Posted: 1/1/2010 3:29:51 PM EDT
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I plan on laying ceramic tile in a few days. I have done a few small jobs and watched a couple of jobs and generally a pretty decent DIY guy. The question I am running into is where to start? About a year ago I had some guys come in and do the large part of my finished basement and now I am doing a small room adjacent to what they did. I have enough of the original tile to do a border around the room and then plan on using a different color tile inside the border. All the DIY guides say to start in the center of the room. Also the room is a rectangle with one door and I dont want to tile myself into a corner.
Suggestions?? Thanks Chinook3 |
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start in the middle and quarter it off, doing one quarter at a time. ETA: Dry fitting all the tiles first may seem like a fuck ton of un-necessary work, but it is worth it to find flaws in your layout. ETA2: make damn sure your first tier is square. If it isn't, your gaps will grow bigger as you get further from the center. |
| I am a contractor and have ran my own company for 14 years,so I know what I am about to explain is as good an answer as you can get.What you should do to end up with a perfect outcome is lay the floor out so you have the same size cut on all sides of the room,or as close as you can get whyle trying to get the tiles even in the doorways at the same time.A full tile everywhere would be the ultimate goal but usually doesent happen.Where you start actually mortering the tiles down should be where it is easiest to leave the room when you lay the last ones.If you want to have a perfect floor you need to lay the entire floor out as I explained.Make all the cuts and have the entire floor layed out before mortering anything.Pick up a few tiles at a time and morter them down lining them up with the rest of the floor.Do this until all the tiles are layed and you will have a perfect outcome.If you are laying tiles that have to line up with existing tiles then you may not end up with the floor spaced perfect for the room but common sence may help. |
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I started setting tile in 1981...so this may help:
Are you married to the idea of the border being a full unit? I like an uncut field with a cut border. Since you're working in a rectangle, the "same width border" needs to work well for the long and short walls. Centering the room works well but it's more than just the half the distance of the total lengths. IF the room is a parallelogram you need to adjust or the cuts will look like ass. Do NOT be afraid to think it out and remember that what you get done on day one is NOT as important as how the floor finishes up. You can either center the tile on a joint OR using a Sharpie, quarter one of the field tiles and use this "cross" as you center point. I don't do any cutting until the final day, it makes the finished floor flatter if you keep troweling the thinset at an even consistancy instead of stopping at a row end to make cuts. IF the floor is on concrete, you may want to flash any low spots ahead of time. Avoid setting mateials from HD or Lowes, they are not as good as TEC products...my favorite. Since it's your home and not a "money job" allow the floor to dry out for a minimum of 48 hours before grouting. This allows all the thinset to cure out and not effect the final grout color... IF you are tiling over a concrete slab, avoid real dark grout as they tend to cause efflourecence or white mineral leaching. Do not use water from a water softner or you may have the same problem as above. |
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Quoted:
You also may wish to just do the border in the new tile. Less of a PITA. You could go with a square of the old tile in the middle. Like in the center of the pic below. http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/2279/259tilefloor1.jpg NICE!!!! |
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That is great help thanks!!! Actually the border will be half tile cut diagonally as the main floor is diagonally, it will also stretch out the few original tile that I have as there are 2 more rooms I would like to go into. I will do a dry fit and see how things line up. Its an 8X16 room so should not be too big of a job. Putting down some chalk lines will get me started correct and I will put enough of them down that I will be comfortable of keeping it straight.
Thank You for your help!!!! Chinook3 |
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Wow, trying to fit a border of tile in color and then trying to fit tiles of another color in the middle is going to be a PITA. What are you going to do with the edges of the room if the diagonal tiles don't end up fitting properly? Cut the tiles on 2 borders and have non complete trianlges on each side of the room? Here's what I'm trying to explain 
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| I did a nightmare job 10 years ago. It was about 800 Sq Ft in some adjoining rooms. From wall to wall across the span the two walls were 7 feet out of plumb at the worst point. First, about 300 sq ft of slate had to be busted up, and it was down real solid. The slab had peaks and valleys that were off as much as 1/2" in spots. One section of the slab had huge cracks and chips in it some 1/8" and it sagged 1" in the middle of that spot. Took two weeks to finish that job working 2 people 8 hours a day. It turned out ok considering, but wow that sucked. |
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Been there just not to long ago.
Yes, you will need a chalk line. But also if you are good with a computer drawing program it is nice to lay the tiles out so you don't end up with one side of the room having a half inch tile to the wall while the other side of the room has a six inch tile to the wall. You need to make sure the center point of your build will leave you with balanced tiles at the walls on both axis... OH - and by the way, get one of these they are the best thing going to align your tiles while you are laying them!!!!!! 
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Get a copy of Tile Your World and read the forums at JohnBridge.com. Some highlights:
1) Prep is incredibly important. You must have a strong enough floor to support the tile, and you can't just slap it down on top of luan or certain other surfaces. Prep can be as much work or more than laying the tile. 2) As another poster said, beware of some of the materials at Lowes & Home Depot. "Premixed" thinset and grout are a no-go. Aerosol grout sealer is very dangerous. Beware of their advice. 3) All the DIY books say start in the middle and work out. While that often works, it could leave you with a one-inch piece all the way around. Shifting a little could leave more attractive perimeter cuts. Ideally, you get full tiles where it's noticeable, and nearly full tiles where you won't see them anyway. |
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3) All the DIY books say start in the middle and work out. While that often works, it could leave you with a one-inch piece all the way around. Shifting a little could leave more attractive perimeter cuts. Ideally, you get full tiles where it's noticeable, and nearly full tiles where you won't see them anyway. True that!!! That's why I say that center may be half a tile instead of a tile edge. In a 12" format it gives you 7" side cuts vice 1" side cuts. Good thread!!! |