We, the lovely and talented wife an I, just finished a full bathroom tiling job. The previous owners had carpeted part of the bathroom and a recent toilet mishap (2 kids + toilet = time bomb) marked the end of that carpet’s life.

We decided to do it ourselves. It’s something I’ve wanted to learn how to do for a long time but I didn’t want to make a lot of first-timer mistakes on a huge job. This bathroom is just the right size for learning to tile. It’s about 60 square feet combined with an inner room separated by a door with the bathtub and toilet and an outer room with two sinks and cabinets. It’s roughly L-shaped. The tub area had been tiled with an ugly 6" brown tile and the outer area was carpeted. We decided on an offset (“running bond”) pattern rather than just straight rows (“jack-on-jack”) but that was as ambitious as we got.

Here’s what I learned:

• The instructions online at the Lowe's website are very helpful and accurate.
• It's much more difficult to start this job than to finish it. Psychologically, it's hard to get yourself to demolish your own house. Just get a hammer and destroy some tile, cut out some old carpet. Once you've reached the point of no return, it's much easier to continue. Your house can take it.
• Remove all of your bathroom doors before starting. I know you think you can get away with just closing and opening the doors as needed, but trust me: removing the doors is easier.
• Ripping out carpet, pad, and tack strips is extremely easy. Don't fall for it. This is a trick to get you to relax your guard so you'll be totally demoralized when you try to remove tiles.
• Removing old tile is much more difficult. There are tools that can help but we found that an old flat-head screwdriver and a hammer worked very quickly. Use the hammer to wedge the tip of the screwdriver under a tile until it cracks. Remove and repeat. It goes pretty fast.
• If you've got cement fiber board under the tile, do not try to remove it by demolishing it with a hammer. Find all of the nails or screws holding it down and remove those first. Then the board comes up very easily.
• Ignore the know-it-all at the home improvement warehouse who says you need a pro-high-power-diamond-tip-bladed-mega-buck saw to cut backer board. You don't. Get the kind that you can score and snap. Get a scoring tool though and don't try to do it with a utility knife. The backer board scores and snaps easily.
• You will spend a lot of time on your knees. Get decent knee pads with an extra-wide strap or two straps. Avoid "value" pads that only use a single strap. They get behind your knees, hurt, and you won't use them.
• Cement comes in 50 pound bags. Only mix half of it at a time. If you mix the whole bag, you'll end up having to buy a new bucket and another 50 pound bag of cement because it hardened in the bucket because you were tiling too slowly because it was your first time. Plus, it's easier to mix.
• Get someone to help you. It makes the job go much faster if one person lays cement and another person comes behind to place and clean tiles. Plus, you'll feel better knowing you're not making mistakes alone.
• If it's a small job, just measure the tiles you need to cut and get the home improvement store to cut them for you.
• Grouting is much easier than tiling. But buy a regular grout float and an offset grout float. The regular float won't work under counters.
• Cement and grout clean up pretty easily. Don't stress about making a little bit of a mess.
• It's hard work and it's going to take you longer than you think. We completed the job in 5 afternoons and probably put in around 15-20 hours total. If you worked faster you could theoretically do it in a weekend---but I'd count on doubling the estimated time for your first job.

Comments

1. siobhan on 2007-01-08 14:09:35 wrote: You’re list of pointers is a good one. I tiled two floors (an entryway and a bathroom) almost all by myself. I had help cutting tiles (because I kept breaking them). But I am no do-it-yourselfer. It was a lot of work, but it was a lot of work that wasn’t technically difficult (ie. taping and mudding sheetrock, which I can’t do).

2. Chookooloonks on 2007-01-08 14:57:52 wrote: Cool – thanks, we’re probably going to be doing some home remodeling ourselves in the coming monts. Any before/after pics? K.

3. John on 2007-01-10 20:07:06 wrote: Before and after pictures are here.

4. Claus on 2007-01-12 08:33:12 wrote: Tile Spacers! I did a tile remodel once and (although there are other ways to do it) ponied up the $ for a box of these little plastic crosses ( + ) to use as tile spacers. Saved an borderline obsessive/compulsive personality a ton of regret. Tiles lined up and perfectly spaced out. Priceless! Great tips!

5. spape » Blog Archive » Safe As Houses on 2007-02-10 12:32:37 wrote: […] agents, and otherwise going bananas, but hopefully it will all be worth it soon when we’re tiling our bathroom, chopping wood for our (hopefully) fireplace, and hanging pegboard in the […]

6. Sex, daisies, Miley Cyrus, and me | flagrantdisregard on 2008-05-15 21:08:23 wrote: […] tiling.” Seriously. I’m no authority but somehow I’m the fourth result. And you thought I was just a […]

7. John on 2008-08-27 03:11:07 wrote: It just shows what you can do, following the right instructions. The satisfaction that you got from doing the job yourself money you have saved makes the hard work and long hours, well worth it. Excellent looking job.

8. James on 2008-08-30 02:52:43 wrote: I’m about to tile a small master bath and your pointers really helped calm my nerves. I was looking for an approximate cost and got my nerves wrecked when the first thing google brought back was $7000!!! I’ll bookmark your tips, and thanks for calming my nerves :)

9. shane on 2011-08-05 17:37:55 wrote: I am a handyman and have done all kinds of consruction, but just did my first tile floor and wall. I have to say, it was a lot easier than I thought it would be and turned out great so far. I’m done with the floor and half the wall. Will be glad to share pics and advise with anyone. Spacers,time,and common sense is all you need.