Move the straightedge out of the way and lay the next row alongside the first, using the edge of the tile as your guide.Use this same technique to set each tile, making one row along the straightedge.With fingertips widespread, push down with a slight twist of the wrist. Gently lay a tile on thinset next to the straightedge.Tip: When spreading thinset, press down hard so that the trowel makes a scraping sound the trowel's notch size should equal the tile thickness. Combing the thinset into furrows allows air to escape as the tile is set. Hold the trowel at a 45-degree angle to the floor and spread the thinset evenly in broad curved strokes, then finish with a straight pass, which ensures the best adhesion. Before the scratch coat dries, apply more thinset using the notched edge of the trowel.With the flat edge of a trowel, spread a thin layer of thinset (scratch coat) over a 2-by-3-foot area next to the straightedge.Mix only as much thinset as you can use in 2 hours. Let it slake (rest) for about 10 minutes. Chuck a mixer into a drill and blend the powdered thinset with latex additive-not water-until it's the consistency of mayonnaise.Spread thinset mortar Photo by David Carmack Cut with saw held flat against a tile on top of a piece of cardboard (to represent the thickness of the thinset).Ĥ. Trim door casings with a flush-cut saw so tile can slip underneath.This mark is your starting point for laying tile. Mark the straightedge where it meets a corner of the tile. Lay a straightedge parallel to the C-to-D line and against one side of the center tile.Repeat the measuring and adjusting process for walls C and D. Align these marks with the C-to-D chalk line. After adjusting the A-to-B line, mark the center tile where it touches the chalk line between the other walls (call them C and D).Adjust the center tile along the A-to-B line until measurements at walls A and B are the same. From the center tile, measure to the opposite wall (call it B mark this distance along the tile row.Dry layout, Part II Photo by David Carmack If that measurement is less than 2 inches, go back to the center tile and move it away from wall A to create a wider cut tile.ģ. The mark shows the width of the tile at the wall. Now, go to the tile row and, starting at a joint, measure along the row and mark the distance you just measured. Measure from one wall (call it A) to the nearest tile edge. At the room's center, place a tile where the chalk lines cross with its edges touching the lines.This row determines the size of cut tiles along the walls. Lay a row of tiles along a straightedge more than halfway across the room.The line crossing at the room's center are the starting point of the tile. Find the midpoint of each wall and snap chalk lines on the floor.Save all of the cuts requiring a wetsaw for last.You shouldn't step on any tiles until the thinset has cured for at least 24 hours.When awkwardly sized tiles can't be avoided, place them where vanities will cover them later or out of the main sight lines from the doorway.Strive for a layout that maximizes the number of whole tiles and the size of any cut tiles.Tiling a Floor Overview Illustration by Gregory Nemec Installed the right way, using some basic tools and techniques, a tile floor should last forever, come hell or high water. "Anytime I approach a new job, I make sure the area about to be tiled is stiff enough so it won't flex when someone walks on it and that it can stand up to wet-and-dry cycles," says Ferrante. Otherwise, they won't survive the parade of feet through an entry or the sudden spills in a bathroom or kitchen, where floors go from bone dry to sopping wet faster than you can say "puddle." On a floor, these thin, fragile slices of ceramic require some special care and preparation. "It's beautiful and it doesn't require much maintenance." Joe Ferrante has been laying tile for 30 years-many of them for This Old House-and after all this time, he's still enamored with the material.
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