I finished my third tile setting job the other day. It's not real tough, sort of building a puzzle, though there is a bit of a learning curve on the whole grout process.

Here I thought I was on my way to be a Renaissance Man only to discover that that's another way of saying, "Can do many jobs commonly done by Mexican migrants."

It looks kinda nice when you're done but oh man, beats the hell out of your knees. I'm thinking there's often more money in this than in carpentry and diversity of options never hurts anyway. I just need to learn to bid the stuff right.

If you want to try it yourself, you'd be surprised how much you can do with a book or two from the library and a $30 (roughly, w/shipping) tile saw from E-bay. That's what I've got now, did the two jobs shown here with it and more. Damn little thing just keeps on cutting. First blade, too. I'll have to step up to a real saw (about $800 to $1,000) if I get a bigger job.

Real important to get the combing of the thinset down good. That's what the notched trowels are for. Back-butter the tiles, pulling it tight with a flat blade for uniformity, then place them gently on the bed of thinset and press lightly to get proper height. Having a nicely uniform mortar thickness saves time.

When you have to make the mortar base thicker than even a big comb will yield (in order for the tiles to come out far enough to match border pieces, like in the first 4 photos -- most recent job -- upstairs and downstairs on the same house) it can make it tough to get proper height and parallel planes. If you squeeze out too much mortar, you have to pull it off (not real easy, just more work) and start over.

Anyhow, give it a shot if the old lady is whining about how this or that bathroom or something else is looking shabby.









My first tile job a year and a half ago, eccentric German new age lady. (with $$ from somewhere)

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Damn clean looking job,you use a latex grout sealer or just plain mortar?

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Well, thanks. Shows you how little I know, I'm not sure what a latex grout sealer is. On the porch job, I used some waterbased stuff that's supposed to be a good outdoor sealer.

Haven't sealed the two fireplace surrounds yet -- just finished it a week ago. Got a half-way decent piece of change for it. I did it for a lady contractor -- a first for me. She's pretty solid -- a sorta good carpenter, primarily an architect/contractor, she looks pretty tough, almost certainly gay. She was very easy to work with. I told her I didn't feel confident enough yet to bid a tile job, she was up against a deadline and agreed to go time and materials. Good thing. I'd a probably bid low. Hate it when that happens.

For mortar, I used MasterBlend thinset with the milky admixture instead of water. Finished with sanded grout. I learned the hard way about the warnings they give on mixing the grout, letting it sit for about 15 minutes, then more mixing for consistant color. We ran out of grout towards the end (Dohhh!!!) and the new bag, same brand and flavor of course, was a tad darker. It's noticeable but around to the side so it doesn't stand out. Not sure why the color changed, but I'm going to have enough next time to do it one batch.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Good looking job!! And ain't it a great feeling when you stand back and look at it!!! I'm an amateur mudslinger myself. You may find this site interesting and helpful.
http://johnbridge.com/vbulletin/index.php?

When referring to me, amateur is the correct term. That site looks good. I'll check it out. Anything to streamline the learning curve.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Looks good mac, I may be heading that direction in the main bathroom here soon. Be careful though, you don't want to be doing too many of those jobs that americans aren't supposed to want to do. You'll end up in hot water with the Dems.

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-livin' in the terminally flippant zone