Ceramic tiles are one of the easiest tiles you could use to lay your flooring and they are very easy to lay allowing you to potentially save £100’s by installing the ceramic tiles yourself, whatever you plan on doing with your ceramic tiles ensure you have found out the very best information on the various types of tiles available and also the best ways to lay your ceramic tiles.

Allot of ceramic tiles are very durable and very easy to clean which means you can have the very best flooring without having to spend allot of money this also means your ceramic tiles will last for a long time as they are very durable.

The below will show you how you can go about laying ceramic tiles in your home and also the tools which you might need to go about doing this properly, with this in mind if you do not have allot of spare time or do not have the correct tools to lay your ceramic tiles it might be a good idea to hire a professional who will be able to do all this for you and will ensure you have a nice finish.

Firstly the tools you will need to ensure you lay your ceramic tiles correctly are all listed below. You will need to have all of these if you plan on laying the tiles yourself and you want a nice even covering.

·         Notched Trowel

·         Tile Cutter

·         Grout Spreader

·         Spirit Level

·         Tape Measure

·         Pencil

These are all the tools you will need to ensure you can lay your ceramic tiles properly; all of these can be bought from any good DIY shop and shouldn’t cost you anymore than £40, now you have all the tools you will need to gather all the materials which will be needed to allow you to lay the ceramic tiles properly.

The materials you will need to be able to lay your ceramic tiles are quite long and you might need a good budget to allow you to buy all of the materials. The below shows some of the materials needed to be able to fit ceramic tiles into your house.

·         Floor Tile Adhesive

·         Ceramic Tiles

·         Tile Spacers

·         Sponge

·         Bucket of Warm Water

·         Grout

·         Sealant

Now you have all of the materials you are ready to go about installing the ceramic tiles into your home, this process shouldn’t be rushed so make sure you put enough time buy to allow you to install the floor tiles properly without having to rush it which might cause some damage to your ceramic tiles.

First things first if you don’t have your ceramic tiles you will need to go and get these now as we need to have them to hand ready to install them onto our flooring. If you’re looking for ceramic tiles then the best place to check are floor specialists they usually stock a wide range of tiles which means you will be able to walk out of the shop with them the same day.

Now you have the ceramic tiles you will need to prepare the floor to ensure it is level and free of dirt which might make the tiles not stick. Allot of the time ceramic tiles can be laid directly onto concrete flooring as long as the floor is level if it isn’t you will need to go about making the floor level which might become a job which will require professional help.

If you have a wooden floor you can still lay ceramic tiles on top but you will need to do some work to strengthen the floor, when you have done this you can follow the same process below to lay your ceramic tiles. The best way to ensure your floor is laid correctly is to find the best adhesive for the surface instead of buying a general floor adhesive. Now you have done this you can go about positioning the ceramic tiles on the floor.

The first tile should always be laid in the middle of the room this is the best way to lay ceramic tiles. Now you have laid the first tile you can continue to grow around this tile until you hit the edges. Laying your tiles this way will also help ensure your design is more symmetrical and doesn’t look out of place which is also key. Make sure you haven’t taken any of the backing off your floor tiles yet as we are just measuring out how many ceramic tiles we might have to cut for the edges.

Now you can start laying your ceramic tiles, to do this you will need to start with the middle tile in the centre of the room as said before this will help keep the tile design symmetrical. Ensure you have put enough adhesive on your ceramic tiles to make sure it sticks properly the ideal scenario is to cover a square foot of floor in adhesive at any one time.

To help you lay the adhesive you can you your notched trowel which will help ensure you a nice even spread of adhesive, now you have done this you can place the first tile in place and then work from there ensure the tile is not wonky as this will have a big affect later on when you’re looking to lay your floor tiles. Place tile spaces round all the edges of your ceramic tiles and continue to add your next tile repeat this process until you reach the tiles which need cutting.

Before you tile the edges it might be a good idea to go over the tiles with a damp sponge removing and excess adhesive and also leave the tiles for 24 hours to dry properly.

