How To Lay Tile

One of the best projects you can do to increase the value of your home is to tile your bathrooms and kitchen. Ceramic tile is not expensive, does not require a high level of skill, and lasts indefinitely.

We are now on our 4th tile project, with 2 more to go. Here are some hints to make your projects come out better:

• When using thinset (mortar), the consistancy should be more like frosting than peanut butter when tiling a floor. The difference may not seem like much, but if you've ever tried to put peanut butter on soft bread, you know how it wants to roll up instead of spread out. On the other hand, spreading frosting on a cake is a nice, easy job. The same is true for laying tile. If the mortar wants to roll up instead of stick and spread, it's too thick. Unfortuantely, this hint doesn't work when tiling walls. When gravity is working against you, instead of for you, the extra thickness is necessary to keep your tiles from slipping.
  
  
• When applying mortar for a wall project, the grooves should go sideways, not up and down. This helps keep the tiles from slipping.
  
  
• When laying each tile, remember that it's a 3-dimensional project. It's easy to get caught up with the vertical and horizontal grout lines, but forget that thickness counts, too. Lay a straight edge across the corners of all adjoining tiles to make sure they're the same height. Hint: it's much easier to lower a tile that's too high than it is to raise one that's too low. Once those puppies are in, they don't like to be pulled out again, so be consistant with the thickness of your mortar. If your tile is too high, push down, gently until it levels out. Remove any mortar that squeezes out too thick in the grout lines.
  
  
• A note about spacers: The little prongs may be the same size, but the height is not. I asked Bob to get me some 1/8" spacers because I like a thin grout line (something that has so far eluded me). It was easier for me to jam the whole spacer in between the tiles, so that's what I did. After several rows, I discovered a spacer that seemed thinner than the others. Sure enough, most of my spacers were 3/16" high, but a few were only 1/8". By then it was too late. Not only do I have a 3/16" grout line, but I can't rely on the spacers to keep it straight. Luckily, I have a good eye for that sort of thing. There's a moral, here. When you're using any tool for the first time, be meticulous about learning the proper way to use it.
  
  
• Grout walls from the top down, so if you drop some onto the wall, you'll find it as you work down. (If you work from the bottom up, a spill could get missed or mess up your previous work.)
  
  
• After you've finished sponging the grout, go back over your work. Sometimes the grout bubbles as you sponge and it looks fine, but when the bubbles pop it leaves tiny holes. These are easy to fix if you catch them immediately.

Here are some photos of our tile projects.

Here are some links to help you learn how to tile:

Get some good ideas by viewing these images from a Google search.

Here's a very detailed tutorial for laying wall and floor tile, from Infotile.com. (Includes tile cutting help.)

This article from Cox Tile shows pictures of the various tools you'll be using.