Need a little confidence boost for tiling this weekend : )

12 years ago

Hi! I was going to hire someone to do tiling, but now i think i can do it myself! we're replacing the vanity, toilet, medicine cabinet and light fixture, and then having the tub and surrounding tile reglazed. first step: demo on thursday/friday, and i'm on tap to tile this weekend. i can do it, right? i know i should install cement backerboard on the plywood subfloor first.

just someone tell me i can do this. i'm crafty. i just don't want to get in over my head. any tips on how to make this as easy as possible (and i need the tiling done in one weekend) would be much appreciated! i haven't chosen tile yet (and am not too picky) so if there's something that's easier, that would be good to know!

Here is a link that might be useful: before picture

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Comments (6)

weedyacres
12 years ago
Skip the cement board and instead use Ditra underlayment. It's way easier and faster. No dust, no saw, just a utility knife. It costs about twice what cement board does, but pays for itself quickly in labor savings.

Do a dry layout first: lay out the tiles enough so you can make sure you don't have any slivers at the edges, or the pattern lines up like you wanted. Don't just start with a full tile in one corner and plow through the room.

Choose a through-body porcelain instead of ceramic tile. Same durability, but cut edges and chips on ceramic are orange.

Take the time to make sure tiles are level with each other, avoiding lippage. Pull up a tile when it's too high or too low and add/subtract thinset as needed to make it perfect.
terezosa / terriks
12 years ago
If you do decide to use cement board don't forget to put thinset underneath it, per manufacturer's instructions. It's important to do so as it fills in any voids between the plywood and the cement board that could cause tiles to crack later. And number one most important thing NOT to do is to use any premixed products! Only use thinset that comes as a powder that you mix yourself. Ditto with grout.
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What a fascinating thread, from start to finish. I have truly enjoyed reading and learned from every comment. I come from a long line of powerful, confident, extreme women with exceptional eyes, so I guess it's in my DNA. As a child I wasn't allowed to move anything around because that was the ken of my mother. My maternal aunt has the best decorating eye I have ever seen, and I'm including all the splashy decorators I've seen in shelter magazines / showcases, etc. I feel the same way about myself: I know what I like and I absolutely trust my eye. But as mentioned above, there are certainly outside influences! Like, the given floorplan of this house. It's not ideal but we love our neighborhood and it's the right thing for our young family at this time, so we're working with it. Another influence is that we do have young children and we're slobs. Well maybe not slobs but if there's a horizontal surface it's going to hold stuff on it! I wish we were a neater family but that's not how it turned out. And then of course there's that whole money thing. Ha ha. Oh, but so I want to reupholster the settee in the living room. Maybe ten (more, I think) years ago I had it done in a b&w toile which worked really well for the previous house's living room. But not so much here. And even though it would "only" be around $1000 to reupholster it I think of what I could do with that money elsewhere, given that settee already has a perfectly acceptable fabric on it. The kids / pets climb on it and I don't care. Anyway, I am grateful for this forum because I love coming someplace and finding people who also are really interested in decor. You are my people! xo
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It's all been well said, Zuzu, but I would add that by the time someone decides to consult a professional for this sort of thing, they really, really want help, & they really, really WANT your feedback & insight & won't feel you're pushing anything on them. You are obviously a very sensitive, thoughtful person, & you don't need to fear coming across in an arrogant fashion, but also remember that generally people consulting you will feel quite eager to hear what you have to say & will find it interesting & useful. I've been able to offer helpful suggestions to people in my life regarding decor that were appreciated. However, when it comes to my own place, I'm mystified! I agonize over decisions I've made, money I've spent & wonder what is salvagable, what is not. Almost daily I ponder over the mess I feel I've made! My point is, if I was in your area & called you to come help me... listen, I'm so ready to hear what you have to say! Don't feel trepidation, just give me what you've got, girl! If something you suggest doesn't feel right, I'll tell ya! It's give & take, yes? There will be a sharing of ideas, yes? But in the end, I'll have a different perspective on things & you possibly will have solved a very vexing problem for me & maybe I can relax in my home instead of stressing over it. See what you could do for people? Get out there. ..you have so much to offer!
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I feel your pain. There are so many decisions to make, and so many little details to keep track of. Every time I think I've made every possible decision on the project, the contractor wants me to decide on something else! I thought I'd finished with that months ago and could just sit back and watch them finish the house, but no. It sounds like you're having more trouble with the electrician than the GC. One thing that might work is to let the GC deal with him. The electrician is working for the GC, after all, not directly for you. Sure, listen to his advice, but then make your own decision and let him and the GC know what the decision is. You're paying the GC to make it all come out right, and it's his responsibility to get his subs to do their job correctly. I haven't had any problems with my contractor's electrician, but his tile guy is a bit of a flake. In cases where I disagree with him, I tell him and the GC what I want and then let the GC deal with making things right. But I do stay friendly and go over there a lot to see what is happening and to answer any questions the tile guy has. He keeps forgetting what tiles go where, even though we keep writing it down. But he does amazing work once he figues things out, so I can't complain too much. On the slab thing: I've never heard of a fabricator who didn't want the client present when laying out the templates on the slabs. That is just bizarre. Laura
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bill_g_web
12 years ago
Don't mean to frighten you but tiling is the most difficult DIY job I've tackled and I've remodeled my entire house to the studs. I'd wait and read up before starting; there's much to learn and many decisions to make. A tile pro is the first guy I'm calling next time. I wrote up my DIY bathroom job, including the tiling effort, here:

