wall tiles to sheet rock, I prefer to use cement board as an underlayment. I have seen instances where people will use water-resistant sheet rock in a shower area but I would NEVER do that. It is easy to make a ceramic tile wall that will last virtually forever if you follow a basic procedure. I use 1/2" Durock cement board as an underlayment because it is unaffected by moisture, and you have a lot of that in a bathroom.

The underlayment is probably the most important part of the whole job. It is critical that the underlayment is attached firmly to the wall studs. You want absolutely no movement in this surface because it will cause the grout to fall out and eventually the tiles will work loose. I use cement board screws spaced about every 6" and fasten the cement board tightly to the studs. In a bathroom it is not a bad idea to put up a sheet of plastic underneath the cement board first to act as a vapor barrier.

I use thinset mortar to set the tiles onto the wall, spreading it on with about a 3/16" v-notched trowel. Before you start, attach a straight 1x2 horizontally to the wall as a base to rest the starter row of tiles on while the mortar sets up (otherwise they will slide down the wall). Position this strip of wood slightly more than 1 tile height above the floor; the lowermost row of tiles will be set later after the mortar for the starter row has set. This strip of wood will insure that the row is straight and even horizontally.

When I do a bathroom I use no spacers between the tiles; standard 4 1/4" wall tiles are made with built in ridges on the eges that act as spacers. Cetner the tiles on a wall so the tiles on each end are the same width. Although I have a diamond blade wet saw to cut the tiles, you can get by with a simple snap cutter. Wall tiles are quite soft compared to floor tiles and a snap cutter is fine, or you can even use a glass cutter and score a line and snap the tile the same way you'd cut glass. I prefer the wet saw because it is faster and easier and gives a perfectly straight, clean cut. You can rent these things at a rental place that carries contractors equipment.

spread the thinset mortar on the wall and simple press the tiles into the mortar. After I have a bunch in place I use a flat piece of wood about a foot long to tap against the tiles to set them into the mortar evenly.

Come back the next day and set remove the wood strip at the base and set the lowest row of tiles. After 24 hours you can grout the tile. There are special trowels to help with this. Remember that portland cement is corrosive so try to keep it off your hands; leave it on there too long and it can burn. Work the grout firmly into the joints usiing the trowel held at a 45 dgree angle tothe jointlines to scape it off the wall; this is sort of like shaving your face. After maybe about 15 minutes, take a damp, not wet, but a very slighlt damp wide sponge and wipe as much of the grout reside off the face of the tiles being careful not to gouge it out of the joints. After the reside dries to a haze, use a soft cloth or towel to buff the wall clean.

A critical thing to remember about portland cement is not to let it dry out for at least 3 days, this will make it a lot stronger. Cement that dries out immediately will not develop enough strength. You can do this by misting the wall with water and covering it with plastic. I have been able to get grout as hard as steel by wetting it and keeping it covered for a week. I will spray the joints between the tiles with water a couple of hours after I have set the tiles to keep the thinset from drying out for the same reason.

Answer 3

1. remove the old ceramic 2.if no old ceramic and wall is painted try to remove paint making deep scraches 3.measure from floor the higt of tile and make a little mark 4.trace a line using a level across the walls of the bathroom walls 5.screw a ruler under the level line 6.spread glue one of the wall the twice the higt of the tile 7. finished all walls remuve leveled rules,maybe you have to cut the floor line alittle it is ok. 8. seal the spaces betwin each tile. never let exes of glue or sealant dry, clean it wileworking. good luk!

Answer 4

Most important get a decent tile cutter plan out your tiles so you have an equal cut at each end ,use tile spacers and good adhesive most of all like most DIY take your time

Answer 5

my suggestion you first bour tiles into water than start pasting and you may consult a builder worker he work for you who is expert in installing wall tiles because if you not properly install no better look can don
visit website www.prismceramic.com

Answer 6

Do it yourslf books and sites tend to confuse most including me. The best way to learn for sure is practice.Find someone who is doing this type of job and watch what they are doing.Watching a tv show like bob villa or simular to get the hang and idea of all the steps.Hands on is best

Answer 7

I read the answer by AEN and agree with what was explained. There are other sub-strates available that may be easier and lighter to work with but Durock is one of the most reliable...durable is there message, "I think"

Answer 8

Most home improvement centers like HOME DEPOT offer classes. Call them and sign up for some. they are very helpfull.

Answer 9

visit www.prismceramic.com

Answer 10

I have found this site very useful-- please pass it on....

http://www.easy2diy.com/index.asp

good luck