It is easy today for the average home owner to install ceramic tile in their home. It’s as easy as troweling the mastic adhesive on the wall and pressing the ceramic tile into it with a twisting motion, and they stick! Well maybe there is a little more to it but the hard parts are the lay out and cutting the tiles. The joints are most often automatically spaced by little nibs on the edges, separating the edges to receive the grouting. Setting ceramic tile on walls only raises the surface approx. 3/8″. This is a real advantage and usually causes no problems.
There are a wide range of patterns and costs of ceramic tile today, allowing the average homeowner to coordinate with any style their heart chooses. Trim tile can also be purchased and like the field tile they are flat, with the cap bull nosed. They are used to trim off the edge of the field tile, though today often a simple plastic edge trim is used to accomplish this. To make a 90 degree corner a face miter is used even by professionals.
Ceramic tile come in all sizes, though 4” and 6” wall tile are common. When calculating quantities make sure you add some allowance for cutting and breakage. You can take a sketch of the areas to the sales person where you are buying the tile and they will be able to help you estimate the amount of tile needed if you are having trouble doing this.
Tools needed:
The minimum tools needed are a hand tile cutter, nippers, a notched trowel for spreading the adhesive, a sponge for cleaning the tile, and a rubber squeegee for spreading the grout, all of which can be rented, though most are fairly inexpensive. An abrasive, carbrundium or diamond blades for tile are all available at most lumberyards and hardware stores. These can be used with electric hand or table saws for cutting tile, though this can be very dusty. You can rent a small portable wet tile saw with diamond blade at most rental places to make those difficult cuts, but most cuts can be made with the hand tile cutter.
Wall preparation:
The walls to be tiled must be solid and clean, with all holes patched. The walls should also be primed or sealed. For walls in bathrooms a minimum of water resistant drywall should be used. Around tubs or in showers a cement board is really the wall board to use. It is a little harder to work with and a little more expensive but will stand up in these high moisture areas.
Planning and Layout:
Planning and layout is necessary at the start, in order that the tile will run level and at a suitable height for cutting around any fixtures encountered. For instance, if the walls above the bathtub are to be tiled for a shower enclosure, make a mark at the approximate top and divide by the tile size to find the number of courses.
Tip: Lay out a row of tiles on the floor and measure to learn exactly how much space they take as tile do not always lay up exactly to the dimension they were bought.
Lay out this vertical distance on the wall and level a pencil line around to define the area to be covered with tile. If the tub is out of level, measure up the height of 3 tiles from the lowest point and level a line around the area. Also measure the width of the back wall and divide it by the number of tiles it will take to cover the wall.
Tip: Walls are not always plumb, especially in showers, and, the slope is more apparent if the final row of tiles is narrow. Plan to cut tiles at both sides, leaving them as wide as possible.
Then somewhere close to center (sometimes it will be the center) make a vertical plumb line on the wall where you want the edge of a tile. You will start laying the tile at this center plumb line, working in both directions. The end walls are tiled from lines plumbed even with the front of the tub, beginning at the line, and then cutting the last vertical row of each to fit against the back wall. Make sure the horizontal grout lines are kept even around the area.
When tiling in the shower, the floor needs to be laid first (we will talk about laying floor tile another time).
Note: Floor tile are different than wall tile. They are made to stand up to wear therefore are harder than wall tile, and often textured to make it nonskid especially for bathrooms and areas where moisture may be present. The adhesives used to set floor tile are also different but the process is fairly similar.
You will need to start laying the tile on the walls directly above the floor tile with the field tile, in the same way as above the tub. Since waterproofing is of utmost importance, it is important that the tiles are installed correctly and have a good even contact to the walls throughout.
Next time we will be actually setting the tile.