How to install ceramic tile?

Apply a thin coat of thinset with the flat edge of the trowel. You can start with an area one tile high and three tiles wide. You have to be able to lay all the tiles in place before the mortar starts to harden. Apply more mortar on top of the layer you just put down, then rake it flat with the notched edge of the trowel holding it at a 45 degree angle and pressing down enough that it makes a scraping sound. This will create grooves in the thinset, and you want all the grooves to run in the same direction for the entire floor.

These grooves allow air to escape when you press the tile down and you get complete coverage of the tile. Make the thinset a universal thickness throughout the floor. Pick up a tile and back butter it, apply a thin, even layer of thinset mortar to the downside of the tile.

Place the tile in its spot and push down firmly, you can give the tile some wiggles to help all of the air escape from underneath. Put spacers in between each tile. Constantly check that each tile is flat and lined up correctly. Any edge that is sticking up will become a tripping hazard and compromise the strength of the floor. If any of the tiles get out of line, they will throw the whole floor out of alignment and you may need to start over. Work quickly but do not hurry, make sure that every tile is perfectly in place.

Take all of the spacers out of the tiles and then go through each tile joint with a grout remover or knife to get rid of any pieces of thinset that are sticking up. Be careful not to chip any tiles. Mix up your grout, following the instructions on the bag. You want the consistency of peanut butter or a little looser. Let the grout slake for about five minutes, then mix it again for a minute.

Scoop the grout out of the bucket with the rubber float trowel. Then work it into the tile joints at diagonal angles. Use your damp sponge with a bucket of water to clean grout from the tiles as you go along. Do not press too hard and remove the grout from the tile joints. There will be a film left behind that you can clean away later.

If you are tiling a large floor, you may need to change the water that you are cleaning with if it gets too dirty. This will keep the mortar from coming up through the gaps between the tiles.

Lay your tiles. Lay your tiles onto the mortar, starting at the right corner you marked and following a straight line. This is to allow room for expansion and movement, as the material naturally changes with its environment. This gap can be covered with grout, molding, or shoe tile.

Insert the spacers as you go. Place tile spaces between each tile as you go, or simply use your eyes to estimate if using tile sheets. These spacers are usually places at the corners of each tile and look like the cross shape that is formed by four tiles being next to each other. Level the tiles as you go. Use a carpenter's level as you go to make sure that the tiles are level.

Cut tiles for the edges. Use a masonry wet saw to cut any tiles you need for the corners and edges, carefully measuring them to fit for your particular project. Remove your spacers before doing the grout. Remove the spaces once the mortar has set and you're ready to grout! Part 3. Choose a grout. You'll need to decide between sanded and unsanded grout.

Which you choose will depend on the size of the gaps between your tiles. Use sanded grout for gaps bigger than 3mm and unsanded grout for smaller gaps.

Mix the grout. Mix the grout according to the packaging directions. You might want to mix in additives to make it more water resistant or add color that matches better with your tile. Only mix as much as you can apply in about 20 minutes, since you don't want it drying out. Spread the grout. Using a grout float, spread the grout over the area to be grouted working in a small area at a time, again.

Hold the float at a 45 degree angle and spread across the gaps at an angle as well. Spreading parallel to the grout lines can gouge out the grout. Remove as much of the excess from the tile faces using the grout float as you can at this time.

Let the grout sit for 20 minutes. Let the grout cure for 20 minutes. Clean the grout. Using a damp sponge, gently wipe down the tiles and grout lines to remove the excess. Clean just a small area, rinse, wring, and start again. You want to keep the sponge as clean and dry as possible. Let the grout cure. Leave the grout to cure for 3 hours before starting the next section.

Repeat until the surface is grouted. Keep repeating this process until the entire surface is done. In the summer, the opposite applies. Although comfortable enough to walk on, the radiant heat will warm up your home. Ceramic tiles are quite heavy, which means they may not be suitable for an upper-story room. Take a close look at the area where you plan to install your tiles, known as the substrate.

Your substrate is as essential as the tiles themselves, so keep this factor at the forefront. Common substrates include plywood, backer board, and concrete, all of which work well. Regardless of what you go with, it needs to be completely even, spotlessly clean, and stable enough to support the heavy tiles. Even a slightly uneven surface will see tiles peel off over the years.

In either case, symmetry is key. For tile installation with adhesive mix, the cement mortar bed is not required and you can directly install the tiles on the concrete floor. However, if the concrete floor is not perfectly in level then it needs to first brought to level with thin layer of rich cement mortar.

The adhesive mix can be used directly only on the level concrete floor. As discussed in step 2, the concrete surface is leveled with a thin layer of rich cement mortar. This is just to provide the uniform leveled concrete surface. The ceramic tiles are directly installed on the concrete surface using the tile adhesive mix.

Different brands of tile adhesive mix are available with various technical specifications. If you are installing the tiles for the first time as DIY project, then the rapid hardening adhesive is not recommended. The normal mix will give you more time for the tile installation.

The rest of the installation process remains the same as that of installation with the cement mix. Avoid walking on the newly installed tiles. This might disturb the tile level and some tile corners can be pushed downward. After the ceramic tile installation is complete, the tiles need to be thoroughly cleaned to remove any dirt or cement left over on the tile surface.

The adhesive mix stains on the tiles must be cleaned immediately after the tile installation. The wet cement or adhesive mix left on the tile surface can permanently stain and damage the look of the tile flooring. After the tiles are installed, the next step is to seal all the joints with joint sealing compound. The process is simple. Just clean the joints and seal it with grout. Finally, apply a coat of epoxy joint sealer on the grout surface.

The ceramic tile joints can be sealed using different methods. The simplest method is to seal the tile joints with either white or gray cement. You can match the color shade of the tiles by mixing the white cement with color stainer to get the desired shade.

The second method is to seal the joints using a special tile grout mix readily available in the store. After sealing the tile joints, it is advisable to seal the joints with epoxy tile joints sealer coat. Different types of epoxy tile grout sealer are available in the store.

This coat creates a water proof film on the grout surface. The epoxy coat on the tile joints offers many advantages. It prevents the accumulation of dust in the joints. It also handles many maintenance issues associated with the tile joints. Ceramic Tile Installation. Ceramic Tiles Installation Process. The first step is the concrete surface preparation.

The second step is to mark the reference line with level pipe. The third step is to prepare the leveled mortar bed for tile installation. The forth step is to prepare either tile adhesive mix or cement slurry. The fifth step is the installation of ceramic tiles on the mortar bed. The sixth step is to seal all the tile joints with joint sealing mix. Tile Installation Tools.

Set of Trowels.