How To Tile Your Floor
Thursday, January 28th, 2010If you want to completely change a room, the most dramatic change you can make is to install a new floor. But should you choose bamboo laminate flooring, vinyl plank flooring, or even carpeting?
When homeowners are deciding on a type of tile to use in their rooms, ceramic tile is usually near the top of the list. Ceramic tile is so popular because of its versatility. It’s attractive, it’s durable. And, it lasts a long time.
In laying ceramic tile, preparation of the floor is critical. The most important thing is that you start with a clean, flat floor. That means removing all carpeting, old tile, nails, and so on. If the floor is unlevel, you should take steps to level it. If necessary, you may have to lay a sub-flooring over the existing floor in order to get a nice flat surface.
When the sub-flooring has been prepared, the next step is to choose your starting point.
A professional will normally choose to lay tile starting at the center of the area and move outwards from there. The center of the room is the focal point for people entering it and you want to make sure that you get that right.
When you have found the center, you simply snap chalk lines to help guide yourself in the laying of the first tiles. When you’ve reached this point, you’ve completed the most difficult part of your task.
Going forward, your tasks are relative simple. You’ll primarily be mixing the tile adhesive, applying the adhesive to the back of the tiles, and laying it on the floor – always moving out from the center of the room towards the four walls. It may be necessary to cut tile pieces as you get near to the wall or corners.
When the tile adhesive is dry, apply grout between the tile pieces to fill in the joints. Finally wipe the grout residue.
You can read more about evaluating and installing vinyl flooring at our website.
