How to Install Ceramic Tiles Step-by-Step
- 1). Lay the cement board. Cover the surface with cement board (5/8 inches thick for floors, 1/4 inch thick for walls). Cut the boards to size by scoring them with your razor knife and snapping them. Attach them with carpenter's glue and screws. For floors, sink the screws every square foot or so; for walls, put them every foot along the wall studs, finding the studs with your electronic stud finder. Use thinset mortar to fill in the joints between the boards, smoothing it out with the flat side of your tiling trowel. Once it dries, go over it with your belt sander to get a smooth, even surface.
- 2). Lay the mortar and tiles. Use your snapline to divide the space into four even sections, with two lines intersecting at the middle. Starting in one corner of the intersection, spread a few square feet of thinset mortar onto the surface, using the notched side of your tiling trowel. Press the first tile into place in the corner of the section. Lay other tiles alongside it, using the lines as guides and putting plastic spacers between them. Lay all the full tiles that will fit, then go back and cut the tiles for the edges of the space as needed, using your score-and-snap tile cutter. Remove the spacers and let the tiles set overnight.
- 3). Spread the grout. Mix your grout in a bucket with water until it's the consistency of thick mud. Let it stand in the bucket for 10 minutes to fully dissolve, then re-mix it and apply it to the surface with your grout float. Press the grout into the lines beween the tiles while squeezing it off the tile face with the edge of the float. Work in sections, letting the grout sit in the lines for a minute, then wiping away the excess grout with a damp sponge. Let the grout set for two days, then apply your grout sealer over the lines, using the sponge applicator on the sealer bottle.
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