Floor Tile

I'm getting ready to tile my bathroom floor. I'll be using thinset on concrete, putting down 6" X 18" ceramic wood grain style tile.

I want to start at the door and work my way back. This will get the main portion of the floor done first and straightest. The back portions are closets with angled walls, nothing to reference to.

But, if I start at the door, I will be tiling myself into the corner! Is there any harm in walking on the tile with wet thinset? What if I lay down a plywood walk way?

Thanks!

What I did was strike a line down the middle of the floor from the doorway to the far wall. Tiled one side of the line one day, then did the other side the next day. It was a new bathroom, so it didn't really matter that it took an extra day.

Steve,
Walking on the fresh layed tile will cause it to move even with plywood on top. I would find the center as best you can and work from ther. By doing this you can tile in the opposite direction of the doorway first then tile out the doorway last. Hope this helps.
Gary

Toe the line Steve

Do as Big Fred did. Two sets, two different days.
Place the last course of tile for the day where it belongs but don't glue it down. That allows you to make those fine adjustments and not have an obvious starting point in the tile when you try to pick your pattern back up the next day.

Set a 2x6 or 8 plank blocked up off the floor and walk out most likly they will crack if you walk before set up.

Steve, I wouldn't walk on tile for 24 hrs. After you put a couple of tile down, pull one up and see how much of the thin set is in contact with tile. You may want to use larger notches. You may want to start at the door, then only tile half the room, so you can step on the other half. Then work your way back to the door. Have fun. Still have a wet saw, but my tile days have ended. geo

I just did a room with tile last week. It was my first one so that should make me about an expert on the web. I had to start on on the wrong side of the room like yours in my case I just did enough that I could step over it every day. Room was long and narrow so it worked well for me cause by the time I laid enough tile for the night my back was telling me it was time to quit from all the extra reaching and hovering you have to do working on the wrong side.

Hello Steve@advance,

Go ahead and use the plywood. I used a four feet by 1/2" piece, worked for me! I know you won't skate on it while laying the tile. I started at the door, and trimmed were it needed...

Guido.

Leave a tile out here and there to allow you to step around a bit without walking on wet ones. When you are ready to finish simply work towards the door and do the individuals that you left out.

Did my daughter's kitchen like that and it worked out fine.

I'd do 2 different sets on two days. Remember when you walk on the ungrouted tiles to try and step on the middle of the tile. Stepping on the edge can break off a corner if there isn't enough mastic under the whole tile, it's just insurance.
Are you going to heat the floor? I put some ceramic tile down in my dining area and sure am glad it's heated in the winter. Even if I didn't plan on hooking it up I would sure run the cable. My .02

I've done my fair share of tile. I would strike lines and work toward the door. If you think the wall with angles will be a problem then you could start in front of them and finish up the closets another day. And I don't use the cross pieces like guido has shown. I leave them with one end of the cross pointing toward the floor and resting on the tile face. This leaves a cross point facing up and easy to pull out. Maybe he had his that way for layout?

I usually find the center of the room in both directions. I do this by finding the center of each of the four walls, then snap lines in both directions. I start the tile in the center of the room where the lines intersect.
Before I start laying the tile, I measure to make sure I don't end up with sliver cuts - if I do, I just adjust my line one way or the other
Pete

Hello delawaresurfman,

I put the spacers anyway they fit. I use an hemostat to pull the spacers out with no problem!

Guido.

Guido, nice to see you fly fish

in a room that small i would layout a line from where i wanted it to be in the doorway .sometimes if you strike a line from center of both directions it does not look good from the doorway if it dont line up with the door center .lay it out dry first .
have fun and good luck ,borrow some knee pads too.

Like others have said, I snap a line down the center and layout from that line to each wall, into closets, around corners. I cut and dry fit everything. The trick I use is that I lay the tile on a diagonal to that center line, this hides any imperfect grout lines to the predominant view into the room. I number the odd shaped pieces so I don't have to hunt around for the right one or mistakenly install one that is close in size to another cut tile by mistake. I mark the "points" of each tile that fall along the centerline. When I finally spread the thinset, I work my way from the furthest spot back to the door using the tile "point" locations on the centerline as a reference. I'm always within a 1/16" when I lay the last tiles by the door. It works nicely if you like the look. I lay the tiles one day, grout the next. Here's "in progress" and "finished" pix. And for those who noticed that there's no durock. the sub-floor was in good condition and had 3/8" ply on top. I added screws to ensure a stable base. Plus, it's a small space, over a larger area, I always install durock. This was a weekend tile job: It took about 3 hrs to cut the tiles, 2 hours to install on a Saturday. Next day, took about 1 hour to grout/clean.