Installing Ceramic Tile

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A notched trowel is an essential tool hen installing ceramic tile.
A notched trowel is an essential tool hen installing ceramic tile.
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Press sharply on the handle tile along scribed line.
Press sharply on the handle tile along scribed line.
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Other essential tools include a straight edge, a compass, an erasable pen, and nibblers.
Other essential tools include a straight edge, a compass, an erasable pen, and nibblers.
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Set the tile against the ruled base of the snap cutter and hold it firmly. Pull the cutter across the tile, pressing down lightly to score the glaze.
Set the tile against the ruled base of the snap cutter and hold it firmly. Pull the cutter across the tile, pressing down lightly to score the glaze.
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Pivot the handle to lower the wings onto the tile on each side of the line.
Pivot the handle to lower the wings onto the tile on each side of the line.
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Grouting alternative: Apply with a sponge instead of a grout float. Press the grout firmly into the grout lines to remove all air bubbles. Clear the excess grout from the faces of the tiles with a grout float. Clean tiles with a damp sponge, rinsing to remove all grout.
Grouting alternative: Apply with a sponge instead of a grout float. Press the grout firmly into the grout lines to remove all air bubbles. Clear the excess grout from the faces of the tiles with a grout float. Clean tiles with a damp sponge, rinsing to remove all grout.
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Use the compass to draw curves and arcs.
Use the compass to draw curves and arcs.
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Use the straight edge to draw straight lines.
Use the straight edge to draw straight lines.
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Holding the tool square, nibble away small bites until you reach the line.
Holding the tool square, nibble away small bites until you reach the line.

In a metamorphosis that approaches alchemy, clay heated to between 1,900° and 2,500°F becomes one of the most attractive, enduring building materials known — ceramic tile. Few will deny that a well-done tile installation borders on art, but it has much more than aesthetics to recommend it.

Ceramic tile is practically immune to wear in any but the most abrasive environment, and no common household substance will dissolve it. NASA has faith in tile. At a cost of something over $1,000 each, tiles protect the space shuttles from the heat produced on entering the earth’s atmosphere.

Because of its durability, tile is an ideal floor, wall, or counter covering for damp areas, such as bathrooms, kitchens, and entries. It is also superb for sanitary installations. In fact, when set with special adhesives and grouts, it is tolerated by even the most chemically sensitive people. Tile is also the finish of choice for concrete floors meant for solar storage.

True, quality tile is more expensive than many other finish materials — mass-produced pieces range from a low of about $1 per square foot to well over $5 per square foot — but it compensates by being easy to keep clean and by outlasting all the alternatives. And when it comes time to sell a home, tile’s reputation for permanence and easy maintenance pays back its cost many times over.

Selecting and installing ceramic tile is really no more difficult than mastering any other building trade, but the practice does have an aura of mystique — simply because its tools, materials, methods and jargon are unique. Fluency in the language of carpentry, or even that of masonry, will do you little good at the tile store.

  • Published on Mar 1, 1989
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