How to tile a floor or wall, A beginner’s Guide

A beginner's guide to tiling. Intimidated by tiling? It might be more approachable than you think.

[roadrunnerklassic]

Being on a multi-month project in rebuilding my bath from the studs out- great job on hitting the main elements of the tile job for beginners or experts. I have found that back buttering and applying thinnest to the wall, and working it in, has given me the best complete coverage. You do have to plan for the additional build up, but the tile coverage has been the best with that method. layout can prevent major mistakes. I have often taken the tile and traced it on the walls to make sure I don't wind up with sliver cuts of under 2". Awesome job of illustrating major points of getting it right- the demo of cutting out the radius was great!

[daisyb]

Oh wow, you are just so wonderful at demonstrating and explaining, and your pro tips are invaluable. I am starting tiling in my bathroom this week, and will be referring to your video for sure. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise 😍

[kelsey]

It is not at all recommended to only "back butter" the tile when applying it - this is a good way to ensure you have preventable issues down the road. Especially with floor tile you won't have even support beneath the tile and it will be far more likely to break. Mortar needs to be keyed into the substrate, then applied with the notched trowel - back buttering is an extra step done with the flat side of the trowel to provide additional guarantee the tile will make full contact with the mortar. Also should be moving the tile up and down the same distance as your notches are wide so you actually knock the mortar down and don't end up with air behind.

[neil]

Great tip regarding cutting a semi circle 👍

[msfries]

1 - Tile
2 - Tile Saw (Wet saw - Manual cutter)
4 - Morter - FinFet
5 - Notched trowel
6 - Facers level
- Facers level router
- Grout float
- Visor

[devduguay]

Also if you want it to last the most important step is prepping your floors, and wall with the correct products. Ie cement board, or membrane. Also making sure the floor is level & straight. Also when buttering a tile, the surface you place the tile on, also needs mortar, or you will not get the correct coverage.

[marcellomartell]

As a tile contractor. It’s very very inefficient and way messier if you butter the tile. Just butter the whole wall and slap them up

[You-are-right-but]

Thanks for this video. I'm handy at DIY but tiling & plumbing, I try to avoid. Today, it catches up with me 😮

[jadinesimpson]

Excellent teaching skill, beautiful job, I so scared to try, I have everything I need, except the courage to try😢😢😢😢😢

[mattkwest]

Thanks for this, now I'm looking forward to tiling the laundry wall instead of dreading it.

[davidgarnett]

Hi great video. I was just wondering if you could please give us one advice or video on how to tile a washing machine? Thanks x

[beatonthedonis]

Haven't seen that type of spacer before. Will look out for them. You should do corner tiles last - especially if your corner is not perfectly plumb/straight. You need to cut them to the angle of the corner.

[DoowTael]

This video made me a bit too confident to try tiling myself :P

[shannonmcgilloway]

thanks for the tutorial. also love the wallpaper -- would you mind sharing where you got it from?

[amstorm]

i love how youtube put good content for first did amazing job today at self leveling now this :PPPP total beginner btw

[alanspencer]

So... you don't put motor on your backer board? Did you use backer board?

[tardistime]

I’m a tiler and I hate to sound horrible here but I’m afraid this is not at a standard where I personally could leave the customer or location like it I’m sorry I’m just being honest

[igudr]

Cant really agree with your preference of a wet saw. They are pricier, make a huge mess and are actually good for smaller tiles. If you are tiling a tile of 120x60cm for example it will take you ages.
As a normal diamond cutter has the job done in seconds. Furthermore you can just use an angle grinder with a diamond blade for the complicated parts.

[dannydamico]

Better to butter back the tile and the wall, no doubts about the tile gripping the wall if you do that.

[valclydecarvajal]

Hi does a tile stick on a phenolic plywood?