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anyone ever tiled a bathroom floor?

720 views 17 replies 12 participants last post by  Brewz 
#1 ·
i want to til my bathroom floors, fortunately my bathrooms arent large or odd shaped, but i would like to update them, but dont know if i trust myself to do it, or if it would even be worht it to do it myself vs pay someone because i would need to buy all the equipment too.

thoughts?

is it particularly tough, or expensive to do it yourself vs pay someone who knos what they are doing?
 
#2 ·
I've done it. Need more information. What is the substrate. Wood?

I did one over wood with tile. Turned out great. I pulled the vinyl off, painted on a bonding agent and then poured down a cemet leveler to give a cement backing.

But for the money and time there are some great vinyl tiles out there now that you stick down with spacer just like tile and then grout the gaps just like tile. They look great and are 100 times easier.
 
#4 ·
See if you can get ahold of Jebsghost. Laying tile isn't particularly hard, but it can be quite time consuming for someone who has never done it before. I laid over 200 12x12 tiles for my kitchen; it took me every bit of two full days and I'm still not happy with it. Next time it's vinyl for me. Unroll, trim, glue and done.
 
#5 ·
I've done it. Need more information. What is the substrate. Wood?

I did one over wood with tile. Turned out great. I pulled the vinyl off, painted on a bonding agent and then poured down a cemet leveler to give a cement backing.

But for the money and time there are some great vinyl tiles out there now that you stick down with spacer just like tile and then grout the gaps just like tile. They look great and are 100 times easier.
i assume its wood like the rest of the flooring upstairs.
 
#8 ·
I've done a few floors. It is not particularly hard if you have some mechanical (construction) ability and patience. There are some good books in most librarys and at Lowes and Home Depot. There are also videos on You Tube. You also need to be comfortable removing the toilet and replacing it.
 
#9 · (Edited)
I tiled my fireplace with natural stone (including the vertical surface), my half bathroom, my kitchen, and am currently working on the guest bathroom. My wife will probably have me do our bathroom and the laundry room soon.

If your flooring is in bad shape, or uneven, you can put down (with screws) a layer of mortarboard or some self leveling compound (basically thinset mortar that you pour out and it will level the floor for you). This will give you a nice level surface to work with.

I use a QEP wet tile saw. It was about $70 from Lowes. Decent blades (Dewalt) cost almost as much as the saw itself, and are specific to the material that you're cutting (porcelain, ceramic, etc). The saw doesn't require a steady water source, like a hose. It has a small reservoir you add water to as needed. I use a 12" T-Square for marking straight lines to cut.

Before I did my first tile project, I had no more than just general common sense and a decent "handy man" background, learned from my dad who taught me guy stuff when I was a kid. I read a little bit about it, and jumped into it. Basically, mortar was wet in the bucket, so I had to learn on the fly.

When I buy tile, I buy about 10-15% over on the square footage. You'll have some mistakes, need some extras for edge pieces, maybe a spare if one gets broken in the future, etc. Unless you specifically need unsanded grout, I always get sanded. It's easier to spread into the joints IMO. I recommend a sealer out that you can mix into the grout instead of water so you don't have to go back afterwards and apply a sealant out of a bottle.

I wholeheartedly recommend doing it yourself. For $200 in tools that you can use for numerous jobs, you can do it yourself. You'll take more pride during the process, so the job will look better when finished. If you pay someone to do it, you'll see every little mistake they made and kick yourself for paying them.

PM me if you have any questions. I'm not a contractor, just a big time do-it-yourselfer. If you can think of it, I've done it in my own home, from electrical, tile, plumbing, lighting, drywall, cabinet making, etc.
 
#10 ·
We are remodeling our lower bath--making it level with the rest of the home. Putting in 2X8s on 16" center.The room is 8'X 20' so we did a perimeter with 8s nailed to the walls, put in a ledger, notched the joists, and put in "legs" under every other joist at the wall. Will put in another set of legs down the center, cap with two layers of plywood screwed down, and top with a "cement" board. Tile will go over that. Putting in the Jacuzzi, shower, commode, and double sink. Still have the spacers, spreading tools, and cutter from the furnace area in my man cave. Laying tile is not that hard. Some say to start at the middle and work outward. Interested in that vinyl tile Chadamn--will PM about it or can you post more info here. Thanks.
 
#12 ·
I did it.

$1800 later the tile guy came and $2400 later it was done right.

Yeah that was when I lived in a single wide.

I NEVER try this kind of stuff.

I am GREAT with LEGO's.

John
LoL

i feel ya man, kinda what im trying to avoid. I think the biggest thing I have going for me is that the guest bathroom upstairs is fairly small, maybe 4x4 would be tiled.
 
#13 ·
I'm a general contractor and have ran thousands of feet of tile. Laying tile is not an expert job but doing it right requires several steps. A few quick tips: make sure your subfloor is solid and level, use "mud" under cement backer board as well as tile, keep square by chalking center lines both directions dividing room in four and work from center, and most importantly if you don't feel qualified contact a pro lol. There are literally dozens of finer points to a proper job that I won't get into here, you can pm with questions. You can probably find someone reasonable in your area to do the job for $6 to $7 per sq ft if you feel that's your best route. Good luck, if I can answer questions let me know.
 
#17 ·
Just put down the grout in my freshly tiled guest bathroom last night.

My house isn't even "old", and my wife has me remodeling. By the time I get it the way she wants it, we'll be moving lol


I'd suggest even getting one of those "home projects" book from Lowe's or Home Depot, and see if they have a Saturday tile laying class or someone who can show you the ropes.
 
#18 ·
Back in the day I had a job laying tile. My best recomendation for people that have not done it before is hire someone, especially when you are talking about ceramic or marble. As said before subfloor is key here make sure it is rock solid. Also the use of chalk lines are important, however in a bathroom you will normally want to center line and then lay out the tiles without mud to get a general idea how the far wall will need to be cut and then start from there. You will also need to caulk very good around the tub after you are done.

Another thing you need to consider is the toilet will be lifted up higher than it was before after you add more subfloor and then mud and tile. Sometimes you can just lift the pipe a small amount and be fine, other times you will have to [erform more drastic means to the toilet sewer pipe.

All in all the room I most despise tiling is the bathroom, yes it will normally be the smallest room to tile but it is the hardest by far. More corners to cut, small tight workspace and plumbing to deal with.

Whatever way you go good luck with it!
 
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