Tiling A Floor

Although tiling a floor may seem like a big job it is not beyond the capabilities of most people who have a practical bent and perhaps some previous experience of DIY. Bear in mind, however, that complex floor tiling that involves specialist tiles may be best left to the experts unless you really do know what you are doing. The key steps to take here include:

1. Measure the floor area - first you need to assess how many tiles you will need to tile your floor so you'll have to measure the floor area first. It is always wise to overbuy a little here as you'll probably have some wastage at some point and there's nothing worse than running out of tiles when you are halfway through the job!

2. Preparing the floor - you need to take up the existing tiles/covering on your floor and then make sure to clean it thoroughly. At this stage the floor needs to be clean, dry and free from dust and debris - it also needs to be level. You should also remove skirting boards and so on as necessary.

3. Laying out the tiles - a lot of people find it useful to lay their tiles out on the floor before they start to see how they will look and which ones (if any) will need cutting. This is best done over a chalked set of lines that bisect the floor from the middle of the longest wall to the middle of the shortest one to give you a grid to work to.

4. Laying the tiles - next take one of your chalked corners and spread out tile adhesive. Most experts will recommend using a special trowel/spreader for this as it will given a more even coverage. Start laying your tiles on the adhesive until you have covered the area. You'll still be following your chalked lines here. And, you can then carry on into different areas of the floor as you finish each one. It's also a good tip to regularly test that your tiles are level as you go along. Once you are done and the adhesive has dried then you can cut your remaining tiles into the right shape/size with a tile cutter and lay those. If you are sealing your tiles then you should do this now.

5. Grouting the tiles - once the adhesive and/or sealant have dried you will need to apply grout to the tiles. This is best done with a special grout applicator that will push the grout firmly and evenly into the spaces between each tile. It is important here to remove the excess while the grout is still damp with a damp cloth or sponge.