Laying Ceramic Tiles
Laying ceramic tiles can be a tricky process to get right. Having said that tiling with ceramic tiles is not hard to do but problems can come if you don’t how to cut, measure, or layout the tiles. I have tiled many bathrooms over the years and I am sure that practice makes prefect (or near to it). Their are a few techniques that I have gained from old master tilers that seam to do it so fast and prefect it is amazing. So what are some of theses techniques?
Ceramic Tiling Categories
- Floor tiling – Small to very large tiles – the flatter the tiling surface the easier to tile.
- Wall tiling – Bathroom walls, Kitchen splash backs, laundries.
- Outdoor tiling – Floors and walls -Tiles, glue, and grout that is able to cope with extreme weather and temperature.
Grouting Floor Tiles
Floor Tiling
Before laying floor tiles you need to check the floor is flat. You can use a straight edge or a straight piece of timber to check for large highs and lows. If your floor is rough or has large inconsistencies in it you must repair it with self leveling cement or your tiling will mirror the surface you laided the tiles on. The next thing you need to do is to lay the glue down in a consistent level way. Some people have a flat surface but don’t get the result they want because they have not paid enough attention to spreading the glue in an even level manner. Then place your tiles down carefully gently pressing them into the glue to bed them in. The tiles should be level with the tile next to it with no glue coming up through the gaps. One more point to make is that many tiles will need to be buttered of the back of the tile with a thin film of tile glue to fill up the grooves before placing them down. This insures that the tiles stick and bed down well, if this is not done then large tiles may sound hollow when tapped because there is not enough contact with the glue.
Use spaces to get the correct tile gaps
Wall Tiles
All wall tiles must be laid on a sound straight/ flat surface and the larger the tiles the more critical this becomes. Small mosaic tiles can be laid on a curve of a bath or a feature, however large ceramic tile need to be laid carefully on the flattest surface possible. Most wall tiles must be laid on a bed of glue that has been evenly troweled on. However large tiles sometimes need a different technique because most walls (especially in older homes) are not completely flat which will cause your tiles to stick out or in. So how do you get around it? The techniques is not to spread the glue across the wall with a trowel but put medium blobs of glue on the back of the tile about 100mm or 4 inches apart, then press the tiles on the wall. This technique allows you to position the tile and level the tile with the tiles next to it even if the wall is a bit out. In most cases your ceramic tiles can be laid on a bed of trowelled glue, however once the tiles get larger than about 300mm x 300mm or 1 foot x 1 foot you should use the large tile technique.
Outdoor Tile
Outdoor tiles are laid in the same way as internal tiles however your glue and grout needs to be able to take extreme temperatures and UV light. Also your tiles must be outdoor rated tiles able to take the elements.
Laying Ceramic Tile Tips
- Always use the best glue and grout you can.
- Never buy second grade tiles – Tiles generally last a long time so do the job right.
- Only tile on sound flat surfaces.
- Use a blob of glue technique for large to very large ceramic tiles.
- Match the glue type to the surface you want to tile on.
Bathroom Tiling
Bath Ready to Tile
Bathroom tiling can be difficult to get right and it is a good ideal to layout your tiles (without glue)on the floor along one wall to make sure you don’t have any small cuts at one end. Also bathroom floors must fall to a waste so how do you do it? The larger the tile and harder it is to get the floor to fall to a waste and most tiles over 200mm or 8 inches will have to be split to fall it into the waste. Remember that 1 to 3 degees fall is all in need on a bathroom floor and if you go over this tiling will be extremely difficult to get right.
If you would like to know more about laying ceramic tiles or setting the floors and walls correctly check out a tiling and bathroom renovation pages.
