"The price sharing community"

• Tell a Friend
• Forum
• Submit Prices
• Use of Data

• Building
• Conservatory
• Decorating
• Electrician
• Household
• Plumbing
• Security
• Utilities

• Home
• Prices
• Financial
• Health
• Travel
• Lifestyle
• Environment
• About

DIY Tiling

Tips for tiling yourself

So you just bought the house of your dreams and now this dream needs some kind of brightening up.  Sometimes, the simplest of changes with an easy do it yourself tiling project can enhance and change the ambiance of an entire room.

There are endless uses and DIY projects where you can make use of tiles. In addition, the use of tiles are not only limited to floors only but can be used for walls, counter tops and various other decorative ideas you have. There are DIY tile projects that anyone can complete successfully, from those of us who are highly skilled to the novice amongst us.

In this article the focus will be on maintaining or altering the current tiles you have in your home and not on the installation of a complete new set of tiles.  Although there is a maintenance free type of tile, and many home owners prefer to use that in spite of the cost thereof, at some stage there will be some maintenance involved.

The Golden Rule - Keep Left Over Pieces

If you ever owned a home, and especially if it is a rather old house, you would know the importance of always keeping some extra tiles and some of the left over pieces. After the installation of the tiles all goes well and it looks pretty.

Ten to twenty years have past and you end up with a crack on the floor or some corners have been chipped due to normal wear and tear and you would like to fix it now. Off you go to the tile store where you bought the tiles way back when to get hold of a tile or two to fix the problem. Regretfully the sales person informs you that the specific tile you are looking for has been discontinued for about 15 years now.

So the first step in any tiling project will be to remember and adhere to the golden rule of tiling. This you do by including a square feet or two of the tiles you will be using together with some of the dry grout for those unforeseen accidents which you would want to fix ten to twenty years down the line after installing your new tiles. This very simple "unnecesary" step might cost you a few dollars more now, but in time to come it might just save you thousands later!

Replacing a Ceramic Tile

Your hands are wet and that cast iron skillet slips out of your hands and crashes to the floor.  This accidentally cracks some of your floor tiles.  It is no good news, but as said before, even for those of us who are not all that experienced in the skill of tiling can complete such a task successfully by following easy steps just like painting by the numbers.

This is how you go about:

• At first, you need to remove the grout with a grout saw or some other rotary tool.  You need to cut a grove (scoring) diagonally along a straight edge.  Keep on doing this until there is a cut of about 1/16 inch deep.
• After removing the grout, you will need to break the center of the tile that needs to be removed. You would need to make use of a cold chisel, break the tile along the cut by hitting it with a hammer.
• Remove the adhesive - Now that the broken tile has been removed, you need to scrape off the old adhesive from the floor or surface you need to replace the tile on.  Make sure to remove enough old tile adhesive so that there will be enough space to apply the new adhesive.
• Apply New Adhesive - When you apply the new adhesive you will need to spread new adhesive on the floor and the back of the replacement tile.  It is important to make sure that you do not put on too much adhesive. A good guide is to use just enough to make sure the tile and the floor are wet with the adhesive.
• Now you can set the new replacement tile. 
• After the tile has been set, you can start by adding the grout to the joints.
• Once the grouting are done, you need to wait about 15 minutes for it to set before you can clean or wash the tile.  It is important to keep the new grout damp for at least 3 days before you apply grout sealer.

 

Stain Removing Tips for Tiles                   

There are various ways you can use to remove stains from tiles. Mostly it depends on the type of stain what type of solution or remedy you will make use of to remove the particular stain.

Here are a few common stains and the solution:

• Removing ink, coffee or blood - Start with a 3% solution of peroxide.  If that doesn't work try a non-bleach cleaner.
• Oil Base products - Charcoal lighter fluid or mineral spirits solvent.  If the paint on the tile is dry, make use of a plastic scraper and not a metal one, as it will damage the glaze or surface of the tile.
• Grease - General Household Stain Remover
• Rust - General Purpose Household Cleaner or rust remover
• Nail Polish - Nail polish remover

Replacing Grout

If the grout begins to fall out it means that it was not properly mixed or applied.  It could also be that the wall behind the tile is moving. This would necessitate removing the tile and fixing the wall.

Most of the time there is just a little grout to be removed

• Remove the old grout - a rotary grinding tool works best
• Mix New Grout -  Wash off where you removed the old grout.  Let it dry for 24 hours.  Then mix up new grout.
• Apply new grout -  Apply at a 45 degree angle to the wall and press the grout into the joints
• Remove the excess - holding the tool you applied the grout with at a 90 degree angle wipe it diagonally across the surface.
• Clean up the tile - Use just a damp sponge, too much water can change the color of the grout.  Then remove the grout left on the surface.

Isolating a Crack

Once in awhile the floor underneath the tile cracks.  This will crack the tile as well.  When this happens you first need to isolate the crack and make sure it relatively stable before you repair the floor.  If it is relatively stable you can isolate the crack with material that will relieve the stress on the tile.  Common tar paper often works very well for this purpose.  You then tile over the floor and the bridging material which allows the tile to float free from the crack in the floor.

These are some simple things you can do to maintain the beauty and longevity of your DIY tiling project.  If you are unsure of what you need to do many hardware stores have information, or you can ask an expert to make sure that maintenance on your do it yourself tile project is successful.  

©WhatPrice.co.uk 2003-2009 Sitemap Disclaimer Contact Us Use our Data Directory Privacy