You Can Tile Your Kitchen Floor

Tiling your kitchen floor with ceramic, stone or porcelain evokes a feeling of strength, value, and durability. It is aesthetically appealing and about the same as a high-quality vinyl covering costs if you do it yourself. Other advantages are the higher valuation on an assessment of your property, buyers appeal (if you want to sell), and easy to care for the tile. But all of these benefits can be made zero if you can not prepare yourself, and then install the tiles in the correctManner.

Required Tools for the Job:

Tiles

Backer board

Drill wired (or wireless, extra battery if cordless)

Hammer

Chisels

Small piece of thin wood or laminate sample

Goggles

Dust mask

Circular Saw

Razor blades

Gloves (working and rubber)

Several clean bucket (5 gal households and smaller size)

Jam saw

Tape Measure

Level

Chalk line

Carpenter Square

Painter's Tape

Trowel ¼ inch from groove and smaller for the corners

Thin set

Acrylic additive, or put some thin had added

Mesh Seam Tape

Spatula

Tile spacers

Pencil

Wet saw or manual tile cutter

Tile Pliers

Grout

Rubber grout float

Sponges, towels and water

Silicone caulk

Tiles and sealing joints

Cleaner for tile

Steps to follow:

1. Determine the suitability of the> Floor tile you. If you've noticed, the ground is not level, you must use a leveling compound, which comes in powder form, in bags, in the same place you buy your supplies. This can be exploited to a floor of the otherwise solid earnings. Sometimes you may need to relocate a new subgroup to the strength you need. Most of the time, if a homeowner wants to install ceramic tile, it is over an existing vinyl floor. Neverinstalled directly on the linoleum floor, because the plate will pop later lose. Use a Tile Backer board. There are several types to choose from. It has a network of type, with the core looked like rough, crumbling cement. The other has a smooth cover with a smooth core. Both come in either ¼ inch or ½-inch format. I personally prefer the smooth core type because of the ease of use, and water resistance. Your choice of thickness will be determined by things such as the adjacentStock 's height, as well as things like how it applies to the dishwasher. Remove all movable equipment and furniture.

2. Select your tile to suit your personal preferences. Be sure to use a tile recommended for floors. Think of the surface of the tile, because you do not, can a tile that is extremely slippery to use in the kitchen. I have found that a less expensive tiles just as durable as the more expensive if it is properly installed. Even for beginners, itis much easier to use a square with a square tile in the square pattern, then after a complicated pattern to use.

3. Determine before the transfer Backer board, whether you are going to remove the baseboards too. Your baseboard will be shorter if you do not. To remove the baseboard and shoe molding (or quarter round), use a small thin crowbar, a hammer, and your piece of thin plates or laminate sample. Insert the thin board on the wall. This protects the wall from damage. Put the pry into theCrack on the head between the wall and the skirting. Use the hammer on the hook of a crowbar tap to get it between the wall and baseboard wedge. Use a stroke at the end of the bar pull the baseboard. Be careful, and you will not buy into new forms part, but only the reuse of the old one. If you have door jams in your kitchen, they have to be cut to a shorter from the bottom. You do not need to eat. Simply use a piece Backer board, and a piece of the plate on top of each other'sSearch for the height of the new soil. Mark this on your jam, so that only takes a little more set for the area of thin. Use up your jam saw the jam. It will now be ready to slip the backer board, and during the installation under tiles.

4. Now is the time to install the supporter card. Mix the thin set according to the instructions on the bag. For me it is better to smaller quantities at a time mix, I get interrupted, and because it is easier to handle. With a latex or rubberGlove on the hand, use your hands to mix. This method is good for lumps, broken must feel with your fingers. Another method is to use a drill attachment to the water and powder thin set mixed.

5. Spread the thin set with the notched trowel on the floor. Arrange sheets Backer board over the thin set. "Thin" distributed to each piece Backer board at a time to avoid stepped in it. Each piece has as with screws attached to the bottom. Use your drill to fasteninto the screw. Space they give to the marks, the placement on the backer board. When installing the screws, it is very important that they are flush or slightly below the surface. Though a little above the surface of the backer board can rotate the tiles and / or break after the job is done. Use a circular saw to the donors on board to have a razor and break or cut the board at the slot you cut. Let's make about a ¼ inch space against the walls and cabinets,Expansion. Use the seam mesh tape at the seams, and use a spatula and some thin set to mount it on the seams. Let dry.

6. With a tape measure, carpenter's square and chalk line to determine a center point of departure and be sure it is on the pitch. I like to use some painter's tape to the chalk line for the first tile brand. It is easier to see, set in the use of thin, and when you remove a straight line again. You only need these ingredients for the firstSome tiles. Then you are in line with your existing tiles and spacers.

7. Do not use the thin set. Instead, a dry layout of some of the tiles is to determine the size of the tiles on the edges. It is better to try to cut through the brick center of a small adjustment as to ¼-inch pieces on an edge. Now, mix down and applied in several thin sections and place the tiles on top. It is best to start in the middle of the floor and off.When placing the tile, be sure that you have a rotary motion and companies under pressure to ensure that use liability. Then watch the tiles if necessary with the help of spacers. If you have a tile before removing it set to have the crowbar really helps to lift it. The size of spacers is used according to personal preference and type of tile. Tiles have only full size, where they fit.

8. Are the next day, or by areas dry enough to walk carefully in order to start measuring and cutting tile. ToBrand, a tape measure and pencil can be used to obtain the size. But an easier method for most of the cuts is to insert a plate into the space that a reduction of tile needs. It is the first full overlapping tiles. Then line-up to cut another full tile on the edge of the tile, and full even with the tile. Allow for the distance, where the joints go, and draw a line with a pencil on the edge of the full tile. I prefer using a wet saw with a manual saw, unless all cuts are straight and the full lengththe tile. When using a wet saw, first carefully read and follow the instructions in the manual, and cut some practice pieces. It is not as intimidating as it seems. The saw blade can be traced in a sentence. Do not try to cut too fast. Slowly and steadily better, and broken tiles. Install avoid cut tiles in the same way as full tiles, and leave a little room on the walls and cabinets. It is now important to ensure that the soil dry undisturbed for 24 hours.

9. Clean Brick, with water and spray cleaner. The excess thin set is coming out with the use of a washing sponge. If you are a porous stone, brick, you need to seal before grouting. This is to prevent staining of the tile. Polished marble, granite, ceramic or porcelain, at this point need not be sealed. Mix grout according to package directions. Again, I want to be a rubber or latex gloves to mix used. Use the rubber grout float, held at an angle to spread the grout over the entire plate> Floor. Working in sections, and more Bricks from scratch, after a few minutes by the float upright in a corner. After a wait about 30 minutes, use a sponge and water to clean more of the mortar. Keep rinsing the sponge and pressed in your bucket. You can also change the water. You can repeat this procedure again. It is not clean on. Wait until the next day, and then repeat the process. Use this time to destroy the old terry cloth towel and buffAfter the sponge. When there are resistant sites, use a clean joints to remove haze.

10. Now the grout to cure for the next seven days. If the environment is dry because of heating, use a spray bottle with water and spray on the grout to cure it stronger. After the period, and the soil is completely dry, the grout can be sealed. Some tiles have also sealed. It can be done at the same time with the same product. You do not need a few layersdepending on the product instructions. Re install baseboard and shoe molding.

Here are a few precautions and helpful hints

--If your floor is very out of level you may want to veto tiling, and go with a floating type floor.
--Use thin set, never mastic for areas that will have water exposure. Mastic will melt away if a substantial amount of

water reaches it.
--If you are only tiling at your home, and not more often, rent a wet saw. Reserve it if can bring, but not home

Until you cut tile.
- If the grout using Painter's tape to protect surfaces as the base under the table.
- Mixing thin set mortar or cutting saw with a wet, do it outdoors, or in a garage, because the dust. Also wear

Safety goggles and dust mask.
- Be careful when cleaning of buckets or equipment, never pour it down the drain, even about washing hands, because it

clog the drain.
- Use siliconfor perimeter sealing edge instead of grout. Put the quarter to seal in the wet. Use quit nails

Easy to install safe. The thick will prevent water from coming under edges of the tile.
- For cleaning wipe, wet, or if the grout is dirty, use a small amount of bleach and water.
- Re-seal the grout once a year. Porous stone may need to be resealed every six months.

Enjoy the fruits of your labor! By doing it yourself, you have an enormous savings in labor costs and haveincreases the value of your home!

Build a Shower Stall That Doesn't Leak

Many different approaches have been used to build a shower that will not leak. Shower trays of lead and copper have been used for several years. Mixing metal, cement and water often leads to failure, perhaps in twenty years, perhaps sooner. Then a few installer uses hot mopped asphalt over concrete with varying success. Some installers nor with any of these methods.

Today, there are several methods for creating a shower pan promises a leak-proof shower for a long time. ThePromise looks good and time will tell how these different methods of work.

Tile Ready Shower Trays

Three companies, including Tile Redi, Schluter and Wedi build systems that build with foam rubber and waterproof membranes for foundations on which tile is then set. The only cement is used as a base for the shower pan, which is part of the system.

