How hard is tiling a floor

Question

How hard is it to tile a living room in the porcelain wood tile. Is it worth it doing it myself and what tools will I have to buy that wouldn’t be in my garage already. Thanks

Jim K. · Answer

@B Nich

It's worth learning how to do it, it's worth spending the money you're going to have to pony up for the tools to do it and the time you'll have to spend to learn how to do it. The John Bridges site is a great resource, pretty much any basic how-to-tile book you can find on Amazon will give you great initial direction, and when you're done with those watch this video, Trowel and Error.

Nick C. · Answer

If you're handy it's not that difficult. You will probably have more luck with a "how to" video on YouTube though.

Account Closed · Answer

It's fun but It's work on your knees. You need a wet saw (not expensive) and 10% more tile than you think you need. Have some tile set aside for repairs down the road. You won't be able to find anything that matches next year. Use the correct mortar and grout. The guys you buy from (Home Depot, Lowes, ACE) will help you on that. If your space is perfectly square they will be limited cuts but if your room has transitions, floor vents, multiple doors, insets or such you will be making lots more cuts. Sometimes you have to put in subfloor first to level things out a bit. Decide which entry you want to look the snazziest and use full tiles wherever the eye can see. Use chalk lines to make sure you get the pieces straight. Take pictures or film the thing along the way. Take your time. That floor is going to be there for a long time and you want it to look Good.

Steven Rubino · Answer

Tiling a floor I find to be one of those tasks that is much much faster with two people. If you have a friend who can help you out it really makes a big difference (you can lay the tiles while they make the cuts or vise versa). And if your helper already has any tile expirience even better!

It may be a good compromise (dollar wise) to hire/pay someone to just help you while you do it, instead of bidding the whole project out. Worth looking into.

Good luck!

Dutch Langley · Answer

One of the most critical parts is the layout.  While a rectangle room may seem simple at first, if you don't lay it out correctly you can end up with a thin awkward section of tile at one or two sides of the room.  Fortunately You Tube does have a "how to" on just about everything.

Scott Schaar · Answer

Start with a smaller room . If you get into a pickle in the middle of a big room as far as spacing, lines and uneven tiles . You would get frustrated and stop . I’d start in a small mud room or anything . You’ll want to get your feet wet on how wet you like the mortar and many other things . Then there is grouting, it’s a big task on it’s own in a big room . Buy some really good knee pads . Good luck

Ned Carey · Answer

@B Nich as said it is not that hard. But it does take extra care and usually a fair amount of experience to do it well.

Dustin P. · Answer

Not difficult but hard on your knees and very tedious. For how cheap it is to get tile laid (Because it's essentially unskilled labor) I wouldn't do it myself personally

Russell Gronsky · Answer

@B Nich, it's easy but time consuming. Watch You Tube videos but watch more than just one. Some of them leave out important details like, how to cut your tile to fit against walls that aren't square. Lots of them also skip over how to level your floor or how to install cement board if you are tiling over sub floors. It will also be a huge pain in your knees and back. Get some quality knee pads.

Johann Jells · Answer

As previous posters indicated, the tiling itself it pretty easy, it's getting the surface prepped that is trickier and requires more knowledge. Personally, unless it's on a slab I'd stay away from such big tiles, any floor flexing will crack them. More info about the house will help. For more on tiling than you ever want to know go to https://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/

How hard is tiling a floor

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