I'm thinking of re-doing one of our bathrooms (to begin!) with ceramic tile. It currently has carpeting with a plywood floor underneath. It's a small bathroom, so tight nooks and crannies around the toilet.

Any hints, tips, or suggestions? I've just started researching this and "how-to", so any experience would be helpful. TIA

By Reds9298 on Monday, July 10, 2006 - 01:53 pm:

Bump

By Kate on Monday, July 10, 2006 - 02:15 pm:

Well, I know that you're supposed to REMOVE the toilet first, so the nooks and crannies shouldn't be such an issue for you. I wouldn't want to have to cut the tile though, eeek! Good luck! Yvonne will probably have words of wisdom if she sees this.

By Mommyof5 on Monday, July 10, 2006 - 07:54 pm:

I did not do the tile myself but I did research what needed to be done. We had tile (still do in the master bath) that was put in by the last owners. They just laid the tile on top of the plywood floor. A HUGE no-no..as the tile was cracking and starting to come up off of the floor. In order to avoid this you will need to put a backer board down first and then lay the tile over that. Plywood tends to expand and contract and that affets the tile.

By Zoie on Monday, July 10, 2006 - 08:04 pm:

My dad does this professionally and I can tell you from many years of childhood helping him lay tile that if you don't have experience doing this, you want to hire someone who does. It may SEEM easy enough but there are SOOOO many issues that could arise (thickness of floor boarding for weight of tile, potential plumbing mishaps in removing, cutting the tiles and arranging them properly, and getting them straight and the sealant smooth isn't the easiest job in the world either if you haven't done it a million times). If the bathroom is that small, it shouldn't cost too much.

If you do go for it yourself, I wish you luck!!

By Reds9298 on Monday, July 10, 2006 - 09:00 pm:

Thank you ladies for the helpful info. After a little more research on my own, I agree that it's not something we're willing to do ourselves! Too many potential issues. I'm going to check on having it installed. I don't want to spend TOO much money, and it IS a small bathroom. Thanks again!

By Andi on Tuesday, July 11, 2006 - 04:36 pm:

We (well, I should say DH) took out the lanolium flooring in the kids bathroom and installed Ceramic Tile himself about a year ago. He is very handy so for him it was pretty simple. He is doing our kitchen in a couple months.

You will need a tile saw, but he just rented one from Home Depot for the day. I can send you before and after shots to get an idea of what he did if you want.

By Reds9298 on Tuesday, July 11, 2006 - 09:43 pm:

Thanks Andi. DH is very handy, too, and does all of our work around the house usually but he has been so booked with work and trying to find a *new* job that I thought I might tackle it myself. Now I don't think that would be a good idea! I'M not too good with most things spatial so I'm probably not the one for the job. I may check a price on installation and then go from there.

By Yjja123 on Wednesday, July 12, 2006 - 09:31 pm:

I have tiled a bathroom, kitchen countertop, and 2 walls. As long as you follow step by step instructions, it is an easy project. There are instructions on the Diy web site. The hardest part (for me) was getting the hang of cutting the tiles.