So far you have stripped your bathroom and prepped the floor for tile. In this lesson I will give you tips on tiling the floor. But first, a list of tools and materials. The tools you will need are a wet saw for cutting the tile, tape measure, carpenter's square, chalk line, .5 inch notched trowel, pencil, and a rubber hammer. Materials include you tile, ceramic tile adhesive, and plastic spacers for proper spacing of the tile.
So let's lay out your floor. In this layout you will be tiling under the vanity cabinets to the wall. The first thing you must do is get a parallel line to the wall to assure that the tiles will lay in a straight line and not drift off toward a wall. If your cabinets are on the opposite side of the room as the entrance you can lay out your tiles from the center of the door toward that back wall. Lay the first tile centered on the door way and under the middle of the door, (Note: do not stick these tiles down with adhesive at this time). Lay the next tile adjacent to it using spacers, then lay the next one adjacent to that using spacers. Now you are 3 tiles deep into the room from the door. Draw a pencil line along the third tile parallel to the wall. This is your starting point. Now chalk a line from one end of the room to the other directly on top of this line. Once that is done, measure from the far wall to the line at each end of the line. If the distance is the same, your line is parallel. Draw a permanent line.
When laying tiles you will work from this line to the back wall. Now apply tile adhesive to the floor using the notched trowel. Set your first tile precisely where it should be and tap it down with the rubber mallet. Now set tiles back toward the wall and from side to side using spacers to line them up. Note, don't lay the spacers down but set them on edge so that they can be easily removed. As you get to the back wall and end walls you will need to cut tile to fit. Remember, your cabinets and baseboards will cover the edges so you won't need to be so precise on the back side of the room.
Once the tiles are laid and set on the back side of the room, you will now need to work from the long end toward the door. You will need to back yourself out of the door as you lay the tiles. In most cases when you cut tiles you may be able to cut several at a time. This will reduce the number of trips to your saw and will cut down on time to lay the tiles.
After the tiles are set, I like to let an entire day pass before cleaning the tile and installing the grout. Walking on the tile too soon may cause them to go out of flush and/or squirm. That would spoil your tiling job.
The next lesson is on grouting. There are some very important tips there.
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