Tips for Tiling
Sorry it has been such a long time since our last tiling installment, it obviously took more than a week to show you the progress… With the unexpected move, we’ve been working NON-STOP for the last 5 weeks, literally to finish our entire house – I vow to finish projects to at least 95% from now on… no more 75% done for me…. Anyway, after finishing up the house. It took an additional week to completely pack and load the boxes on our ABF trailer…(and I am telling you that wasn’t enough time… but we had to make ourselves just do it, and I now understand why everyone hates moving…) A 2 day drive later, and finally we are at our new, soon to be home… (I’ll talk more about it soon!)
But in the mean time, I am FINALLY able to show you the progress of the flooring, and some tips for tiling, which I really hope you will like. I LOVE it!
I am not a complete novice to tiling… I’ve tiled our upstairs bathroom, the half bath, our last house’s kitchen and two baths, so I wasn’t intimidated by the project. But if you are, you just need to break it down a little, and try not to get overwhelmed. And one on one help cannot be beat for a first timer, so be sure to ask your Home Depot flooring associate for any help you might need.
Tips for Tiling:
1. Pick out your tile, be sure to get the same lot or shade number for all boxes of tiles to avoid slight differences in the looks of your tile!
2. Layout the tile, in place, check the spacing of the cuts, keep the sides even and try to avoid little slits of tile. (please be sure to remove your baseboards!)
* this tile in front of the tub had to be moved just slightly in order to begin with a full tile and not have a sliver of tile , without laying out the design, I would have had a less than ideal cut.
Both sides of the space in front of the tub had about 1/2 a tile showing. It would have looked strange if there was a whole tile on one side and 1/4 on the other… so space them evenly for the best results!
3. Chalk line the main lines, plan to use a laser level. Ours has the option to go side to side and forward, so I can check all lines at one time.
(p.s. you can see in the picture below how uneven the wall is, don’t take for granted that the wall is straight! Be sure to check everything in the room so that lines look their best!)
4. Mix your mortar (we use one of these drill attachments, it makes it so easy… be careful not to burn up the motor of your drill though!) Don’t mix more than half a bag at a time, especially if you are new to tiling!
5. Be sure you have the proper sized trowel… the bigger the tile, the bigger the grooves, ask a tiling expert for the proper size.
6. Just start slow. USE LOTS of spacers and check the tiles for level, before moving on. I feel all a joining tiles with the palm of my hand to make sure they aren’t sticking up unevenly!
One tile down… 200 more to go!
By the way I noticed that one of the best ways to keep the tile level was to spread the mortar for 3-4 tiles at a time.
So now that you’ve seen a few tips from me, I would LOVE to hear your best tiling tips?
We have another project or two on the bathroom to show you before the “big reveal!” but please let us know, what you think!
Disclaimer: The Home Depot partnered with bloggers such as me to participate in its Daltile program. As part of the program, I received compensation from The Home Depot in the form of a gift card to participate in this campaign promoting the new Atmospheres Tile Collection by Daltile. They did not tell me what to say about the products used for the Daltile Program. The Home Depot believes that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. The Home Depot’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations. The winner of any giveaways in this program will be randomly chosen and gift card fulfillment will be handled by a third party.
Cassity Kmetzsch started Remodelaholic after graduating from Utah State University with a degree in Interior Design. Remodelaholic is the place to share her love for knocking out walls, and building everything back up again to not only add function but beauty to her home. Together with her husband Justin, they have remodeled 6 homes and are working on a seventh. She is a mother of four amazing girls. Making a house a home is her favorite hobby.
Thanks for sharing these great tips! And inspiring me to tackle my own bathroom tile project. Will definitely be coming back to this one!
Also don’t be afraid to go diagonal if your walls are really off. It will hide the flaw and looks just as good if not better. My bathroom was straight but my kitchen will have to be diagonal.
All great tips. Before we did a very large living, kitchen & great room a tile layer told us 2 things, first to lay the full field tiles first, then go back and cut & lay all the side pieces. And second one was along with getting the same lot numbers pull tiles from each box and mix them up as you lay them so if there is some difference it won’t be easy to see it. Both turned out to be great tips also.
Definitely my biggest tip is to precut all the tiles before you mix any mortar. That way, it’s just like putting together a puzzle when you are actually laying the tile. For my husband who had never done any tiling, before I went on vacation I precut and numbered all the tiles for him, and it only took him an hour to actually mortar all the tile in place (whereas it took me 3 hours to do all the cutting!). My second tip would be to wrap a rag around a 2×4, and use that to press down and even out the tiles as you go from row to row, this really helps me keep everything even. And my last tip is, it’s MUCH easier to lay tiles in a subway pattern than in straight lines because you don’t have to worry about matching up four corners.
You’re always such an inspiration! We’re getting ready to take out the white porcelain tile in our kitchen (I won’t miss it at all) and replace it with something more family-friendly. Any advice for removing tile in a 22’x25′ kitchen without breaking our backs?
Rent a power chisel to rip it up. It will be worth your time and money. Also use plastic and tape off all doorways, to keep the dust from going all over the house. A friend of ours didn’t and had to dust the whole house in every room and every cupboard. It took him more than two full days to clean up.
Use a small jackhammer. They have flat bits to get under tile and clean off old mortar
Hello! I know I never comment (but I DO read!), but I just couldn’t pass this one by without stopping to say that you are just so darn cute! Now that we are real life friends (if I’ve met you, you’re my real friend…LOL!) I enjoy seeing pictures of you even more.
Your tile job is looking great. I have done a lot of tiling projects so I know how hard it can be on the knees…and the back….and lots of other body parts.
Lisa~
I tiled the kitchen, mudroom and half bath in our first house and will never do it again. Don’t get me wrong, I was proud of myself that I did it, but our next tile job (our new house’s backspash) will be done by a professional. Personally, right now, I’d rather spend the time with my 3 year old than have to worry about spacing, grout and lot numbers.
More power to you.
Maybe this is the tile I need to try… I saw they have some slate/travertine lookalikes in the line too and I wanted my little entry to be slate but I hate grouting slate. Looking forward to seeing the reveal!
1 tile to go and 200 more, you can do this alone? Also my neighbor told me to make sure that you have all the tiles and cut the tiles before mixing the the mortar.