Do you need a tile saw, a laser and a week to tile a small floor? You need the saw and a straight reference line. The week is mostly waiting. This guide is the order of work for tiling a floor or a wall, and what the videos on this site say about each step.
At a glance
| Skill | Intermediate for a floor; a shower is called a more advanced DIY project in the Lowe’s series |
| Cure times | Overnight before walking on a mosaic floor; 72 hours before showering on new grout (Repairs101) |
| Cost | The basement shower video quotes $250 for tile and grout and $40 for tile levelers, and a $200 tile saw. Prices vary |
Safety
- Wear safety glasses and ear protection at the wet saw. The wet saw traps airborne particulate in water (Lowe’s).
- Wear rubber gloves when grouting, because grout chemistry is corrosive to skin.
- Wear a respirator and gloves when you pour powdered thinset, and use a shop vac for dust (Lowe’s shower pan video).
- Use a sharp knife or scissors on membrane, not tugging, to keep the blade from slipping.
- Plug the drain and use a drop sheet when you rake out old grout (Repairs101).
- Pre-1978 homes can have lead paint on the walls you are working next to. Test before you sand. See Drywall Repair.
Buy now / can wait
Buy now: a tape measure, level, notched trowel in the size on the tile and thinset instructions, a rubber grout float, sponges, buckets, spacers or leveling clips, and safety gear.
Can wait or rent: a tile saw. The basement shower video says to look for a sliding table, and that his $200 saw is enough and you don’t need the $500 model. A laser level helps, but a regular level does the job (Lowe’s).
Step 1: Prep the surface
The Home RenoVision DIY floor video says the best tile jobs happen on the best prepared surfaces, starting with a clean, dry floor. In the shower builds the floor was kept within 3/8 in. of level with no voids, and walls were checked for plumb and square. A bumpy concrete slab was ground flat. On a concrete floor he used an uncoupling membrane (DMX) under the tile.
Step 2: Plan the layout
- Finish with a full tile where people look. On the floor, the first tile was set square to the door, with the cuts going on edges hidden later by trim. A laser on a square gave the same line at both points.
- Measure from the tile, not the wall. The tile is the square reference, he says (he measured to the toilet flange this way and caught a mistake).
- Dry set first. The mosaic floor was dry set before any thinset went down. The drain is centred in the space and the layout shifted to get solid tiles rather than slivers.
- Walls: start from a level line. For subway tile, the first row is dry fitted, cut to a laser line and shimmed with an eighth-inch gap above the pan. Subway tile has a built-in lug, so no spacers are needed.
Step 3: Comb the thinset
- Trowel size. The floor video uses a 1/4 by 1/4 trowel under the membrane and a 1/2 by 1/2 on top for oversized tile. The subway wall tile used a 1/4 by 1/4. Follow your tile and thinset instructions.
- Drag test. With a 1/2 by 1/2 trowel, the ridge should collapse behind your finger.
- Natural stone. Marble mosaic thinset was combed and then knocked down to avoid air pockets.
- Back butter large rectified porcelain with a thin layer, slide it into place to collapse the ridges, then push and pull.
- Mix with a mud mixer, not a cordless drill, because the mix needs torque (Lowe’s), and let it slake for a few minutes before remixing.
Step 4: Set and level
Place tile from your reference, with leveling clips if the tile is large: the floor video used clips with 1/16 in. grout lines. Keep thinset out of the joints. The common mistake is leaving thinset in the joint so clips snap and chip, and a number one pencil cleans the joint. Cuts at walls and doors are kept slightly short where trim will cover them. That video also shows a mismeasured cut: removing the tile and cutting a new one.
Step 5: Cut
- Straight cuts go on the wet saw. Mark with pencil, number the backs and sight down the blade. Blade deflection can leave a tile slightly taller than its neighbour, so shim to the line.
- Around a pipe or valve. The valve video finds the centre point from the reference grout joint, transfers the measurements (6 1/4 in. horizontally and 2 1/4 in. vertically in that example), scribes the radius with a compass, makes repeated straight cuts up to the line, and breaks off the pieces. Nippers also work. The trim overlaps the cut, so fit matters more than perfection.
Step 6: Grout
- Let the thinset cure first. The mosaic floor sat overnight before wall work (Lowe’s).
- Mix slowly. The floor video pours grout into a little water, mixes slowly, waits about 10 minutes and remixes. Overly wet grout shrinks.
- Work a small area at a time. A large section can dry and haze, says Lowe’s. Float diagonally across the joints, top down, with a medium to hard rubber float.
- Wipe twice with a damp sponge, as the manufacturer recommends, without too much water, which can wash grout out. Sponge at 45 degrees. The floor video uses two half-full pails, each with its own sponge.
- Cure. Repairs101 says 72 hours before a shower. If you can’t wait, hang plastic over the tile and take it down right after the shower so air can reach the grout. Polish remaining haze off with clean cotton rags.
Step 7: Caulk the corners
Inside corners are caulked with colour-matched siliconised acrylic, not grout, because it holds paint and flexes with seasonal wall movement (Lowe’s). Cut a very small opening, apply the least possible and tool with a damp sponge. Grout and caulk do not keep water out; the waterproofing behind does. Read Caulking and Sealing for choosing the product.
Mistakes to avoid
- Starting from the wall instead of a reference line.
- Tiling over an unlevel surface or a loose one.
- Leaving thinset in the joints.
- Grouting a whole wall at once.
- Skipping the cure time.
Watch it done
- Tile a shower, Tile a bathroom floor, Regrout tile and the Tile system
- Projects: Tile a Walk-in Shower and Basement Shower Makeover
- The Cracked grout problem, and Planning a Bathroom Remodel
- Tools: tile saw, notched trowel, level
Start with
Start with a small, flat floor or a backsplash, a dry layout on the floor, and a piece of scrap tile to practise the thinset drag test. Do the corners last.
Sources
- Shown on this site, source of the layout, thinset drag test, leveling clips and grouting steps. Tiling a Bathroom Floor on Concrete with DMX Membrane and Grout (video, Home RenoVision DIY) Source
- Shown on this site, source of the wall layout, laser line and wet saw tips. Setting Shower Floor Mosaic and the First Row of Subway Tile (video, Lowe’s Home Improvement) Source
- Shown on this site, source of the valve cut, grouting and caulking steps. How to Cut Tile Around a Shower Valve, Then Grout and Caulk (video, Lowe’s Home Improvement) Source
- Shown on this site, source of the cure time and cleanup. Regrouting a Shower Surround: Rake, Apply, Cure and Recaulk (video, Repairs101) Source
- Shown on this site, source of the saw advice and large-tile notes. Rebuilding a Tiny Basement Shower on a Concrete Slab With Tile (video, Mr. Build It) Source