How to lay down a floor (Tile or ceramic)

I have touched on may abstract subjects, I thought I would share a quick Hub with everyone who is doing home improvement. I learned the hard way how to place floor tile in a room and thought I would share this wisdom with everyone. This is generally used for ceramic, laminate, or sheet floor tile.

The first thing is to sweep the area and mop to ensure it is clean, anything left there will be an obstacle if you do not get rid of it first. Lay out all of your tools which should include: Measuring tape, chalk/marker/wax pencil, Tile separators(is using ceramic tile), a Spackle, Spackle, tile cutter, scissors, and the floor tile. You will also need grout, but that is for after the tile is set and dried. Take the entire room you are going to tile (if it is multiple rooms, do one at a time) and measure the width and the length of the room. For the length, lie the measuring tape down and find the center of the room and make a line in chalk. Find the width of the room and make a one inch line in the center also, these lines should make a cross. At this cross is where you start your tile.

Take the Spackle and spread the Spackle generously, but not too much where the Spackle will seep through the sides of the tile. Lie the tile down on all four corners of your cross. If the flooring is laminate, ensure there is no separation between the tiles, if ceramic, use the tile separators. at all corners of the tiles. Now spread out lying the tiles from the cross, it does not matter which way you lie the time just make sure you stop before touch the walls. Once you have all your tile set, you will notice there will need to be some cutting necessary to fill in the spaces between the last tiles and the walls.

The space between the tiles and walls can be cut many ways, I used trial and error, but the best way is to turn the tile upside down, place it against the wall and measure it from the tile to the wall, then cut. Always remember to measure twice and cut once. Before you cut, ensure everything looks good with the rest of the flooring, because you will waste tiles if they are askew after you cut. With ceramic tile, a diamond cutter is recommended, but you can also use cutting shears, but it might chip and ruin the tile. After all measuring and cutting is complete, ensure the pieces fit evenly before you lie the Spackle down. Allow to dry for about 18-24 hours.

The next day, check out your work. If you have ceramic tile, take out your separators and lie the grout over the tile to fill in the spaces between. You now have a new floor, enjoy.