3 Tile Floor Installation Tips

If you are getting ready to install floor tiles in a room of your home, you may need some help getting the job done correctly. Consider these 3 tips that will help the installation process go smoothly.

Lay Diagonal Tiles With A Pyramid

Installing tiles flush with one of the room's walls will make it easy for you to ensure the tiles are even as you are installing them. What about if you want to place the tiles in a diagonal layout? It helps if you use the outline of a pyramid to guide your tiles as you lay them down.

Mark the lines on your floor so that there are several pyramid shaped sections. The right angle at the top of the pyramid will help guide you as you go, and the distinct shape will help you visually check that the tiles are going in evenly.

Use The Proper Mortar

Most floor tiles will go in just fine when using a thin-set mortar. If the size of the tile is bigger than 1 cubic square foot, you should look into using a mortar that has verbiage on the container that says it is for larger format or medium bed tiles.

The advantage of using this kind of mortar is that it won't lose its strength after it bonds with the tile. You also will not have to worry about the mortar shrinking, which helps the tiles stay where they were originally positioned.

Use Leveling Wedges

It's easy to tell when the gap between tiles is a bit off when using a small tile due to the small gaps. Unfortunately, a large tile makes it much harder to identify slight differences in spacing. That's why you need leveling wedges. These cheap pieces of plastic come in a uniform shape that help keep the gaps between tiles and the tile height identical.

The wedges look like small crosses, and are simply placed between the tiles as you are placing them onto your mortar when it is wet. The bottom end of the cross goes between the tile to keep a uniform gap, and the sides of the crosses help keep adjoining tiles at the same height. This will prevent you from feeling sharp edges as you walk across a floor with bare feet.

After learning about some tips to tile a floor, does it feel out of your comfort zone to do it yourself? If so, contact a tile installation contractor that can help you get the job done.

For more information about tile flooring installation, click on the link or do an online search.