Bunker Hill Remodel: Installing Tile in 8 EASY Steps!

STEP 1: PICK THE TILE. We picked the warm tile color on the left, BUT we decided to go with longer, rectangle porcelain tiles rather than square! By doing so, we hope to make the room look longer and with less of a distinct pattern.

STEP 2: REMOVE OLD FLOORING, CLEAN & PRIME. After gutting the entire bathroom, the first thing we had to do was prep the floors. We mopped, vaccumed and cleared out all debris from the demolition, then created a barricade around the toilet hole opening and the doorways using plumber's puddy. Then, we primed the floor with the Henry primer using a 1:1 ratio with water and following the directions on the bottle.

STEP 3: LEVEL THE FLOOR. We mixed and poured the Henry LevelPro self-leveling concrete (AKA underlayment) to create a level surface over the entire bathroom floor. This is an important step because if the tile is not level, it is susceptible to pressure cracks when you walk over it.

When pouring the underlayment, you have to be sure to pour FIRST into the corners, to avoid having any places the liquid does not diffuse into. We realized this after pouring, so Adam carefully spread the liquid into the empty spaces before it dried too much! You can also see, in the bottom picture, the barricade we created to prevent the spread of the concrete through the doorway! Always a good idea because it will spread EVERYWHERE.

** the mix should be on the thin, liquidy side in order to create a level surface.

On the bag, the directions called for 2-3 hours of drying time. In reality, this was more like 3-4 for it to be completely solid.

STEP 4: CREATE A PATTERN BY DRY FITTING THE TILES INTO PLACE. Once the underlayment was ready, the boys started to create a "dry fit" template in order to better decide a pattern and to create the cuts BEFORE they are glued permanently into place. In order to design the layout, we set a straight line of tiles down the center of the bathroom. We did this rather than aligning the grout lines with the walls, because walls usually are not perfectly square OR parallel. They used a chalk line to create the blueprint and to keep the line perfectly straight.

Also, we used tiny "X" spacers between the tiles to space them 1/8 inch apart. This is where the grout will be filled in :)

All of the cuts were made using a wet saw (skill saw) out in the backyard. The boys had a great system going: one would make cuts while the other would measure and trace the next cut.

***When cutting the porcelain, eye protection is a must!!

There's Adam laying the LAST TILE for the dry fit!

STEP 5: MOVE TILES OUT. We moved all of the tiles (in an orderly fashion) off the floor so we could lay thin set. You can either keep them in the same layout as they were in, OR label them with numbers. I think it was much easier to just move them carefully in the dry fit pattern.

STEP 6: APPLY THIN SET. We used a high grade, white thin set to stick the tiles to the floor. We followed the directions on the bag, mixing the concrete with water using a concrete mixer. The first time we did this, it was too dry, and not sticky enough, like pizza dough. For this reason, we mixed in more water (about an additional liter on top of the other 6 we had put in previously) until it was the consistency of soft serve ice cream.

Perfecto!

**if you don't add enough water, the thin set will harden & dry out too quickly.

This took 24 hours to set completely. Don't walk on the floor while this is drying.

STEP 7: PREP FOR THE GROUT. We carefully removed all the spacers that were inside the grout lines between the tiles and vaccumed any debris that was left behind. This is important because the grout will fill the cracks!

STEP 8: APPLY THE GROUT & WIPE OFF THE EXCESS. Since our tiles are a cream/beige, we went with the cream grout - this will make the lines blend well.

While I applied the grout (using a hard, rubber trowel) and worked it into the cracks from every direction, Brad went behind me with the sponge, gently wiping up the excess product.

**The trick for grouting is when sponging up the excess product, do not use ANY water; the sponge must be completely drained of water. If water IS left on the grout lines, it will weaken the bond and discolor the grout.