Laying tiles
Finding the starting point
The first whole tile you lay will determine where all the other tiles are laid, so it is important that you get this positioning correct. Choose the corner in which you wish to start tiling and, laying your tile gauge parallel to one of the walls, measure how many whole tiles will fit along that side of the room. There will almost certainly be a gap left over. Measure this gap, and divide the answer by two to find the width of the cut tiles that will fill the gap at each end of the row. (These should be of equal size.)
If these cut tiles turn out to be less than one quarter of a tile-width across (and therefore tricky to cut), reduce the number of whole tiles in the row by one. The effect of this is to increase the width of each cut tile by half a tile – much easier to cut. Return to the corner and with your tile gauge parallel to the wall along which you have been measuring, move it so the end of the gauge is the width of one cut tile away from the adjacent wall. Mark this position off on the floor – it indicates where one edge of the first whole tile in that row will fall. Repeat this same measuring process along the adjacent wall to establish the positioning of the row at right angles to the one you’ve just set out; you will then be able to mark off where the other edge of this same first tile will fall, and so fix its position precisely.
Once that is done, every other tile’s position is fixed right across the floor. You can then place thisfirst tile in position. Mark off and cut the boundary tiles between it and the corner. Remember to allow for the width of the grouting gap when measuring each cut tile. Each cut tile should be measured individually because the wall may not be perfectly straight. You may then go ahead with laying whole tiles, starting from your original corner.
In the corner area spread adhesive evenly on the floor over an area of about 1 sq m (11 sq ft) – it is important to work on only a small area at a time, otherwise the adhesive may have begun to dry out by the time you reach it. With a gentle, twisting motion, place the first tile in the corner, and use light hand pressure to bed it firmly in the adhesive. Place the second tile alongside the first, using the same gentle pressure, and placing spacers of cardboard or hardboard between the tiles if they don’t have spacer lugs.
Continue laying tiles, building up a rectangular area, until you have reached the edge of the adhesive bed. Use a spirit level to check that the tiles are level; if any are too low, lever them off the bed as quickly as possible with a wide-bladed trowel, add adhesive and re-set them, pressing them down gently. With the first square metre of tiles laid, you can spread another layer of adhesive over a further area, and lay the next area of tiles. As you lay the tiles, it is worth checking every now and again that adequate contact with the adhesive is being made and that there are no voids beneath the tiles – any gaps or hollows under the tiles will become weak points later on. You can proceed with the tiling in 1 sq m sections until all the tiles are,in place, then leave them for at least 24 hours. The tiles must not be walked on during this time so that any risk of them being knocked out of place or bedded too deeply is avoided.
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If you have to walk on the tiles, lay a sheet of plywood or chipboard over them first to spread the load. When 24 hours – or longer; check the manufacturer’s instructions – are up, you can remove the spacers. Check with the adhesive manufacturer’s instructions to see whether you need to allow extra time after this before you begin grouting. Cutting tiles You will have to cut each tile individually since you will almost certainly find variations around the room. Place the tile which is going to be cut against the wall and on top of the adjacent whole tile.
Mark it off for cutting. Using a straight edge as a guide, score the tile surface and edges with a scribing tool. You can use a hand tile cutter to cut and break the tile along the scoreline; but its probably worthwhile hiring a special floor tile cutter to make the job easier. To cut a tile to give an L-shape you will need to use tile nips to nibble away at the waste area. You can use a tile file, carborundum stone or coarse glasspaper to smooth off the rough edge. For curved shapes (eg, to fit round a WC pedestal), you will need to make a template and again use tile nips to nibble away at the tile.