Don’t let cracked and broken tiles stand between you and the kitchen floor your family deserves. Make your kitchen great again by laying a new quality kitchen floor you and your family can enjoy for years.
Laying tile isn’t rocket surgery but it is a skill that improves greatly with practice. If you’re spry enough to work on your hands and knees, get up and down off the floor repeatedly, and work bent over, you’ve got just about all the physical tools needed to do the job. Tiling is the easiest part. Preparation takes much more effort and can be quite tedious. Good news is you really don’t need all that many tools to get it done.
Mostly all you need are basic tools with the exception of a few extra items. You may need a variety of cutting tools to help you cut and snip tiles to fit around obstacles. You may also need tools to remove any fixtures that would otherwise get in the way.
The following items can be very helpful:
- Sponge
- Bucket
- Knee pads
- Safety glasses
- Rolling pin
- Piece of wood
- Cardboard
- Spacers
- Scissors
Be sure to follow manufacturer guidelines for adhesives and installation. When calculating how many tiles you need to do the job be sure to add 10 – 15 percent to the total to account for breakage, miscalculations or whatever. The last thing you want to do is drive to the store 800 times to pick up supplies. Before getting started you want to be reasonably certain you have everything you will need.
Once your floor is prepped its time to lay tile. Generally speaking, you work from the middle outwards. Complete one section at a time making sure your tiles are seated firmly in a thin layer of thinset, each tile is level, and is spaced correctly. It helps to lay out the tile before setting so you have a good idea where the tile will fall and where you may run into problems. As you work, be sure to keep a wet rag and a bucket nearby to clean up excess thinset. It can be a real pain in the ass to clean thinset after it dries so be sure to clean as you go.
Tiling your first floor can give you a level of satisfaction you never thought possible. Doing it yourself can save you lots of money and end up being a somewhat enjoyable experience. If not then at least you know next time to call a professional.
