Anybody laid down ceramic floor tiles before? (calling out Reed the handyman))

[~AK49~]

laying tile isnt hard, and you can do everything you said.

but of course if you want to do it right then no.

1. you need primer how the **** are they gonna stay!

2. take your time and do it in section if you like, but plan ahead and get the pattern right dont fucking make a hack job of it, if your going to do it do it right.

3. NO, the tiles wont match up and you be wasting more materials then you should have can save you alot in the end. start from one corner out and thats it. but of course if you tile dimensions and your floor dont match up then yes. But mesaure first, so that you can see how much of a half tile you will need, that way you start off from one corner half tile and then out. still from one end to the other not spots.


all that it takes is pre thinking and planning, its really easy work, whats the padding on each side and that will be your half tile, the middle is full tile.

Yeah bro, I'm not a complete nincompoop. I've done all my measurements, dry layed out my tiles to see how they'll fit, made some small adjustments for better fit to the room, etc.

I'm just gonna wait until tomorrow when I can cut the edge tiles and lay them in at the same time.

[Pancho.Villa]

Yeah bro, I'm not a complete nincompoop. I've done all my measurements, dry layed out my tiles to see how they'll fit, made some small adjustments for better fit to the room, etc.

I'm just gonna wait until tomorrow when I can cut the edge tiles and lay them in at the same time.

you sound like you already know what you wanted to do and how to do it, it aint rocket science you know, theirs more then one way to skin a cat.

As long as the end product is eye pleasing its all good.

[squealpiggy]

When I tiled the wall by my bathtub I thought I'd made a total mess of it, really fucked it up. It all looked crooked and shady. But then I loked closely, really closely, at professional tiling jobs and honestly, my work was comparable. It's just how closely do you look at a tile job?

[WarriorSoul]

Most common problem people do when laying tiles is starting from a corner. Never start in a corner, start by laying the tiles from the middle of the room then go outward. Depending on the size of the room, you can either do it all in a day or pick up where you left off in another day.

[baCCaT]

#1 No

#2 Yes

#3 No

its yes no yes ..

[Canelo Phresh]

Got some questions. I've sanded and scraped the floor clean (will sweep, vacuum and mop before I start laying). Onto thee questions;

1. Is it critical/essential that I put primer on the floor first for ceramic tiles? Ive heard/seen some do it, and others not mention it, so I'm just wondering if its critical. I'm trying to skip this step if its not needed because then I can start tiling tonight, and don't have to wait for the primer. (Concrete floor BTW)

2. Is it okay to do sections at a time (per day), or do I have to whack it all out at once? I don't have the luxury of clearing the room out completely (fridge, sofa, etc). As it stands, I can move crap around and do a fourth of the room at a time. Have to pet it sit for 24 hours, then grout, etc.

3. This question ties into question 2. The tiles by the walls are going to need some trimming/cutting. Is it alright if I lay out/set all the rest of the tiles, and then come back the next day(or the day after next) with the cut/trim tiles for the wall and then set them? Or should I not start until I get all those tiles cut?

Shouldnt have to lay primer on concrete. Its fine to do sections at a time. Square up the starting room with an imaginary perfect square in a corner then expand. Fill in the sections to the wall last. If you dont like the borders get a thick molding to blend it in.

[Uturn]

Ex tiler here of 5 years experience checking in.

1. How level is your floor pal? Any holes or dips in the floor? Is the concrete a smooth surface or rough? It's better to primer the floor IMO. That said, it isn't always necessary.

2. No you do not need to tile the whole floor in one outing. You are better off tiling the main part (the middle) first and the next day doing the off cuts around the edges. I always started in the middle, and finished off around the edges. I would do the cuts the next day once I've finished the middle. It was always easier that way because the adhesive can take a while to go hard or set before you can step on them. It's difficult to get around the corners when you've tiled the middle part on the day. The adhesive can take hours to set in properly and you don't want to starting moving them around by even the slightest. You will find yourself having to watch your stepping so you don't move the other tiles around.

If you did however want to tile the whole floor in one day, you can use an adhesive called rapid set (not sure if its called that in the US) but the adhesive will begin to go hard within minutes of laying the tiles. However, this can make you rush the job and make mistakes, because it starts setting very quickly, and if you misplaced a tile or whatever, you will find yourself having to smash the tiles off and it could get messy. I don't recommend you go this way about it though. The only reason I would buy rapid set is if I had to get the job done in a day.

My advice would to tile the main part of the floor first (the middle). The next day do the cuts. I'd do all the cuts at once to make sure they all fit, and then get the adhesive ready to lay them after. Much more efficient that way because you can bang the lot in at once.

3. Get all your cuts done first.

Measure your floor and figure out how big the cuts are going to work out from each side of the walls. One side may have a small tiny cut, and the other side a big one. If you work it out, you can make the cut from each side more symmetrical instead of one big cut and one small cut to the other side of the wall. That is not imperative though. Depends on how much perfection you want or if you just want the floor to look half tidy I guess.

Tips.. Check with the level when you've laid a few of the tiles to make sure its fairly level. Use spacers to space the tiles apart. That way they can't move as much too. Look down the line of tiles to make sure its in a straight line and you aren't tiling them on a slant. Do not step on the tiles till the next day, just to make sure they don't move around. Do not grout the floor the same day you've been tiling. Give it a day for them to set in firmly, then proceed to grout the floor.

Feel free to send a PM if you are stuck.

[~AK49~]

^perhaps your advice should have been to get some cottdamn kneepads....

Thought I could save a few bucks and tough it out....needless to say my knees are hurting today