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Some features become an integral part of your home. For example, suppose you renovate your bathroom. You often tend to have clarity about amenities – whether you need a shower, bathtub, or both. If you want to have both, but smaller square footage becomes a hurdle, you would persist with your searches until you discover a way to include both.
In this effort, you may either remodel your bathroom to push the walls a few inches away or pick a style that promises the comfort of both. Nowadays, you get freestanding tub designs with shower facilities. Hence, you can switch to them and avoid the hassle of intensive renovation work too.
Similarly, you can have some preferences about the choice of sink faucet. Choosing a sturdy faucet for your washroom can be one of them. Another thing is the flooring. Again, tiles seem to be the bathroom’s best partners. Changing flooring can be expensive, but it can deliver impactful results. But if you wish, you can make this exercise affordable by using your expert DIY skills. Do you doubt whether it is worth taking this risk? Well, here are some suggestions. It would give you an overall idea of what you have to do and how.
In This Post:
Preparation
You need to know the surface on which you will do tiling. Concrete floors can be easy to treat with it. However, if you have a wood floor, you need to create a tile underlayment before adding the tile; it can be of two types – an uncoupling membrane or a tile backer. Besides, you would have to keep various items handy. These include grout, tiles, adhesive or mortar, buckets, cleaning sponge, water, pencil, degreasing agent, tape measure, hand gloves, tiles spacers, spirit level, tile cutters, grout float, screws, trowel, silicone sealant, etc.
Before you get started, it will be better to inspect the floor for bumps, cracks, and cleanliness. If there is an anomaly, you can apply a degreasing agent to fix the surface. In essence, the floor has to be completely ready for this job. It can also range from boarding wood flooring to priming concrete floors, etc.
Choice of the Right Place
You wouldn’t want to step on the area you just finished to spoil the new floor tiles. Hence, recognizing the exit and access points is crucial. Beginning from the middle of the floor can be a good idea as it gives you a scope to move out from the corners. Or, you can tile one half of the area and let it dry before taking up the other side.
Floor Priming
Sometimes, you can place tiles over the existing tiled floor without having to do anything else. Or, you may have to consider the choice of tile, adhesive, and the health of the bed to understand whether you should prime the surface. Again, it will be better to ask your tile shop about the right approach. But if you notice dust on the floor, priming can be the best thing.
Measurement
You would need a pencil or chalk to divide the floor into two parts from one wall to another. Make sure the line is straight. Also, please don’t get complacent that opposite walls will have the same size as many square rooms may lack this.
Dry Tile Trial
You can choose the middle point to build a row of tile in both directions to the wall. Don’t forget to utilize 3mm tile spacers to maintain evenness in the tile joints. Sometimes, a thin tile piece may require sizing at the wall. Since it can be a lot of work, begin from the center once again so that you have to cut a larger portion of the tile. Also, keep in mind that you would need some space for sealant and grout joint too.
Tile Cutting
Once you get the proper layout, you can trim the required tiles to finish your tiling job faster. For this, you get different types of tools in the market. Straight cuts are easy to achieve with manual cutters and complex designs with an electric knife. To make this task a little smooth, you can put one tile over another full tile and highlight the overlapping area from where you have to cut. But, again, leave enough room for grouts and sealants.
Adhesive
You will have to prepare mortar or adhesive in a bucket as per the manufacturer’s instructions. Once ready, you can apply it to the lines you drew on the floor. You will have to use a notched trowel at a 45-degree angle to make sure the adhesive spreads evenly in this process. While doing this, you should focus on smaller areas of about one square meter size. The glue will dry as soon as you spread it. Hence, covering smaller parts can be favorable. Just ensure that you pick the right adhesive type for tiles.
Tiling
Start with one tile, which has to sit in its place on the adhesive firmly. Press and adjust it sufficiently to allow the glue to spread evenly. If you work with larger pieces, putting a thin layer of it on the backside of the tiles can be significant. Let the tile dry so that you can install grout also. At this time, you can also use a spirit level tool to check whether the tile is horizontal or not. Next, you can add tile spacers. After waiting for three to four hours or overnight, you can grout the tiles in small groups. Make sure you don’t prepare grout in large quantities as it can become hard too soon.
Also, when you are ready to apply the mixture, you would need a grout float to spread it in the gaps for solid bonding. Let grout lines dry before you wipe the floor with a wet sponge. Don’t apply force while cleaning the surface. If you notice excess grout, you must use a grout profiler. After this completes, you can put silicone sealant and smoothen it too for the best results. Leave the floor for 24 hours.
It is a lot of work, but you can enjoy this for the love of DIY projects and money-saving opportunities.
