Tile 1. 01 How to Lay Floor Tile.The benefit of snatching a handful of hours over the last week to cut, lay, and grout tile on my basement floor, is that I can now share with you the deep, dark mysteries of laying floor tile.With pictures. And also my basement floor now looks like this Which is considerably better than it looked before, but youll have to check back after the weekend for the big before and after reveal.The thing about laying tile is that its one of the easiest DIY projects you can tackle, as long as you have the right tools.Materials Tile. Premixed tile adhesive.Tile spacers. Sanded grout.Tools Tile Saw wetNippers yeah, thats the technical termTile Trowel.Grout Float. Plastic baggies.Sponge. Bucket. Gloves.Grout mixer optionalKnee pads optionalThese are not my tools But they do illustrate the range of options available to you for any type of tile job.Now lets get our hands dirty, shall we Step 1 Layout Hopefully youve considered what the floor will actually look like when picking out and purchasing the tile.On the other hand, Ive been know to just buy quantities of tile at random and then find something in the house that needed re surfacing, so Im not one to judge. Cual Antivirus Es El Mejor Translate . The pattern possibilities are endless, but here are a few common styles Some are easier straight than others diagonal.And some are more forgiving in odd shaped places or crooked rooms.You should definitely dry lay some tiles to get a feel for the look you want.The key to tile layout is to start in the middle of the room.While you might start actually tiling from one corner, you dont want one side of your room to have full tiles and the other side to have cut tiles, it will look off balance.How To Install Tile Floor Without Grout' title='How To Install Tile Floor Without Grout' />Trust me.Measure your tiles and the grout width youve decided on.I used 1. 6 slate tiles in my livingroom and gave them a 12 grout space.Then measure your room, and center the full tiles.Split the difference of the leftover space so that you have a 3 strip of tile or whatever your width is on both sides of the room.This part takes almost as long as actually laying the tile, but its worth it.How To Install Tile Floor Without Grout' title='How To Install Tile Floor Without Grout' />Stone floor medallions from natural stone, marble, porcelain and granit by Czar Floors Direct from manufacturer.Tile floor medallions, marble inlay, marble design.I recommend using your grout spacers when dry laying the tile so you get accurate dimensions.Step 2 Cutting Tiles, Not FingersUnless you really lucked out with the dimensions of your room, youre going to have to do some cutting starting with the first piece of tile you lay.They make hand tools for this, but you really need to rent or buy a wet saw to do this right.You can get a basic model for a reasonable price 6.You can also spend a lot of money on a fancy one and lord knows I would but my cheap 6.Start by measuring the pieces you need or the notches you need to cut out.For notching, I like to use a dry erase marker right on the tile.It washes off as youre cutting.For cutting a piece in half, its pretty easy measure and run it through the saw.Why yes, that is snow.Grout is a necessary and integral part of many tile jobs for several reasons It keeps moisture out of the substrate, helps keep tile lines straight and prevents.ProSpec The Professionally Specified Brand ProSpec is the professionally specified brand of Tile and Stone Installation Systems, Floor Preparation Systems and.How To Install Tile Floor Without Grout' title='How To Install Tile Floor Without Grout' />Theres nothing like using a wet saw in 2.In March. LOVE the midwest.Back to the topic at hand if you need to notch a piece, make cuts to the depth of the notch every half inch or so, then use your nippers to remove them.I usually only cut the pieces I need for a couple of rows at a time, that way if I run into something unforseenor that I measured wrong which never happens I dont have a ton of waste.Also, there are only so many pieces of tile you can cut with wet fingers in below freezing weather.Step 3 Adhesive is Just a Fancy Name For Glue.Lets just say the tile needs to be stuck to your floor somehow.Some professionals may be rolling their eyes at the fact that I just stuck the tile right to my concrete basement floor.Technically, and particularly if youre tiling on wood sub flooring, you need to lay fiber cement board down to minimize expansion and contraction in the floor.And mildew. Cracks and mildew are bad.However, Im a risk taker and expect the expansion issues will be negligable on the concrete floor.Or at least, its nothing that is going to be helped by fiber cement backer.Gluing sounds better than adhesive ing, which is not actually even a word, apparently consists of adhesive and the tile trowel.Make sure to read the label of the adhesive, you may need to get a particular mix for tiles over 1.The size of notches in the tile trowel is also dependent on the size of tile you are using.Then, smearDont skimp.Nice even lines. No bare spots.Then stick down the tile, and press it into the adhesive.Using your spacers as you goAlso, dont paint yourself into a corner here, because once you stick the tile down you dont want to step on it for 2.Maybe 1. 2. But certainly not right away.Step 4 Grout is Just a Fancy Name For Mud.I almost always use sanded grout, because Im a traditionalist.Or stuck in my ways.Regardless, its good for bigger grout spaces, but worked just fine in the 31.I left in this tile.Mixing grout is not tricky, but you should always add just a little bit of water at a time.Never just dump a cup of water into the bucket and start stirring.Every time youre going to say to yourself no possible way this is enough water but youre wrong.And if you put in what you would think would be the right amount, youll be left with muddy soup.Then youll have to add more grout.And the more water.And then more grout.Next thing you know, youre entire basement is going to be one big vat of mud.Trust me. This is good consistency, but I add a sprinkle more water to make it easier to use my baggie trick.Sprinkle. Did you hear thatLike maybe two tablespoons.Not half a cup. Then this is my top secret grouting trick take a sturdy plastic baggie the cheap o ones wont last long flip it inside a cupand fill it a little less than half way with grout.Then twist the end like a pastry bag, and snip off the end.You can also buy one of these, but really who doesnt like to be the Mac.Gyver of tile sometimes It usually takes a couple of baggies to get through a floor.They start to wear out after a few refills.The nice thing is that it allows you to place the grout right where you need it and make sure it gets down in the cracks.You want to squeeze out a little more than you actually need, so you can press it into the spaces real well.You usually end up using the extra at the corners.Then use your float, not your fingers, to fill the spaces and clean up any excess.You can clean your float every time you swipe it, and it would probably be less messy, but it all cleans up with a sponge anyway.Maybe you dont know this about me, but I dont do extraneous cleaning.You want to let the grout set for a little bit of time.My system is to let the grout set about 3.Then let it dry for a few hours and swipe it again.At which point you should be pretty clean.The grout should completely set in 2.Usually the color will lighten up a bit.Once the tiles dry you can go over them again with a dry cloth or sponge or your own personal engineers sock, um, not that I would do that to get rid of any grout haze that is left over.And seriously, its that easy.Kind of makes you wonder why they invented vinyl flooring in the first place, doesnt it.At 0. 7. 2 per square foot, this floor was cheap, easy, and a huge improvement over the gray concrete.
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