| By :
Mark Etinger
I'd been wanting to redo my bathroom in new ceramic tile. Tile floors, I always thought, were more appropriate, and I never knew why the carpet had continued from the hallway into the bathroom. I knew tile flooring was inevitable; it was only a matter of time. First I had to rip up the ugly stained carpet. Luckily my subfloor looked ready to be tiled: no bouncing or anything like that. I wanted a jack on jack pattern for the floor so I measured the center of the two walls and laid a chalk x that met in the exact middle of the room. Using the tiles I had already bought, I dry-laid them with equal spacing for the grout. When I was ready to install the tile, I laid one at the intersection in the middle of the room. I continued by following the chalk lines. I spread adhesive with my trowel, combing it and then laying the ceramic tile. Some of the adhesive oozed out so I cleaned it immediately before it dried. I used a surface cleaning solvent which was recommended by the instruction manual. Then with my tile leveler and a mallet, I began to set the tiles into place. But near the corners it became apparent I would have to cut some tiles to make them fit. Straight cuts are easy but the rounded ones that would border the base of the sink, those would be more difficult. It's important to apply even pressure throughout and always try to score it in one stroke. Once scored, snap the tile by placing it over a nail or wire. For the harder to cut tiles, I drew a line that I wanted to follow, scored it, then scored crisscross lines in the outlined area and began to break them off with pliers. I was careful not to break off chunks too large for fear the whole thing would snap and I'd have to start over. Instead I nibbled at the tile. I then filed away the rough edges. I mixed the grout to a thick pasty consistency and forced it between tiles with a rubber float. I used a toothbrush to shape the grout and twenty minutes later, wiped the excess with a wet sponge. It looked great when I was done. A week later I returned to apply silicone grout sealer to keep it nice and white for as long as I'm living here. It wasn't so hard that you can't do it if you try. Good luck!
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