Hey guys,
So I move into my new house soon, and I need to tile the bathroom floor. It's carpeted now...
Now I love mildewed carpet as much as the rest of you, but I think it'll look alot better with tile.
How hard is this to do as a do-it-yourself project? I want ceramic tile, not linoleum, so what's involved with this job?
I'm sure there's at LEAST one guy in here who's done this. Any tips about installation, and good sources for tile, will be greatly appreciated.
BDV
Next installment: wall demolition...

 

you can get these little felt crosses that go in between the tiles in order to space them exactly the same...grommet can be a little messy but itll sure beat having carpet

 

It's not to bad providing you have some patience! Make sure your floor is free of any imperfections and like Vanhecht stated you can pick a pack of plastic crosses in 3 different sizes. You also can buy pre mixed adheasive and grout to make things easier as well.

 

is not real hard, I would suggest getting a book form HomeDepot. The basics are, level the floor ( leveling compound), figure out were to start, ie: middle, left of middle ect., square a chalk line down the center of the room and side to side too keep the tiles square. Then use string on finish nails above the chalk line's. The mastic, tiles, and grout are the easy part.

 

its not hard. Measure twice cut once. Dry fit the frist couple rows.Start square and the rest will fall in place.Shop aroud for tile the capet stores charge way to much for there tile. Around here its 4 dollars a foot to install so u can save big bucks. Think about it and plan and read. Lots of good place on the net to get info.

 

The tile stuff isn't too bad. Of course the small tiles take longer, but I like the way they look. When I do a bathroom floor, I like to add about 30% to my budget in both time and materials. You want to have a good solid base or you'll get cracks. The cement board is great, but you still need a good base. I've usually had to replace some of the flooring due to water damage. If the layout is easy enough and I'm not rushed, (like it's the only bath so hurry up!), I've just striped the room of toilet, cabinets and ect. Gives me more room to work and if I have to rip up all the rotten pressboard down to the subfloor to replace with plywood, I easily can do. I've found it's easier to replace than try to rip up the old linolium. And if it's rotted through the subfloor, those spots need replaced, too. Hopefully, your floor is flat, dry and the old sheeting peels right off..

Then I take real good measurements. Not just length and width, but how much out of square it is - I have a pretty good idea from the plywood phase - so I can figure out where to hide the taper.

For the tile part of it. The Depot or Lowes has those classes and it's not a bad place to ask questions, see how long this might take and maybe even practice a bit. See if you'll be happy with the cheap cutters or rent a good one - this stuff can be a lot of fun.

I've done apartments and rentals, a few houses, but I've had the hardest time on my own house. I just have a hard time picking the pattern - You'll have to look at your work for a long time...

You know, the tile stuff is a real easy DIY project. It's the other stuff, like subfloor shape, that are unknowns till you tear into it.

 

You don't say if the floor is wood or concrete but at your elevation I guess it's wood. Layout is important. Measure where the center of the room is and determine how the tile will work out at the walls. You don't want to end up with a little piece. You can start with the edge of the tile on the center or the center of the tile.. Don't square the guide lines off the walls, they may not be square with the room . Once you determine the layout, snap a line the lengh and width of the room where the edge of the tile will be.. Use the mulitples 3-4-5 method of squaring your chalk lines. From the crosspoint, mark at 3' on one leg and 4' on the other. Measure from the 3' mark, and adjust the line so 5' hits the 4' mark .. Your lines are square.. If the room is large enough use 6-8-10 , etc..If you can get away with all straight cuts a simple score and snap cutter will work but a tile saw is nice. A nibbler is also handy for round corners. Good luck ..

 

I used "Hardi Board" on my last bathroom as an underlayment. It was a lot easier to cut than the cement boards and didn't leave all the sandy mess. Only time will tell if it's as good. Your tile job is only as good as your prepared surface. Don't shortcut the floor preparation.

 

the hardest part for me was getting started....as they said above, the little spacer things are great, have something you can use to cut out corners, and half tiles and all...take your time and take breaks!

 

If it's wood, you definately want Durock or Hardi-Board underneath. The American Tile Association (or wnatever they're called) says you should have a full 1 1/2" of subfloor under the tile. So if you already have 3/4" subfloor, lay another 3/4" of the backer over that. Even in a small room, the floor will flex so you want to make it as solid as possible.

For me, the cutting and laying of the tile is real easy. It's the grouting that takes time. As stated above, most home improvement stores or tile shops will have liturature for the DIY folks. Sometimes the tile shops will have better prices on tile, too.
And spend the extra $20 and get the right tools for the job.

If you're using 1" or 2" tile, you can get those with a mesh backer so you just roll it out like carpet.

Make sure you get the right flanges for the toilet, too, since you'll be raising the floor a bit.

Good luck and have fun.

Kevin K.

 

It's an upstairs bathroom, and it's kind of a funky design. It's two toilets and lavatories, separated by the shower which is in a corridor between the two rooms. The whole thing is going to need to be tiled, so I wonder if I should just hire the work out...
BDV

 

No way. You have no idea how easy it is. It may seem a little intimidating at first, but once you start, you'll realize how easy it is.

The first tile job I did was in my new house about 2.5 years ago. I installed my own countertops in the kitchen with granite tile. I've since then laid ceramic tile on the basement stairs, on half of the basement floor and in the full bath in the basement. I also did some imported indian slate tile in the closets where the tile guy thought we were gonna carpet. Now THAT stuff is a pain.

If you'r eunsure, go get a piece of backer, some tile, mortor and grout, and use it as a practice floor. Cut some tiles at angles and some with notches to see how much is involved. It's not that bad.

Kevin K.

 

BDV,

Both my younger brothers do tile work. If you want a quality long lasting job you may want to contract out. They "float" all floors and walls with concrete over roofing paper and then use "thin set conc." to set the tile in. There are easier methods as others have said but most will crack the tile in a few years. If you have lots of "cuts" around things you also may want a pro. If you choose to do it yourself I would also recommend the classes at Home Depot. One tip is to lay the whole thing out cuts and all with the plastic spacers to make sure it fits well before you set it. If you rely on a grout joint measurement you often get a cumulative error that screws you in the end. Oh and no real professional sets tile with mastic.

 

Because most bathrooms are cramped and irregular shaped, lay out and cut all your tiles before you put the mud down. Then starting from the farthest point from the door, pick them up left to right, in order, and stack them outside the door.

Try full tiles in front of the bathtub and any 1/2 tiles near the toilet or vanity section where they are not noticed.

imo
When someone looks into the bathroom, they should see the full section of tiles. Since most toilets face the bathtub, that means where people spend the most time looking at something, they see the nicest tiles. Especially if you use a flora design tile around the borders.

Read the books, go for a demo at Home Depot(!), then go home and go for it.

 

Why can't you use linoleum? REally? It's not the master from your description, the care/cleaning/sealing is way easier, and bang for the buck is way better. Now if it's a real expensive house, then fine, tile it. But if it's a standard middle class, i live and work in my house house I'd go linoleum. Easy, reasonably cheap, couple hour job.

BTDT
Tile is easy to do.
To do very well is not so easy.
Simple things done well look way better in the long run than complex things done average or worse.

Brian