New tile may be just the makeover your bathroom needs.
Sometimes there's just no saving your bathroom tile floor. The grout is permanently stained, the tile finish has lost its luster and it is just uninspiring to look at. Replacing your floor tile as part of your bathroom remodel can be done without a contractor. Be ready for two weekends of effort.
Instructions
1. Break out the floor tile and the mortar bed underneath with a rented demo hammer. Work down to a clean wooden sub-floor before you start to build back up with new materials.
2. Measure the sub-floor area in preparation for cutting the ½-inch backer board. Transfer the measurements to the backer board, offsetting the seams of your backer board from the seams in the sub-floor. Mark your cuts on the backer board with a pencil, drawing a straight line with the help of your level. Cut the backer board by making multiple passes along the lines with a utility knife.
3. Fasten the backer board onto the sub-floor with 1 1/2-inch hot-dipped galvanized screws.
4. Seal the seams in the with latex-fortified mortar. Quickly apply fiberglass joint tape. Once the tape is set, cover it with another layer of the mortar.
5. Spread sanded thinset mortar -- avoid fast-setting mortar -- on the sub-floor, using a notched trowel at around a 45-degree angle. Start your tile layout against the bathtub and the wall that adjoins the bathtub. Slide each tile into place as opposed to pressing it into place. If mortar oozes up between your tiles as you place them, you've used too much mortar. Revise the amount of mortar you trowel on as you progress. Clean off any excess mortar that accumulates on your floor tile before it dries.
6. Place spacers between the tiles as you go to keep your tile installation uniform with attractive straight lines. Cut the last row of tiles to fit if needed.
7. Seal the installation with tile sealer. Allow the installation to sit in place for 48 hours.
8. Press grout into the joints firmly with a rubber float after waiting the 48 hours. Remove the excess as you go by gently moving the float across the tile at an angle and back towards you. Wipe the tile with a large damp sponge in a crossing fashion to smooth the grout joints. Rinse the sponge in a bucket of water so that you do not spread excess grout film.
9. Go back over the tile installation with a fairly dry sponge to remove more grout film. Clean the floor with a cloth.
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