Tips For Laying Ceramic Tiles On Walls And Floors. Advantages Of Ceramic Tiles, Tips For Choosing, Secrets. Surface Preparation For Tiles

2023 Author: Philip Bishop | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 07:54

• 1. What you need to know about the benefits of ceramic tiles
• 2. Tips for choosing tiles
• 3. How to cut tiles correctly
• 4. Preparation of the surface for the tiles
• 5. Secrets of laying tiles

Tabletop tips for laying ceramic tiles, the secrets of craftsmanship.

Getting ready for tiling: 5 useful tips

The advantages of ceramic tiles are obvious: being one of the most ancient materials used in decoration, tiles are an environmentally friendly product, durable, unpretentious in maintenance, waterproof, relatively inexpensive, presented in a large assortment. Consider a few tips for tiling with ceramic tiles, the advantages, advice on choosing how to cut correctly, surface preparation, little secrets and tricks when laying from the site do-it-yourself repair of a one-room apartment. Recall that after viewing useful tips, we recommend that you read the article on how to put tiles in the bathroom on the floor and walls correctly with video instructions. It is more detailed.

1. What you need to know about the benefits of ceramic tiles

• Possesses high strength. Tiled surfaces will last much longer than a number of other materials used for wall and floor covering.

• Does not burn, it does not emit toxic substances and smoke.

• Moisture resistant. Perhaps it is the ideal material for use in rooms with high humidity, such as a bathroom or shower room.

• Resistant to wear. As a floor covering, it is not subject to abrasion and wear, the best confirmation is shopping places or underground passages, where its covering resists even a large flow of people.

• Provides slip resistance. Modern tiles are produced with the addition of abrasive glaze sand, so there is an anti-slip factor in it.

• Frost-resistant. Glassy ceramic tiles, as well as porcelain, can withstand any frost if used for exterior cladding of a house or cladding a balcony.

• Easy maintenance. What could be easier than washing with water from time to time, and often just wiping with a damp sponge.

• Chemically stable. Coating with ceramic tiles is not afraid of the effects of acids, alkalis and other chemicals.

• Does not change its color when exposed to sunlight.

2. Tips for choosing tiles

The modern market offers a large selection of the most diverse ceramic tiles. When choosing, you need to be guided by the specific place of the cladding, be it the floor, walls or individual sections, as well as the room where the cladding will be made. Tiles in a bathroom or swimming pool will require tiles with low porosity, but no matter the degree of wear resistance, which applies to the floor.

For tiles in the kitchen, the requirements are the same, except for the floor, where there should be more durable and low porosity tiles. Even more resistant to abrasion will be needed in the hallway. And see how the calculation of the number of ceramic tiles for the bathroom and any other room is performed.

All the necessary information can be obtained on the packaging:

• the floor tile packaging shows a foot on a black background

• if it is suitable for walls, then a hand is depicted

• frost resistance shown by a snowflake

• increased wear resistance is indicated by the foot against the shaded background

• high level characterizes the repetition of the same icon

The edges should be smooth, the surface without cracks, chips, smooth to the touch.

3. How to cut tiles correctly

Before cutting the tile at home, it must be soaked in water for 40-60 minutes. Then mark the line and cut it with a glass cutter. Align the notch with the edge of the table, press and break. Or place a match under the notch line and press on both sides simultaneously. It will disintegrate exactly along the notch. The incision must be made once, passing it from the edge, towards you, leaving a groove. A special tile cutter is also used, which differs from the glass cutter in the large size of the wheel and the presence of a mechanism for breaking, a very convenient thing. For large volumes of work, we recommend purchasing such a device

4. Preparation of the surface for the tiles

The more carefully the surface is prepared for facing, the longer the tile will serve you. First of all, you need to check the walls with a level or plumb line. If there are gaps or a surface between the plumb line and the wall, measure them with a tape measure. With a high level, check the evenness of the surface. The clearance should not exceed 2 ml. The surface strength can be checked by tapping. If there are layers that are crumbling, you will have to remove them. If the walls are wooden, before starting work with tiles, you will have to sheathe them with a metal mesh, which is stuffed onto bars, and roofing felt or roofing material is placed between the wall and the mesh. The mesh is coated with cement, plastered, but the plaster should be no more than 15 ml. Painted walls must be completely cleaned of paint. Otherwise, ceramic tiles will move away from the wall together with cement or glue mixture,will begin to bulge and fall off. Then, slap the entire surface with a cloth dampened with a solution of cement and water. We make the solution liquid, like sour cream. After the wall thus primed dries out, you can proceed to the cladding itself. Preparing the surface for the tiles is an important stage, you should not ignore it, see the article on aligning the walls and ceiling with your own hands, it will be useful in our case as well.

5. Secrets of laying tiles

You need to start laying from the bottom. Before this, the evenness of the floor is checked and strictly horizontal markings are made. The mortar is applied with a trowel to the tile, and then we firmly press the tile against the wall, tapping with the handle of a hammer or a special rubber mallet, until the tile sits down to the desired level. It is necessary to ensure that the mortar evenly fills the entire surface of the tile, but not more than 15 mm. To get neat seams, special crosses are inserted between the tiles. After the solution has set, they are taken out. We leave chipped or cracked, substandard tiles in order to install them where the whole ceramic tile does not fit. And see how to lay tiles around pipes, corners, sockets and switches, simple secrets and tips are great benefits.