Yesterday I couldn't spell "tile setter," today I are one.

[cmac2012]

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)