Install Bathroom Floor Tiles

The toilet base hides the tile cuts that you make around the drain.

Hard tiles such as ceramic and porcelain have always been popular choices for bathroom flooring. Tiles are moisture proof, easy to clean and come in a wider array of colors and styles than most other types of flooring. Laying a tile bathroom floor is similar to any other floor tile project, except that you're usually dealing with more obstructions, including the toilet and tub. Practice with your tile nippers on a few pieces of scrap tile before you start.

Instructions

1. Turn off the water line behind the toilet. Flush the toilet. Disconnect the water line with a wrench. Use the wrench to remove the two floor bolts on the toilet base. Lift the toilet from the floor and take it out of the room.

2. Use a chalk snapline to divide the floor into four quadrants, with two lines spanning the middle of the floor in both directions and intersecting in the center. Lay out the lines as if the bathtub and other obstructions aren't there.

3. Spread thinset mortar over the middle of the floor with a notched trowel. Cover several square feet. You will still be able to see the lines through the mortar.

4. Set the first four tiles into the mortar at the intersection, along the lines. Place spacers between them.

5. Spread down additional mortar and lay more tiles, working your way from the middle outward. Set spacers between them as you go. Lay all the full tiles that will fit, leaving spaces where full tiles won't fit, near the wall and tub and around the toilet.

6. Let the full tiles set for a day. Go back and cut tiles to fit along the wall and tub, using your tile cutter. For the cuts around the toilet drain and any other curved obstructions, use tile nippers to break off small pieces of the tiles, forming them to the shapes you need. Lay the cut tiles in mortar.

7. Let all the tiles set for another day. Remove the spacers.

8. Grout the floor, starting at one corner and working outward. Use your grout float to press the grout into the spaces between the tiles, while scraping the excess off the surface. Wipe down the residual grout with a damp sponge. Let it dry for 48 hours before putting the toilet back in.

Tags: full tiles, around toilet, between them, middle floor, spacers between, spacers between them, tile nippers