To lay the ceramic tiles on the edge of your floor you will need to measure each tile and mark them with a pencil line or chalk. Now you will need to place the ceramic tile into the tile cutter and cut allot the guided line. Once you have done this you can go about laying the tiles in the same way you do before.

Again when you have laid the tile edges leave them for 24 hours to allow them to dry properly now you have done this you can think about grouting your ceramic tiles.  Grouting the ceramic tiles is one of the most time consuming things but also one of the things you should take allot of care in as doing this wrong could result in some of your ceramic tiles been stained.

You will need to lay the grout over the tiles using your grout spreader, when the grout begins to set use a striking tool to compact the grout which will give you a much better finish. Now you have done this simply wipe the floor down with a damp cloth and seal the edges with the sealant to ensure the tiles are completely finished off and are waterproof.

 

If you have looked at having ceramic tiles within your home then more than likely you will also know that you will need to cut the tiles to make sure they fit correctly the below contains information and advice on how you can go about cutting ceramic tiles to fit your home. If you do plan on cutting your own ceramic tiles please ensure you wear safety goggles and thick gloves at all times this will help prevent you having an injury.

When you’re going to cut your ceramic tiles you have various ways in which you can go about doing this some of the best ways are to use a tool but this can mean you will have to pay for the tool and it also means you might end up breaking a few ceramic tiles if this is the first time you have used tools to cut ceramic tiles.

Tile Scriber

The first way you could go about cutting your ceramic tiles could be done with a Tile Scriber which is a small tool which will scribe the tile and allow you to break it this can leave a very rough edge and if done incorrectly you might have to throw a few tiles away. The process for cutting ceramic tiles with a tile scriber is highlighted below.

1)      Make the tile with a cut line using a Pencil

2)      Place the Ceramic tile on a solid surface

3)      Draw a straight line on your tile where you plan on cutting it

4)      Use the tile Scriber firmly to score the ceramic tile

Now you have done this you will need to separate the tile this can be done in a range of ways but the best way to go about breaking your ceramic tile is in fact to use some heavy duty wire and then apply pressure which will make the tile break. Depending how thick your ceramic tiles are you might have to do this process a few times before the tile breaks make sure you do not snap the tile as this will mean you have to start all over again. If you cut the ceramic tile a bit off you can always use a small file to take the edges down a little bit more which will make the tile perfect for the area.

Tile Cutter

The other way you can go about cutting ceramic tiles is to use a tile cutter this will mean you have to go and spend some money on tools which will allow you to cut the tiles but it will also mean you have a much cleaner cut than if you were to use a tile scriber. You will also need to ensure you have enough space to be able to have your tile cutter near your work area allowing enough space is key to ensure you cut your tiles properly.

The tile cutter is probably the best tool if you plan on cutting allot of ceramic tiles and not just one or two as it will allow you to work faster while keeping a good level of cuts which is key to ensure your tiles look perfect for your home.

To cut ceramic tiles using the tile cutter you will need to follow the below steps which will allow you to have a clean and straight cut.

1)      Line up the tile by moving the carriage towards you

2)      Check the position of the blade on your marks

3)      Move the Carriage to the mark nearest to you

4)      Place the blade on the tile and score the tile

It might be ideal to have a few practice attempts before you look at cutting your ceramic tiles properly so ensure you use some old scrapes and have a few practice goes.

A good tile cutter should allow you to be able to score the tile once and then it should break, if this isn’t the case simply score the tile again gently to finish off the cut. Now you have the tile scored you will need to snap it, keep the ceramic tile in place while doing this as it will ensure the tile has a straight cut.

You can easily snap the tile by bringing the handle down towards you and then firmly apply pressure this should simply snap the tile in a nice clean cut. All of the tools which you will need to use either of the methods spoken about can be bought at any good DIY shop or tile shop, as stated before it can always prove much better to hire a professional to cut and install your ceramic tiles especially if they have cost allot to buy.

Allot of the cutting process will also depend on the type of ceramic tiles you have and also the quality of them, if you have some good tiles which are of a good material then the cutting process should be allot easier than if you have cheap tiles which might have been made using cheaper materials as they are more likely to break.