Tiling A Floor

The Costliest Mistake When Tiling A Floor

Some people who desire to tile their floors think that it is not possible to tile a floor made of wood base. The more common practice is to tile a floor made of concrete or cement base. But tiling a floor made of wood base is possible. You just have to prepare the wood base carefully.

Considered the costliest mistake when tiling a floor made of wood base is the misuse of polyvinyl acetate (PVA) or wood glue. In short, never use a PVA to glue the tile onto the wood.

The PVA works for wood on wood or wood on concrete floor. But tiles which are made of ceramic simply do not stick on a wood base using PVA.

What works is using the adhesive recommended by the tile supplier. Also, do specify that your base is wood and not concrete so the supplier can give you the right kind of adhesive.

Certainly, tiling a floor is easy but making mistakes is easier! Avoid this by first preparing the wood base, that is, cleaning and scraping it of dirt or any screw or nail that is protruding. Next, start tiling using the adhesive recommended by the supplier. Tile from the area in the room away from the door and work your way towards the door.

Allow 6 mm space around the edges to accommodate movements on the tile work. Do not ever walk on the edges of a newly tiled floor. This area should be secured even from house pets. When the tile work has dried up, you can start grouting the joints.

It happens that the new tile work is lower or higher than the floor of an adjacent room. If this is the case, then putting a wood ramp to connect the newly tiled floor to the adjacent room will easily work wonders. But the wood ramp has to blend perfectly well, if not accentuate, the existing floors. It should not be an eye sore.

Tiling a floor can be an enjoyable activity even with your yet nimble hands. Good luck!