How to lay tiles on the floor with your own hands

General construction work, which includes laying tiles on the floor, is the lot of professionals. However, if you know certain rules and the sequence of work, even such a complex matter becomes available to everyone. How to put the tiles on the floor yourself is described in this article..

Any major overhaul is completed by arranging the floor. A huge number of flooring options provide uniqueness, both in terms of color-textured solutions, and in terms of performance, renovated premises. The only obstacle in choosing may be a lack of imagination. However, there are rooms and zones in which you don’t have to invent anything and reinvent the wheel – there is already the most optimal option. Such premises include the entire sanitary and utility block: entrance hall, bathroom, toilet and kitchen. Uniform requirements – increased wear and water resistance and ease of cleaning, determine the optimal type of flooring – tiles.

Anyone can choose a tile so that it fits perfectly into the interior, but to put it in place – here you need certain skills. How to do this will be described in this article..

Required tools and materials

1. Levels: one meter and two meters.

2. Roulette and pencil.

3. Notched spatula (tooth height 5 millimeters), ordinary spatula.

4. Pliers.

5. Mixer with a nozzle for mixing bulk mixtures.

6. Rags for cleaning tiles.

7. Brush or broom.

8. Angle grinder (grinder) with a cut-off wheel for stone – necessary for cutting hard tiles, for example, porcelain stoneware.

9. Tile Cutter – Required for trimming conventional ceramic floor tiles.

10. Rubber mallet.

11. Rubber trowel for grouting.

12. Crosses for laying tiles. Depending on the required width of the seams, you need to select the size of the crosses. For floor tiles, the optimum dimensions are 2.5–3 mm.

13. Tile adhesive.

14. Grout. You can buy the desired color at once, or you can take white and a suitable color scheme for it. In the second case, it will turn out a little cheaper..

15. Deep penetration primer. Necessary for better adhesion of the tile adhesive to the concrete base.

16. The floor tiles themselves. To keep the undercutting as small as possible, it makes sense to select tiles with optimal dimensions. When calculating, do not forget about the seams (approximately 3 mm each).

Laying tiles

1. Preparing the floor for laying tiles. The ideal surface is a concrete screed. We clean the screed from debris, cut off all the cones. Sweep the surface to be prepared with a broom moistened with water. Using a brush, we prime the floor surface. We mix the tile mortar with a mixer, and with the help of a spatula we level all the unevenness of the floor with it.

2. Place the lighthouse tiles in the corners of the room and measure the floor horizontally using a two-meter level. This is done in order to find the highest point on the floor. Here the glue layer will be minimal. We estimate the required thickness in other places using the level.

3. Using a square, we measure the corners of the room to determine the direction of laying the tiles. The fact is that the tiles have right angles. If you move from a wall that forms an angle less than 90 ° with another wall, you will have to either cut each tile in width, or move each row relative to the previous one, which will ruin the appearance of the finished floor. You should start from a straight or slightly larger than 90 ° angle – then a small gap can then be closed with a plinth. When choosing a starting angle, you should also consider how visible it will be. A row of solid, uncut tiles should be prominently displayed.

4. If there are obstacles on the floor, for example, a sewer pipe, then, having marked the tiles, cut a hole in it with the corresponding shape of the obstacle. This is best done with special crowns. If they are not there, a hole can be made in soft ceramic tiles by biting off the tiles in small pieces using pliers. The risk of splitting the tiles is quite high, but when you put in place even the split tiles, the seams will be practically invisible. If you are laying porcelain stoneware, then you need to understand that it is almost impossible to make a hole in it at home. In this case, just skip this place. Subsequently, it can be closed with something, or laid out with a mosaic of scraps. In any case, when cutting tiles, it is important to observe safety precautions and be very careful and careful. Wear protective goggles and gloves.

5. Knead the solution. To do this, we collect two liters of water in a bucket and only then add glue to it, bring the solution to the state of thick sour cream. Let the solution settle for five to ten minutes.

6. Using a comb trowel, apply a layer of mortar on the floor, the width and length corresponding to the intended number of tiles to be laid, optimally on three to four tiles. To remove dust and provide better adhesion to the floor, wipe the tiles with a cloth soaked in water.

7. We begin to lay the tiles taking into account the required layer of glue and controlling its position in the horizontal plane using a meter level. With the same level, we press down the tiles, evenly distributing the load over the entire plane. If necessary, tap the protruding tiles with a mallet.

8. We insert distance crosses between the tiles, while immediately using them we clean the seams. Periodically wipe the tile surface from excess glue. Once dry, this will be much more difficult..

9. Having finished laying the tiles, we wait three days, and we rub the joints with grout using a rubber trowel..

The article mentioned that the best base option for floor tiles is a concrete screed. However, even a wooden plank floor can also form the basis for tiles. For this, it must be prepared. The simplest option would be a flooring of at least two layers of cement-bonded particle boards 10 mm thick with the obligatory separation of the joints right on top of the boards. The surfaces of the layers are coated with tile glue and fastened to each other and to a wooden base with self-tapping screws. This option will slightly raise the final floor level, but it will allow you to lay tiles, even where there is no concrete screed. Naturally, when calculating the required number of layers of cement particle boards, it is necessary to take into account the rigidity of the base – for a wooden floor mounted on top of a concrete screed, two layers are enough, for floors in wooden houses – at least three.