- Style Of Home
- Color Of Tile
- Size Of Tile
- Budget
Style Of Home
The style of your home should sway the color and size of tile you choose. An old Victorian might require something a bit more ornate or classic where a modern home might look better in a whimsical tile.
Color Of Tile
When choosing a color make sure to take into consideration not only the colors in the room but also the colors if the woodwork, appliances, and surrounding rooms.
Size of the tile.
Try to keep the tile size appropriate for the space. Keep the large tiles for the large tiles for the large spaces.
Budget
Determine how much you can spend before you start. Make sure you can afford the materials, the tools and the time.
BEFORE YOU GET STARTED
If your like me you get real excited when preparing for a new home improvement project. I have found that with any job I do, having a game plan before you start tearing things apart is always a wise decision. Make sure you have all the measurements of the space. Clean out all of the cabinets that you might have to remove. Take off any floor registers and see what type of sub-floor you will be dealing with and most important make sure you have all your tools and materials before you start anything.
Here are a list of basic tools you will need. Every job will be different but here are the basics
Tools You Will Need!
- Hammer
-Electric or Cordless Drill
- Utility Knife
- Recipricating Saw
- Flat Prybar-Drill
- Screw driver (flat and Philips
-Notched Trowel
-Grout Float
-Finish Nails
-Toilet Wax Ring
-Wax Ring Extender
-5 Gallon Bucket
REMOVING THE FIXTURES
Since I am installing this tile in the bathroom I have to remove the vanity and the toilet. Take the time to do this, this will make your job much easier when laying the tile as well give you a professional look. When removing the toilet it simply turn the water off at the shutoff at the bottom of the toilet next to the wall. You will then need to remove the water from the toilet by flushing and then draining the tank.
This can be done several ways but the easiest is to loosen the nut where you water line enters your tank and put something under it to catch the water. Next disconnect the water line and remove the nuts that secure the toilet to the floor. Next you will need to pull directly up on the toilet and remove it. The easiest way to store the toilet while you are working is to plave a few old towels in your tub or shower and leave it there while you are finishing the floor. This will catch any additional water left in the tank.
THE "TEAR OFF"
The "tear off" is simply the process of removing any existing floor covering. If you are replacing carpet it can be as easy as removing the carpet and tack strips. If you have an older home you might find a mixture of several layers of old flooring. In the project example I am switching from a linoleum floor to 16" porcelain tiles. Porcelain tiles are a type of ceramic tile. The difference is porcelain tile is harder and more dense than other types of ceramic tile. Porcelain tile is also frost proof. It is impervious, with water absorption rates of less than 0.5%. There are few differences when installing porcelain tile. Because porcelain bodied tiles are so hard and dense, a latex portland cement mortar is the minimum bonding material you will want to use.
The first task will be to remove the doors and all the molding. The doors are removed by taking the pins out of the door latches.
Once you get all of the toilet,vanity and the door off you will need to start pulling off all of the molding along the floor. This is best done with a painters scraper. You want any tool that is thin that will get behind the moding without tearing it apart. Do not remove the moding around the doors. I will show you a trick with your sawzaw and a tile that will cut the molding so the tiles slide right under.
By using your tile as a guide take a long saw blade and cut the bottom of the molding off. This will give you the perfect height for your tile. If you will be putting in cement board you will have to do this again. You should now be ready to start tearing off the existing floor.
Now comes the fun part. In this project we are going to want to not only remove the linoleum but we will need to take the 1/4 plywood underlayment off as well. This will allow us to install cement board underneath to give us a stong base for out tiles. We used a Skill saw set at 1/4 in and ran it across the floor a few times to allow us to get a pry bar underneath. The next step is to start ripping the floor off.
After you get all the existing flooring removed you will need to clean up all the mess and pound down any staples that are left in the floor. This stage is very important. Any staples or nails will make it difficult to lay the cement board. In this project I lucked out because the lenghts of cement board fit perfectly into the space. You will normaly have to measure the board out and cut it to fit the floor. You will want to leave about 1/2 of an inch from the wall on all sides. Dont worry this will be covered by your molding. At this point you will need to screw the cement board to the sheeting and you are ready to lay your tile.
You are now ready to find the center of your floor. This can be done several different ways. I just run a tape from wall to wall in both directions to find the center. If you have a perfectly squared room you can run strings from corner to corner and that will give you the center.
LAYING THE TILE
With this particular job I lucked out and did not have to do a lot of cutting. After you mix your mortar you can start laying the tiles. You will need to start in the center and work your way to the edges. You will need to use a quarter inch trowel and only spread as much as you can do in 10 min. With Porcelain tiles you want to make sure that they are as level as possible. Because the edges are not rounded any high point could cause problems in the future. The spacing I used on these 16 inch tiles is 1/4 inch. I do not use spacers but if you have not layed tiles before I wouldnt risk eyeing it.
You will have to do a lot of cutting if you have any closets. Make sure you take your time on this. It will make you job look more professional. Once all the tiles are layed you will need to wait 24 hours for the tiles to set. There are some fast drying mortars but I always wait 24 hours.
Grouting The Tile
For This portion of the project you will need to have your grout mixed, your sponge, a tile float and a five gallon bucket of clean water. Use your float to get handful of grout and start filling the spaces. Use the edge of the float to level out the grout and clean the excess off the tiles.
You will need to dip your sponge in the water and wipe off any excess grout. The cleaner you get the tiles now the less work you will have to do later. After you get all the tiles grouted you will need to wait until the grout dries and then replace all the fixtures.
After your grout is dry you will want to use a clean wet sponge and clean up the excess residue. If you have questions that I have not answered please email me at joecultra@joecultra.com and I will be sure to answer them.
