How to Tile Kitchen Floor All by Yourself? (Simple Step by Step Guidelines)

The kitchen floor is an essential part of the entire home decor. Many choose to tile it and give a clean, spotless look overall.

Surviving the parade of feet isn’t easy for the floor. Especially when it is the kitchen floor. These areas are most prone to get sopping wet as well as bone dry. You will need to go through some special preparation for these thin, delicate slices of ceramic on the floor.

There are some really simple tips you can follow on how to prepare a floor for tile. Today I’ll be pointing the A to Z process concisely.

Let’s have a chat over how to tile your kitchen floor all by yourself.

Kitchen Floor Tiling All by Yourself in Easy Steps

Some Safety Requirements

Here are some safety checkboxes you need to tick before starting the whole process. Make sure to give them paramount attention.

1. Power tools are hazardous to deal with. So, make sure to wear some protective eye wears.
2. While pouring the dry thinset, you need to wear a good facemask.
3. You’ll have to rip out the old floor at some point during this process. Make sure you test out for asbestos. This can be a risky thing if gets disturbed. It might turn into airborne. There are some professional asbestos removers that are quite expensive.
4. If you find asbestos risk, try backer board to cover the floor. Using thinset mix and tile will be an effective solution to get rid of any problem caused by asbestos.
5. You should not mix the whole thinset at once. Just mix the amount usable for an hour. Otherwise, you may end up getting them dried up.
6. You should lay tiles over the floor to count how many are needed. Be sure to have enough amount covering the tiles. This way you’ll be able to find out the cuts needed to make as well. For an exact pattern design, it’s really important.
7. You should buy enough tiles including half, replacement and scrap pieces. You don’t want to deal with a different stock changing the entire look later.

Things You’ll Need

You are going to need the following tools.

• Top Rated Tile Saws or Cutter.
• Grout Floor
• Grout
• Knife
• Framing Square
• Drill
• Straightedge
• Spacer
• Thinset
• Trowel
• Sponge
• Sealer
• Chalk Line
• Tiles

While choosing kitchen tiles go for the ones made of Porcelain. These are better with attractive appearance and durability. The price is a bit more than regular tiles, however. Also, tiling using these types will be somewhat daunting. But if you thoroughly follow the steps given below, it won’t be that hard.

Preparing Floor to Dry Fit and Mix the Mortar.

You need to make sure the subfloor is in good shape. It needs to be secure enough so that people can walk across it safely.

• Tiles must never flex below with any extra weight. This would definitely ruin the grout as time passes. It will eventually result in water damage. You need to get a backer board, for example, heavy felt or vinyl. Once you strengthen the floor with such a board, it’s ready to get tiled.
• Find the halfway point from each wall. Now simply mark it as a center of the room and snap a chalk line. These lines will make you easily notice the center point. You should put down your first tile right here.
• You need to place the tile in arrow. It should cover half of the kitchen room. Use a straightedge for the step. You can also get the help of a tile spacer for better accuracy. You should keep placing tiles until reaching one wall. If you figure out the center line of final row is quite small of a cut then simply adjust it. Keep on doing the process with next wall for finest look and placement.
• Now get the thinset package and read instructions well. You should use drill with mixing bit to easily mix it. It should get a consistency of mayonnaise. Before you start to let it rest for around ten minutes.
• Now at the center line begin applying a thin layer. The area should be around two feet square. Mortar will get dry too soon, so make sure not to cover huge areas. You must spread the mortar using a towel. Let it spread in a curved pattern until you finish with a flat surface. Using the notched edge of a towel spread the mortar in 45-degree angles for tiny ridges.

Setting, Cutting & Grouting Tiles

• Put the tiles into center line with tiny twists so that it can firmly sit there. The tiles should be at a same position with its neighbor. So, make sure to apply a consistent amount of pressure. Keep on placing until every tile pieces are in place.
• You should be concern about placing everything in line. Using a framing square every once in a while, make sure it’s all lined up correctly.
• Once you are done placing the full pieces correctly it’s time to use a scoring knife. Simply start cutting for the outer edge. Be sure to get the exact measurement. Using a saw or tile cutter simply work with one piece at a time. Scoring them will give you cleaner and accurate cuts.
• Now finally you need to place the grout to finish it off. Before laying grouts make sure to remove any excess mortar or spacers. Apply grout on the seams using a float. After the thing dries up well, use a wet sponge to get rid of anything excess.
• Once everything is completely dry, use some sealer. You will need to give it some time to set up completely. It usually depends on the moisture situations and type of grout. Most of the time, it takes around four days.

Verdict

See, it’s super easy. I know the steps are tiring somehow. But once you get it done, I’m sure it will be nice to experience the beautiful results. Especially when the whole look is done all by yourself. Best of Luck!