http://www.billbblog.com/Diy/29/DIY-Bathroom

Might be a place to start your reading - I've listed resources too - books, websites, etc.

Good luck...
pricklypearcactus
12 years ago
I've done two fairly large (for a newbie) tiling jobs in my house, all DIY. So DIY tiling certainly is doable.

Do some serious reading before you get started, both on this forum, and consider checking out some books from the library. I found it helpful to have read the books before and have them handy when I ran into the unexpected.

I second weedyacres suggestion to ditch the cement board and go with Ditra.

Also, I found having an assistant (just sometimes a second pair hands) available to be helpful. At the very least, having a second person can make the job go faster. Having someone to help cut tiles, hand you tile, or help mix thinset can really speed things up.

Also, perhaps I'm a slow worker, but I would try to be prepared in case your prep work and tiling takes longer than expected. Both of my tiling projects took considerably longer than I anticipated. My speed definitely improved with practice, but I'm still not fast.
bill_vincent
12 years ago
It all comes down to a quote from Henry Ford I use as a signature line in "that other site that can't be mentioned"--

Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're probably right. it's about self confidence more than anything else. Go to my FAQ page, and I have answers from just about all questions you could ask, and if there's anything you need answered that you DON'T see there, email me.

Here is a link that might be useful: My website's FAQ page
pam29011
12 years ago
I think 1 weekend isn't enough time for a first time tiler to do a whole bathroom. You will probably need to get something from the home improvement store ... possibly 2 or 3 times ... before you finish and that will slow you down.

My main advice is do NOT rush. Go through all your boxes of tiles and look for any imperfections - like a bubble in the glaze or an edge that doesn't feel right. Put those "bad" tiles far away from your work site. Work slowly and clean as you go ... if thinset is oozing up between your tiles have a wooden toothpick or skewer on hand to remove the excess while it's still soft.

A good tile job is meticulous work and that, by definition, means SLOW if it's your first time. Or 4th time, IMHO.

Last suggestion - get some ibuprofen ready & book a massage for Monday. Tiling a floor involves a lot of time on your knees, reaching, stretching, and applying leverage in ways you never do normally. None of it feels heavy or hard, but it adds up to a long day for most back muscles.

BTW - I sound like I hate to tile but I really enjoy it ... I just know to allocate a LOT of time if I want it as perfect as I know it can be :)

-Pam

Need a little confidence boost for tiling this weekend : )

Comments (6)

weedyacres

terezosa / terriks

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