Ceramic tile is a beautiful and versatile flooring option. There are many colors and styles to choose from, and several pattern layout options. Ceramic tile is less expensive than stone tile or hardwood, it's easy to clean and care for and it will give your home an open, airy look. Laying ceramic tile is a popular do-it-yourself home improvement project because, although it isn't for novices, it can be successfully done by a non-professional with the proper know-how and the right tools.
Preparation
If you have flooring and/or underlayment already in place, you will need wrecking bars, a hammer, and a scraper to remove it and expose the subfloor. You can also use these tools to remove baseboards and trim. If you are laying tiles around a door jamb, you may want to use a jamb saw to cut a space in the jamb for the tile, rather than cutting the tile to fit around the jamb.
Subflooring
Before laying ceramic tile, your subfloor must be in perfect condition. For wood subflooring, you will need specialized floor nails and floor screws to secure the floor tightly to the joists. For concrete subflooring, you may need a belt sander or underlayment like cement fiberboard to deal with uneven surfaces. No matter what your type of subfloor, you must use a level at every step to make sure it's completely flat throughout.
Laying Tile
To lay your tile, you must first apply an adhesive to the floor with an edged trowel. Lay the tile from the center of the room outward, using plastic spacers to keep them even. Use a specialized spacer-removing tool to take the spacers out, and be sure you remove them before the adhesive sets.
Cutting Tile
You will need to cut tiles that don't fit your space. To do this, you will need a wet saw, which uses a circular diamond blade to cut through dense surfaces; a tile snapper, which scores and snaps tile neatly in half; and a tile nipper, which breaks off small pieces of tile to fit awkward shapes. Use a tile sander to smooth any rough edges.
Grouting
You will need a mixer and a bucket to blend your grout. Once mixed, your grout should be the thickness of peanut butter. Use grout floaters to spread the grout over the tile. These specialized tools force the grout into every crevice, avoiding gaps. Once set, remove the excess with a wet grout sponge, being sure to rinse the sponge often. Once dried, mistakes can be fixed using a grout saw.
