Tile How To's
I know Kathy asked about how we were doing this, so here's a quick rundown of what we are doing: (Disclaimer: We have tiled once before, but we are by no means experts. Also, we wanted this job to be as "easy" as possible so we used pre-mixed mastic and grout while true professionals would prefer to mix their own)
1) We had 4X4 ceramic tile that was only 5 years old, very secure, no cracks, no damage, etc. that were laid by the builder directly onto the subfloor (no wonderboard i.e. ceramic backer board), so we were told that we could apply the 12X12 tiles directly over the 4X4 tiles. Essentially the 4X4 tiles were serving as the ceramic backer board. We have a marble threshold from our bedroom into the bathroom and the new tiles lined up evenly with that. No demolition, thank God for that.
2) Scuff up the existing tile with a carbide stone (Home Depot) in a circular motion. Vacuum floor thoroughly. Remove toilet (not hard, I can be more descriptive if you want). Remove baseboards or leave them and plan on using "shoe molding" to cover up the small gaps between the new tiles and the existing baseboards.
3) Determine the tile layout. This can be done using chalk lines or you can simply "eyeball" a good spot to start near the middle of the room based upon architecture. You generally want whole tiles in the center of rooms and to make the cuts around the perimeter of the room.
4) Apply mastic directly to the existing floor (or subfloor) using a notched trowel (Home Depot). Mastic should be about 1/4 inch think and have "grooves" which you make with the notches in the trowel.
5) Press tile onto the mastic, shimmy it into place, ensure that it is level with the tiles surrounding it (use a large level). Either feet, hands, or a rubber mallet can be used to adjust the height of the tiles. Use spacers (Home Depot) to ensure that the tiles are spaced evenly.
6) Set all whole tiles first and then measure and cut tiles using a wet saw. Those cheap "tile cutter" things do not work. Just get a $100 or less wet saw. Wet saws are very loud and spray water out of them, but they are so much better.
7) Allow tiles to dry for at 24 hours but preferably 48 hours (pre-mixed mastic takes longer to dry).
8) Using a float (Home Depot), smoosh grout into all of the lines between the tiles. After about 20 minutes, use a large sponge to begin cleaning the grout off of the tiles. You will need a large bucket to wring out the sponge a lot.
9) After another 24-48 hours, use a grout cleaner to remove the "haze" (a bit of leftover grout) from the tiles. Re-install toilet and moldings (if you need to). You will want to caulk around the edges of tubs, showers, and toilets both for appearance and to keep water from getting under the tile.
10) Seal the tile according to directions on the package of whatever Grout Sealer you buy and you are done!
Here's some pictures of tools that you will need to tile:
Wet saw -
Tile spacers -
Notched trowel -
Rubber float:
