Before you start laying ceramic tiles, you need to choose and buy. It is desirable to define beforehand, where this purchase will be used. If you need to finish the floor in the bathroom, you can not do it with tiles for the walls, and vice versa. Interior tiles are not suitable for tiling the open balcony.
How many tiles need to buy
Tiles are sold in square meters or pieces, with a precise indication of size, so to correctly calculate the necessary amount, you must measure the surface area to be covered. Multiply the length by the width to get the area. It is better to buy fifteen percent more tiles than you need according to calculations, than to run around looking for the right color if you accidentally get a defect or a chip.
The working surface must be prepared in advance. If there is an old tile, it must be knocked off the walls or floor. Then the floor or wall is leveled, potholes, cracks and pits are smoothed, waterproofed, primed. The horizontality of the floor is checked by the level, the verticality of the wall – on the plumb line.
Preparing materials and tools
* Ceramic tiles, borders, decorative tiles;
*A special building glue mix;
*A container for dilution of glue or mastic (a basin or a bucket);
*painting tape;
*Mortar for grouting joints between tiles;
* slips-crosses;
*Vertical plummet (weight, hanging on a string), for work on the walls;
*Horizontal water or spirit level for laying the floor (1-2 meters long);
* spatula;
*rubber trowel;
*A construction tape measure;
*Prices for work gloves are not high, but they are also needed for laying ceramic tiles;
*Trowel;
* hand cutter;
* Tile pliers for glazed tiles;
* sandpaper strip;
* A mallet (wooden hammer);
* safety glasses.
What fasten (glue) tile
Tiles will hold up better if you soak them in water for a couple of minutes before starting work. The laying of ceramic tiles is made with special mastics or cement-based adhesives, which must be diluted strictly according to the instructions on the package. The glue composition is prepared immediately before use. Apply glue or cement on the back side of the tile, and the thicker the tile, the better and stronger the glue should be. It is important to make sure that the layer of mastic applied to the floor is equal in thickness to the tiles. Smear the mastic in small areas, gradually, as it hardens quickly. Any fixing compound is applied with the expectation that the tile will lie flat, without bulges and depressions. To ensure that the tiles are firmly fixed on the surface, it is necessary to cautiously, but firmly tap on it with a mallet. Excessive amount of mortar is removed in the process. Be sure to monitor this process a level (on the floor) and plumb (on the wall). During all the work, it is important to check the laying scheme, horizontal, vertical, pattern. Between tiles necessarily make gaps with the help of cross struts. After completing the laying of tiles, these joints are filled with a special grouting solution.
Signs of the factory designations of some technical characteristics of the tiles