These systems aim to eliminate some of the skills for building a masonry shower, but require a fee. The cost of these systems is higheras a normal shower, but the shower goes hand in hand more quickly, which is a distinct advantage in some situations.

Fiberglass Pans

Let us consider a fiberglass or acrylic shower. You do not get the look and feel of a ceramic shower, but the costs are lower. The cheaper showers wear quite fast and not as long a life as a tile shower, shower where the tiles do not leak.

Conventional masonry Showers

Most ceramic showers are still under construction with masonryConstruction. A masonry shower pan is built this way. A solid base or substrate is not required. A shower drain is rough enacted. The shower pan has two drain holes, a set lower and an upper set. Then a layer of mortar is inclined to put down on the floor drain holes. Pea gravel or tiles are broken over the drain holes in a position to keep them open. Then a special vinyl sheet is laid over the mortar layer and glued to the drain base.

The vinyl membraneThe key for the shower base. You must realize that the tile surface and joints you see on a shower floor is not waterproof. Water percolating through the shower floor and up into the membrane and then migrates along the membrane on the floor sloped drain holes.

Above the vinyl membrane, is another layer of mortar is poured to serve as a base for ceramic tiles. After this basic treatments, is the flow and pressed on top with the drain. The building is to contain thealso critical. Around the curb and into the bottom corners are places where the membrane can crack and leak. Then the walls and ceilings will be built.

Some of the modern systems available today will continue to change the way of showers will be built. Most of the shower to make the construction easier. It still seems that for the immediate future, some form of traditional shower is still the standard. If carefully constructed with modern materials, a conventional masonry shower workperfect for many years.

Quartz Tile Flooring - Is it Really That Easy?

It was popular in ancient Greece and ancient Rome and now Quartz tile floor in our home renovation and design. If it used to modern and simple DIY tiles, tiles this unique technology is an alternative you should consider. When you transform quickly into a position to any internal or external surface - read the following review.

Some Basics

What is quartz tile floor renovations at all? Well, it is created by assembling together similarorganized smooth stones and then to a standard sq / ft mesh backing mounted. South-East Asia and particularly in Indonesia for the wide variety of colorful and shaped beach stones that are used for these natural tiles are known. The most common applications with this tiling method include the following: kitchens, bathrooms, backsplashes and floors.

Key Benefits

Let's quickly examine what is in it for us:

* Can be used internally, as well as in the inside.

*As a cost-effective compared to other similar solutions.

* Easy to install on existing concrete surfaces such as ceramics or plain old.

Practical tips to go!

* Laminate the stones with a sealer prior to installation - it will take liquids, dirt, wash and durable to protect-transformation.

* Use only high quality materials such as mortar and sealer - you do not want your tiles to fall apart after a few months ago, just because you wanted to save,a few dollars.

* Epoxy based grouts are considered stronger than conventional grout, however take into account that they are less forgiving to the ignorant installer.

We could easily find many other advantages provided by this enjoyable home improvement technique, because most people find it extremely easy to install and maintain.

Conclusions

Quartz tile floor technology brings a real contemporary touch surface in any home with a clear and effective benefits.It is recommended that you follow these tips as you are willing to keep starting the installation.

Armstrong Vinyl Flooring - Advantages And Disadvantages

Armstrong vinyl flooring is one of the toughest and best known of all the vinyl flooring made today. As a customer, you can offer a wide range of products in their area with vinyl flooring. In this article we will discuss some of these products that you decide whether they are the right choice for your home.

How good it is durable, vinyl flooring also comes in a variety of patterns such as marble, natural stone orBrick and wood, all of which look very similar to their natural counterparts. Also come in a variety of geometric patterns and historical as well as diamond and floral styles.

Each vinyl flooring that Armstrong produced via a Tough Guard construction, which includes a core that is durable and strong, planing or any other type of damage that the structure of it may be caused.

Besides you a varietyPatterns, styles and colors that they painted in either a high or low are shiny. Too many of their vinyl floor coverings by a layer that is resistant to scratches and abrasion come because it contains aluminum oxide. This special coating is known as Clean Sweep Plus.

The most popular offering in the Armstrong vinyl flooring collection is called destinations. This comes in a variety of natural patternsand is a medium kind of floor price for. There are other areas as well as masterpieces which comes with an embossed look on the floor, and includes the Clean Sweep Plus layer as the destination area. Each of these special type of flooring with a 15-year cover-come guarantee.

