5 Tips For Laying Ceramic Floor Tile

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If you are like me, hate reading long boring books, then you will definitely like watching the easy to follow videos on laying ceramic tile.

Randy Davis not only has over 20 years experience laying ceramic tile but also has the experience of teaching, what a great combination as you will see.

Here is just some of the topics covered.
- Cutting around faucets, jams , wall plugs , and more
- Laying the tile out correctly
- Dressing the joints

And the list goes on. Click here to discover how everyone is laying tile like a professional.

1. Have the proper tools. Do not waste your time by not having the right tools. You may be saving money but you will be wasting time, effort, and the overall project results may suffer. Be sure to use the tool as they are designed. Trying to chip tile away with a screw driver and hammer can be very dangerous. If you do not have the proper tools check your phone books for tool rentals. Most rental stores will have the necessary tile cutters. The money you spend renting the tools will payoff in the long run.

2. Take the time to prep the area. Your tile project may be planned as a weekend project but it does not have to look like one. One of the biggest mistakes is rushing through the prepping of the area to be tiled. If the floor is not leveled take the time to fill the voids. Home improvements stores carry a cement based floor leveling compound. Be sure to read the packaging but most will bond to concrete and wood sub flooring.

3. Test fit your layout. Before mixing any thin-set, layout a couple of rows of tile to see how it will line up. Remember the floor will be more visually appealing if the tiles are centered in the room. By laying a row in each direction you can see how much will need to be cutoff when the tile reaches the wall. The goal is for the last tile to be less than half of a tile (This will save you some money!!). If it more than half of a tile you can try shifting your placement. The goal here is to prevent using a tile that is over half the width because after cutting the tile the remaining portion (less than half) would not be used anywhere.

4. Sealing It Up. There are many different kinds of sealer to use on ceramic tile and the grout. You will want to follow the manufactures suggestions on the application. Grout and Tile sealers will make the area a lot easier to clean. I have seen some tile grout that was less then 1 year old that was stained and uneven looking. Spend the time to properly seal the tile and grout as recommended by the manufacturer.

5. Maintenance. After the installation you will want to periodically clean your floors with a cleaner designed to clean ceramic floors. Also remember Tip #4, you will want to follow the sealers recommendations on when to reapply the sealer. Trust me; it is not fun scrubbing stains out of the grout.

Those are the 5 tips on installing ceramic tile floors. I hope you are able to take something away from this.

Still got questions? Learn the secrets of laying tile. Discover tips from the pros. Click here for videos on installing tile. It is a must have.