Ceramic Tile Tips Before Installing: Installing ceramic walls tiles and ceramic floor tiles are basically the same and they both offer the same great advantages such as flexibility of design, a variety of colors to choose from and lots of materials and patterns and when installed correctly they can also provide years and years of durability.
Types of Tiles: Ceramic tiles come in two basic types: Glazed and Porcelain. Glazed tiles are the best for heavy traffic areas while Porcelain tiles are best suited for bathrooms.
When choosing the type of tiles to use you should take your budget into consideration and also the size of the area that you are planning on tiling, because if your are considering using Porcelain tiles they are definitely going to cost a lot more that Glazed tiles. If you are going to be tiling your flooring then you would need to use larger tiles probably 12" by 12" would be suitable.
Base Foundation: The base foundation or under-layment is highly critical for proper installation, and usually consists of plywood measuring between ¾" to 1 ¼" thick. It is possible to tile over existing tile and Linoleum as long as it is solid and bear in mind that tiles can also be installed directly over concrete.
For tiling over Linoleum you should first apply ring nails or screws 6" on center over the entire area. In all cases it is necessary to have a level floor that is free of dust and debris before starting the installation, and if necessary there are leveling compounds that you can apply to level any part of the uneven flooring.
Testing the Tile Layout: Before you actually start installing the tiles, you will have to do what is called a dry run, this is done by laying out the tiles in the room, without using any adhesive, to see how they will look when they are finally installed.
If you have any stubby tiles be sure and place them in the less visible areas. Once this is done make two marks using a pencil to outline the most centered tile. Be sure that the lines are perpendicular to each other and make a note of the wall that is most visible from all the others.
Remove the tile and draw a line perpendicular to the wall that is in line with one of the marks you made. Now draw another perpendicular line to the first line, this second line should be centered with the first line and in line with the second mark you made.
When you have finished this task, lay out some of the tiles along the perpendicular lines to see if they run out in any way that will limit cutting and stubbed tiles. After you are done removing the tiles, get ready for the actual installation.
