Learning to Tile and Taking It Slow
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MY Italian forbears might be pleased that their descendants could make a living without a set of masonry tools, but I've long considered it a mark of shame that I never learned how to handle a trowel.
So I jumped at the chance to learn the basics of mortar from a trio of experts, in preparation for tiling my kitchen backsplash, the bathroom floor and maybe, one day, even laying some vintage brick across a garden wall. The specialists were Riley Doty, owner of Doty Tile, in Oakland, Calif.; Ben Schmitt, the customer service manager of the Tile Shop, a chain based in Plymouth, Minn.; and Robin Nicholas, an author of "Tiling Complete" (Taunton Press).
First off, these experts advised starting with something simple, like a backsplash, rather than something major, like a floor or wall.
Why? I wondered.
"One of the most common things we do is repair floors," Ms. Nicholas explained. "The tile installation might look fabulous -- and then it can still fail."
Job No. 1 for the novice is to gather the right tools. You can grab some rags and dropcloths from the basement, but you will also need other basic equipment: two 3.5-gallon buckets (about $4 each); a big sponge ($4); rubber gloves ($4); cheesecloth ($4 for 4 square yards); safety goggles ($2.50); a dust mask ($1); caulk ($9.50 for 10 ounces); sanding stone ($6 for a 6-incher); and tile spacers, which are little plastic cushions that create the channels for grout ($5 per 100-piece bag). Then, there are the specialty items: a notched trowel (Superior Tools & Supplies, a 1/4-inch-square size, $10); margin trowel (Superior Tools, $5); and grout float (Superior Tools, $10), as well as a tile nipper (Barwalt Pro GT 8-inch, $15) and a tile cutter (Qep 14-incher, $18).
Thinset mortar ($45 for 50 pounds), grout sealer ($13 for 1 pint) and grout ($11 for 9 pounds), complete the long list of necessaries, but don't buy the grout yet. Save it for when you shop for the last and most important item, the tile. Grout comes in colors, and you'll want it to match the tiles. And as you would when choosing paint, involve your spouse when choosing tile, or you could possibly face dire consequences. (Like me. More on that later.)
First Published May 12, 2011 12:01 am
