Tiles have been long popular for bathroom flooring purposes for being resistant to water damage and easy to clean as well. Also, you can find a wide variety of amazing tile choices available on the market to have an ideal selection i.e. porcelain, ceramic, stone, vinyl, etc.
Adding further, you can have plain textured tiles for the bathroom or perk up the interior with delightful design patterns imprinted on the tile surfaces. And, if you’re looking to install your bathroom floor tiles DIY, then you need to have proper information and explanation on this topic.
For this purpose, you’re too lucky to have found this piece of informative writing. Because in this article by Floor Tiles, we’re going to explain a step-by-step procedure to help you DIY install your bathroom floor tiles.
The Basics To DIY Installing Your Bathroom Floor Tiles
No one is truly experienced when performing a bathroom floor tile installation unless you’ve got expert-level skills for the job. However, getting proper knowledge will surely minimize the risk of damage to your valuable investment.
Materials/Tools Required
First, you need to arrange for the following equipment/supplies to start with this DIY project.
- Laser Level
- Tile Cutter
- Permanent Marker
- Tile Spacers
- Small Buckets
- Cardboard spacer
- Tiles to be installed (Obviously!)
- Floor Leveling Compound
- Uncoupling Tile Membrane
- Tile Grout
- Grout Sealer
- Grout Haze Remover
- Rubber Grout Float
- Thinset
The next thing is to remove as many items as you can from the bathroom interior i.e. toilet, baseboards, etc. Doing so will help you work in an obstruct-free zone and without any hassle. Now, let’s move on to the first step of the procedure explained below.
1. Remove The Existing Floor (If Needed)
Don’t forget that when you’ll install tiles over the existing floor surface, the overall height of the floor will be elevated. However, if you have concrete or laminate flooring previously installed in the bathroom, then there is no need to remove them. Because tiles can be installed directly over these flooring surfaces.
2. Make Subfloor Preparation
Well, there’s no need to actually prepare the subfloor but to analyze any damage situation in the existing floor surface i.e. crack, broken flooring, etc. That’s really important because if the tiles are installed over unchecked, damaged subflooring, then it’ll hinder the longevity of your new tile flooring. Thus, leading to the wastage of your hard-earned money and valuable investment within a short span of time.
3. Place The Uncoupling Tile Membrane
Now comes the time to install an uncoupling tile membrane over your existing floor surface. The purpose is to protect your tile flooring from damage alongside preventing the subfloor from water damage.
For this purpose, put marks over the desired surface area using a permanent marker. Then, you need to cut the tile membrane and skim out the thin-set grout. Press the thin-set firmly against the tile membrane and leave it intact for 24 hours.
4. Sketch The Tile Design
You can create different presentations for patterned tiles i.e. diagonal, grid, etc. However, if you’ve plain-textured tiles, then the design layout is not a factor anymore.
5. Fit Each Tile In The Location
Using the tile design layout, you can easily place each tile in its desired location. For fitting the tile, you need to apply a concentrated thinset mixture underneath each tile i.e. the thinset will hold the tile in its place. When fitting the tiles, you need to always start from the center of the bathroom i.e. accounts for easy tile placement in the corners.
Don’t forget about the cohesive tiling pattern (if you’re following the tile design layout). After you’ve installed a few tiles, you need to check the level of the tile flooring which should be perfectly balanced. This practice is a must after installing every few tiles and should not be forgotten.
6. Fill The Spacing In Between Consecutive Tiles
To impart your bathroom tile flooring a smooth, clean, and delightful touch, you need to fill the cavities formed between consecutive tiles. For this purpose, you’ll have to create a thinset mortar and apply the mixture to fill the gaps in between tiles. You can apply the thinset mortar using a straight trowel.
7. Cut The Tiles For Wall Side Placements
As you advance with the procedure, you’ll get close to the wall sides. Now, you may face the problem to fit one tile piece exactly in the space i.e. less space and a big tile. So, you’ll have to cut the tile using a tile cutter tool for precise installation.
The best approach is to mark the surface with a permanent marker to not cut any less or more of the tile surface but just to be accurate in the measurement.
8. Apply & Seal The Tile Grout
After 24 or 28 hours, the tile has been set in place completely. And, you can apply tile grout using a rubber grout float to the flooring surface for bonding and sealing all the tile joints. After that, remove the grout haze using cool water in combination with grout haze remover.
At last, you can seal the grout once all the tiles have been completely dried. This is necessary to make sure that water doesn’t seep through down to the subflooring and cause damage.
To Cluminate!
Tiling a bathroom floor may have been a challenging task for beginners but not anymore! Because we’ve explained a step-by-step method to DIY install floor tiles in the bathroom. All the essential supplies and equipment listed above should be arranged prior to the procedure. Besides, you need to precisely follow each step explained in the guide for the DIY completion of your timeless design bathroom tile flooring project.
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