Looking For Tip On Installing Ceramic Tiles

mtheisen0814

I usally sub out this kind of work, but for some reason I want to try to tile a floor. It's a flat concrete floor (basement slab) and about as basic as it gets, 12"x12" tiles. Are there any tips or tricks to make sure the tiles are all level and very straight other than using spacers, and a level, and starting with good layout lines?

Mike Finley

Yes. Lots of experience, and of course a quality tile. Get ready to pull your hair out if your tiles aren't uniform.

go do it

get a book from home depot

Celtic

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Chris Johnson

Hire the usual sub that you use, tell him you will assist him to learn, you know, you don't want his services anymore once you know how to do his job. Maybe, just maybe, he may let you mix his thinset, but chances are he will just let you watch.

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Chris

MattCoops

Is your floor level?

Prep work is the most important step in tile installations.

Is it a ceramic tile or stone tile?
Usually stone requires more effort to eliminate any lippage.

Sometimes you'll need to add more thinset in areas and use a grinder on others.

If you start with a nice flat level surface, pop grid lines, and use a quality material, you'll enjoy working with tile.

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Matt with Cupan Custom Tile & Paint of Lowell, Massachusetts
Design and installation of ceramic tile and natural stone for floor, wall, and countertops
(978) 601-8774 | cupantile@gmail.com | view tile pictures and more

Celtic

On a more serious note ...have you tried the forums over at john bridge?
http://johnbridge.com/vbulletin/index.php

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Glasshousebltr

Ahhhhh .....he said lippage.

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Bob

Celtic

Lippage rules you dillhole

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Glasshousebltr

Shut up Bevis.

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Bob

Celtic

Ahhh...shut up Butthead....keep that up and I'm going put the smackdown on your ~>CLICK HERE<~

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PrecisionFloors

Big +1 here. No offense to any of the pros here but, johnbridge.com is the best tile resource on the internet bar none....if you can't find it there it don't exist in the tiling world

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Precision Flooring
(772) 237-9900
Tile, Hardwood, Laminate, and Resilient
Installation, Sales & Repair - "We do it right the FIRST time"

Celtic

...and if you can believe it...those guys helped me tile my bath!
(and thanks to Terry Love for the plumbing support )

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Tom R

In this day and age of rapidly diminishing quality control, - - which started about 20 years ago and has gotten increasingly worse, - - those 'spacers' will RUIN your job if (AND WHEN) the tiles are not perfectly cut to match each other.

Do yourself a favor (as mentioned a few posts above), - - and lay out GRID LINES, - - this way even if a few tiles are off a little, - - the overall pattern will stay perfectly straight . . .

Shaughnn

Hello Mtheisen,
You will need to make sure that there is no lingering residue on the slab, either from previous adhesives or accumulated grime. If you have any sort of layer like that, it needs to be removed mechanically rather than chemically. Solvents and such will cause the grime to soak into the slab, and further impede the mortar's bond.
Confirming that the slab is flat is the next step. You don't need it to be level but every variation in the plane will make your tile setting more problematic. Grinding high spots can resolve the residue issue but filling depressions is equally important. Sometimes a self-leveling compound is both cost and labor effective?
Snapping chalk lines is a much better method than relying on spacers, but so is simply using a narrow 4" straight-edge to "knock" the tiles into line. The straight-edge method might actually be easier for a novice than following the grid alone, but I do recommend that you follow the grid at the very least.
Trowel size is also very important. Not only does the proper trowel size give you 100% coverage it will also allow you to make slight adjustments to the level and plane of the tile. For 12" tile over slab, I prefer a 3/8" squate-notch trowel. Larger notch for larger tile and smaller notch for smaller tile. I also like to keep a straight edge with me as I'm setting to lay across tiles and "settle" them into plane.
The type of thinset you use is also important. So called "meduim bed mortars" have a larger aggregate and will support a heavier/larger tile without settling and causing "lippage". Most of the "non-sag" types of mortar are also considered to be medium bed mortars.
Best of luck,
Shaughnn
PS: Chris Johnson, did you happen to grow up in Benicia, CA???

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Shaughnn
Capua Custom Tile & Stone
Card-carrying Schluter Systems installer
Certified Wedi Corp. installer