However, if you you want on a limited budget then perhaps discount Armstrong vinyl flooring area known to be regarded as the initiator. Thiscomes in the traditional types of vinyl flooring patterns that we recognize immediately, and yet comes with the Tough Guard inner core, but only comes with a 5-year warranty. Certainly when it comes to vinyl flooring, the more you spend, the better the quality will be.

But if you are looking for an Armstrong vinyl flooring, which add a new dimension to any room in your house, then why not consider their natural fusionLibrary. This is one of the largest vinyl flooring, you are likely to have ever met are manufactured from either Armstrong or any of the other vinyl flooring manufacturers around today.

In fact, the techniques used for this particular soil make it very difficult for someone to distinguish from the real and re-create the CleanSweep's Plus finish with aluminum oxide and polycarbonate. The warranty on this particularSeries of Armstrong vinyl flooring is 20 years and is certainly one of the longest guarantees through vinyl flooring manufacturer today.

Your First Tile Project

Preparation

Once you have decided what floor you want to tile, determine what type of subfloor you'll be tiling. The subfloor is the actual surface you will be tiling on and is usually at least one surface layer below the current floor covering. The three main types of subfloor you may encounter are: Vinyl or linoleum, plywood, or concrete. Vinyl and plywood floors are most difficult to tile. Vinyl floors must be scarified or rough sanded to Ensure that your grout will stick. Plywood floors are susceptible to warping and are often not completely level. Ideally, you can make a concrete subfloor for tile as simple as possible. Regardless find what you surface, you have to paint the floor a thorough cleaning adhesives, sealers or chemicals before you.

Before you decide on tile options, an estimate of the size of the project by calculating the square footage of the area you plan to tile. Use yourMeasurements in order to decide on the best tile size option if you are shopping nearby. These measurements give you a good idea of the number of tiles, as well as the quantity of cement and mortar, you need your floor.

Next, you can begin to decide on the look for your room. Do you want a tile earth tones or bright colored tiles? Select the disk matches that of the general attractiveness of the area and flows with the adjacent room. The fun of DIY projects is thecreativity involved so don't be afraid to try something different! Once you decide on the look you want to achieve, shop around for the most durable tiles you can find in your price range. The tiles you choose should deliver the aesthetic qualities you desire with the durability to withstand water absorption and constant use.

Tiling

Decide on the pattern you want to lay your tile in by drawing a diagram. You can lay tile in line with the walls of the room or at an Angle, it all depends on your vision and how you imagine the room layout! Before you begin ensure bricks, that your surface is clean. Do your best to repair cracks and remove dirt from the underground has to ensure the mortar to the cleanest possible surface to follow.

Prepare your workspace by using all the tools you need and mix your mortar. Some tools you will likely need are: buckets, trowels, floats and sponges, a tile saw (wet, dry, or both), a tile cutter andmay be a driver for prep work (you can read a detailed article about these tools here). Mix your grout a spreadable consistency, not dripping not.

Start with tiles in the center of the room by a small amount of mortar at a time. There is no need to be put in an attack on tile, apply more mortar than you can cover before it shall only create a mess and takes more time to clean up. Help from the center of the room, a uniform appearance to an imbalance in contrastPatterns that can arise when you start from one side of the room. Furthermore, this time you hang around with the tile before you have to do with cut pieces. How to tile, continuously ensure that the pieces, and there is enough space between each.

When you approach the edge of space, you need to make the measurements for the trim. Take some time and as accurately as possible, so that you do not waste time and tiles. If you are only a few pieces, a dry saw isusually work. However, for larger projects saw a wet, is perfect to save time and real cuts. At this point you have a good idea of what the final project will look like. The next step will be to grout and seal your tiles!

Grouting and sealing technology

Once you have placed the last plate, leave the work for a short time while you pay mix mortar. Your grout must wet and spread easily. Start by scraping your spoon on the grout and then they spread throughoutyour tile work, filling all of the spacing between tiles. Remove excess grout with a wet sponge or rag.

Be sure to seal your grout work before it dries because it may become vulnerable to cracks and movement. You may as well have never spent all the time laying the tile if you don't seal your work! After sealing the tile and grout, clean the surface with damp rags or a mop.

Your first tile project is complete, stand back and admire your work! Generally, it is better to do Their first tile projects in smaller spaces in order to facilitate the learning process. So, do not hesitate to call a professional assistance in every phase of the project. Sometimes it is best to get an insight and opinion of each before you move too far.

Many DIYers have a professional tile cutter to cut tiles at the correct angle to ensure cuts are to be measured and have made as clean as possible. One way or another, and the more tile projects, which it is completed, the more comfortable you become. Check-in LetsBlog-building, to tips for completing specific projects such as tile backsplashes, mosaics, countertops, etc.