How to Lay Tiles: A 7-Step Beginner’s Guide

Want to learn how to lay tiles in your kitchen or bathroom? Read this blog post for a beginner’s guide. You’ll learn seven steps to enhancing your room with new tile, and the best part is: you can do it yourself!

If you don’t know how to lay tiles, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. This is actually a simple DIY project that can add to your home’s beauty and value. It’s something that can easily be done on your own — without having to hire an expensive contractor. Roll up your sleeves and use this guide as a starting point for your kitchen or bathroom tile renovation.

Step 1: Select Your New Tile

Here’s the fun part: picking out tile for your kitchen or bathroom. But many homeowners forget that there’s more to it than deciding on a color or pattern. You need to consider things such as price, durability, texture, and size in order to determine which tile is right for you. And here’s a smart tip: Before you buy that tile, make sure you measure the space where you’ll be installing it.

Step 2: Prep the Room

The first hands-on step when it comes to how to lay tiles is simply getting the room prepared. Clean the entire surface, make sure it’s level, and secure all loose flooring. If your floor has any damage, cover it with plywood.

Step 3: Decide on a Pattern

The next step is to examine your tiles and decide how you want to pattern the layout. Do you want uniformity, or would you like to alternate the tiles? How you lay the tiles has a big impact on the room’s overall look, so give it some thought before you begin your tiling project.

Step 4: Begin in the Middle

Never start from the side — always begin the tile from the room’s center. Here are step-by-step instructions on how to find the center of the floor to lay tile.

Step 5: Cement the Tiles

If you don’t have self-adhering tiles, you’ll need to apply adhesive to the tile. Cement typically settles in 15 minutes, so watch for it to become tacky — but not sticky. When it gets to that tacky consistency, it’s ready to apply.

Step 6: Put the Tiles in Place

Keep in mind that when you’re laying the tiles, you want to do exactly that: lay them. Never slide them. Place the first tile squarely in the spot you’ve planned for it in the middle of the room, and work out from there.

Step 7: Complete the Border

For DIYers who want to know how to lay tile, this last step is an important one. You’ll need to measure and cut the tile to complete the final border, making sure to cut tile to fit around pipes and other fixtures.

Tiling your kitchen or bathroom is an excellent way to enhance the room’s aesthetic appeal and overall beauty. Whether you’re new to home improvement projects or you’re a seasoned DIYer, follow the seven steps above when you want to know how to lay tiles in your DFW home.

Image Source: Flickr/Arto Brick

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Audrey Sellers

Audrey Sellers is an award-winning, Dallas-based writer and editor with a background in marketing and promotions. She’s a former magazine editor turned blogger who’s a pro at crafting all kinds of engaging content: blog posts, case studies, feature stories, social media content, and more. When her fingers aren’t flying on her laptop, she’s busy not relaxing with her husband and two young kids.