Ceramic Tile Patterns

Posted By admin on March 29, 2010

how to lay tile

How NOT to Lay Tile

Ten Steps To Laying Tile

The procedure for laying the tile is fairly straightforward. Follow these steps.

It's always helpful to lay a few tiles down on the floor or counter beforehand to see how they'll look. Don't be afraid to set out a large patch. Better to decide now, before you use adhesive, that you don't like the look than after it's cemented down.

Dirt will always do you in. Be sure to vacuum the sur¬face thoroughly before you begin. Carefully remove any greasy spots.

1. Prepare the base. Like the foundation of the house, the base of the tile must be solid for it to stand up over time. Generally speak¬ing, whatever base you choose should be solid, dry, and smooth. A mortar base is generally considered best for counters, since it can be precisely leveled. However, plywood and "wonderboard," a cement/fiberglass composite, will do as well. You can even use dry-wall, with certain precautions.

Before putting a plywood base on a countertop, be sure that all the cabinets are securely attached to the wall and to each other. If the cabinets shift, they can cause the plywood to move up or down or even separate at the seams, resulting in cracks in grout or even in the tiles.

A mortar bed is actually several layers thick. It can begin with a plywood base, followed by cement that is leveled. Next comes a waterproof membrane (to prevent moisture from coming up from the bottom and dislodging the adhesive). A pattern-wire base is often added for strength. The top bed of mortar is placed above it, followed by the thinset adhesive and then the tiles. Thus:

Tiles
Thinset adhesive
Mortar bed
Wire
Membrane
Plywood base

2. Lay out the work lines. When doing countertops, start with the sink and draw a line widthwise across the counter in front of it.

If there is no sink, draw a line at the edge of the trim tile. This will be your horizontal work line. (Draw the line boldly right on the sur¬face.) Then draw another perpendicular line to help you keep the tiles straight as you move forward.

When doing walls, start at the center of the most prominent fea¬ture, such as a tub or sink. Then draw vertical and horizontal guide¬lines on the wall. When doing floors, start near the center of the room. Draw a straight edge wall to wall. This is your lead line. Draw another line perpendicular to it. This is your secondary line. Follow the lines with the tile.

Avoid the temptation of starting at an edge of the floor, counter, or wall. You may save some cutting of tiles, but you probably will not end up with straight lines or a bal-anced look—both of which are far more important on tile surfaces.

3. Apply the adhesive. Use only as much thinset (cement adhe¬sive) as you can cover with tile in a short period of time. Too much adhesive can dry out before you get to it, requiring a nuisance cleanup. Use a notched trowel with the notch sizes recommended by the manufacturer of the adhesive. Test the adhesive to be sure it's ready for the tile. Lay a trial piece of tile down and then pull it up. It should come up with adhesive uniformly across its back.

4. Lay down the tiles. Be sure to leave room for the grout between them. Plastic spacers are a good aid here, but be sure to remove them after the adhesive dries and before you lay the grout. When laying tile down on a countertop, start with the trim tiles and try to avoid dragging the tile across the adhesive; do the backsplash last. When doing floors, start at the center.

5. Shape the tiles using a cutter and snips. Remember that the center is the easy part. Most of your time will be taken up at the edges, where you have to cut tiles to fit.

6. Secure the design. Move the tiles lightly on the thinset to get them just where you want them. Let the dies set up for half an hour, or whatever period the manufacturer recommends. Then come back and tamp them with a rubber mallet. This helps the adhesive set up and stick both to the base and to the tiles. (Don't tamp hard; you don't want broken tiles!)

7. Clean up. Remove excessive adhesive from the surface of the tiles. Let the tile adhesive set up (usually 24 to 48 hours).

8. Mix the grout. Use water sparingly. Let the grout "slake" or set up for at least 10 minutes. Then apply the grout using a rubber trow¬el. With a downward diagonal stroke (at a 45-degree angle to the tile), push grout into the grooves. Be sure to get as much off the sur¬face of the tiles as possible.

The grout between the tiles should have a nice concave shape rather than bulging out. The way to accomplish this is to remove some grout from the groove, stopping just below the surface of the tile. Usually, the first time you try it you'll think you're removing too much grout. Chances are you're not.

9. Clean the tile. Let the grout sit until it begins to harden (sets up). Then clean the surface with a damp sponge. Don't leave too much water in the sponge, since that will dilute or remove the grout.

10. Let the grout cure. When a film forms over the tile (after about half an hour), remove it with a clean cloth. It will rub right off.

If you're going to use a tile snapper (a device that scribes a line on the tile, then breaks it into two pieces), practice on some flat tile first. The snapper takes some getting used to. Be sure to use a pair of tile nippers for round or difficult cuts. Have the bullnose trim cut on a diamond wet saw (available for rental at many building supply stores). You can't afford to make mistakes on trim tile with a snapper.

Plan on going slowly. Even professional tile workers can take days to install tile. Just remember that this is a sequential process—you put in one tile after another. As long as you're careful that each piece fits where it's supposed to, you should come out okay. Trying to hurry makes for a terrible job.

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