Tile Floor Installation

When designing your tiled floor, keep the installer – yourself! – in mind. Strive for a layout that maximizes the number of whole tiles and the size of any cut tiles. Doing a dry – adhesive-free – layout will give you an idea of how well your design will work in a particular room.

1. Divide the room into quadrants

First, divide the room into quadrants. Snap a chalk line down the middle of the floor’s longest side and a second line down the middle of the floor’s shortest side, to form a perpendicular intersection. Check the intersection’s angles using a framing square.

2. Do a dry run

Before beginning to mortar, dry lay out at least one vertical row and one horizontal row in a quarter – making sure to leave room for grout lines and movement joints.

Movement joints are 1/8 in. to ¼ in. spaces where the tile meets adjacent walls, which you will caulk later. They allow the tile to expand and contract – without cracking – as temperature and moisture levels change.

Grout lines are also important – so important that many small tiles are self-spacing, meaning that they have bumps on their sides that create consistent grout lines between tiles.

3. Use tile spacers

If your tiles are not self-spacing, you’ll need to use spacers to create grout lines. You can buy tile spacers at Lowe's.

4. Adjust tile spacing

 If your layout leaves you with end tiles less than half a tile wide, simply adjust its spacing or vertical centerline. If the problem is unavoidable, arrange your layout so the tile fragments end up in an inconspicuous area.

5. Cut a tile "sandwich"

It is inevitable that you will need to cut some of the tile to cover your entire floor space. To cut the tile, you may need a tile cutter and/or a wet saw. You may be able to rent a wet saw tile cutter at your local Lowe's. A "tile sandwhich" is tile that is correctly cut and positioned, and ready for mortar. Each tile you cut to fit your floor, should be measured and cut individually.

Step 1:  To begin cutting your tile, place a loose tile atop the last laid-out full tile. Instead of positioning it directly on top of the tile, however, put it against the wall, corner or edge where the floor stops. Remember to leave room for a movement joint between the tile and wall.

Step 2: Lay a second loose tile over the first. However, align this tile exactly with the last laid-out full tile, instead of placing it against a wall, corner or edge. The loose tile you placed previously should stick out – reaching the wall, corner, or edge – between this tile and the bottom tile. This “tile sandwich” will demonstrate the necessary size of the partial tile. The tile that is the “meat” of this tile sandwich will become the partial tile.

Step 3 Mark the cut line on the “meat” tile, using the second loose tile as a guide. For straight cuts, use a tile cutter. "Polish" the edges with a rubbing brick. Cut openings around pipes, faucet stems, etc. using a power drill with a hole cutter attachment.

Now that you have laid and cut your tiles, the next step is to begin applying mortar. Read on to the next step of our "How to Install Tile Floor Guide" to learn how to do this.