**Tile Laying Tips and Tricks**

As any experienced tile layer can attest, laying tiles requires attention to detail and a keen eye for imperfections. In this article, we'll share 17 tips and tricks from our team of experts on how to get it just right.

**Tip #1: Check for Lippage between Tiles**

One of the most common mistakes tile layers make is failing to check for lippage (unevenness) between tiles as they're being set. This can be easily rectified by using a tile leveling system, but in many cases, it's not necessary. Instead, our team always checks each tile to see if it's higher or lower than the others and makes any necessary adjustments.

**Tip #2: Use a Schluter Metal Profile**

When laying tiles with bullnose or pencil trim edges, it's often necessary to use a Schluter metal profile to ensure a seamless joint. In this project, we used the RONDEC metal profile on both the bottom and top of the shower niche, as well as on the plumbing wall and opposite side. This provided a clean finish without any gaps between the tile and the profile.

**Tip #3: Pitch the Niche**

Pitching the niche ensures that water drains properly from the shower area. Our team found it easier to pitch the downward slope toward the bathtub or shower, making it easier for water to flow away from the area. This also helped prevent water from accumulating in the niche.

**Tip #4: Clean Grout Joints**

Cleaning the grout joints as you're laying tile is crucial for maintaining a neat and tidy finish. We use a linoleum knife to clean out the joints, and then sponge off the top of the tile. This also helps us check the alignment of the tiles.

**Tip #5: Create a Radius for Tile Wrapping Around a Tub Edge**

When laying tile around a tub edge, it's essential to create a radius that fits snugly around the curve. We use an L-cut in the subway tile using a wet saw or an angle grinder with a diamond blade (Montolit's CGX115) to cut out the curved section.

**Tip #6: Cut Holes for Mixing Valves**

Cutting holes for mixing valves requires precision and care. We use our angle grinder with the CGX115 diamond blade to cut out the hole, making sure to wear a Silica Dust respirator for safety. This technique ensures clean cuts without compromising the tile's integrity.

**Tip #7: Tune Up Holes for Mixing Valves**

After cutting holes for mixing valves, it's essential to tune up the edges using a Mondrillo milling bit by Montolit. This helps create a smooth finish and prevents any unsightly burrs or rough edges.

**Tip #8: Leave a Gap between Tile and Ceiling**

Finally, leaving a gap of about 1/8 to 1/16 inch between the last row of tile and the ceiling allows for expansion and contraction. This ensures that the house doesn't become warped or damaged due to thermal stress.

By following these tips and tricks, you'll be well on your way to creating beautiful, functional tile installations that will last for years to come. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out, attention to detail is key when it comes to laying tiles. Happy tiling!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enIn this video we’re going to give you tipson how to tile a shower, specifically howto use stacked subway tile in a tub/showercombo. These are really awesome tips, so let’sdive in.Tip #1 is to plan your layout; this is veryimportant.Layout is always the first thing you wantto do before you start tiling. So basically,in this feature, you always have a niche thatgoes the full length of the shower. And we’regoing to be using some Schluter edging forthat. Basically, there’s two obstacles thatwe want to make sure that we don’t haveslivers, and one is obviously up towards theniche. You want to have, you know, hopefullyat least we’re using 4x8 tile. So ideally,it would be nice to have either a full tileor something above half. That usually looksa little bit nicer, if you can. Basicallyjust staying away from being less than aninch. Less than an inch looks kind of forced.We want to be able to lay this out so thatwe have a large piece here and obviously makingsure that this piece is going to be largebecause this is all going to be the 4x8 subwaytile on this wall, so you want to make surethat this isn’t going to be a sliver either.And then obviously you have the ceiling jointyou have to consider as well.Tip #2 is also very important; it’s to measurethe mortar and the water for the water. Asyou can see here, we’re pouring the waterinto a separate measuring bucket; you cangrab these at your local home store. Definitelyget them.So for this, the wall application, we’regoing to use the 4-XLT made by Laticrete.This is a non-sag thinset. It’s a littlebit stickier. It’ll allow that subway tileto really stay on the wall and not sag. Sothere’s two different amount of water ratiosthat they have on here. This would be fora thin bed floor, so like if you were doinga mosaic floor on a shower floor or something,you want to mix it a little bit wetter. Butfor walls and large heavy tile, you’re goingto want to go between 4 ½ and 4.75 quarts.So we’re going to do the 4.75 quart ratioon this. I’m actually going to mix a halfa bag, so I’m just doing half of this forright now.We mixed the 4-XLT per the directions. Alwaysfollow the directions, and mix it for thespecified amount of time.Tip #3 is to leave a gap between the firstrow of tile and the bathtub.You always want to have a spacer of some sortbetween the tub and your first row of tile.A couple of reasons for that is: for one,you need a little bit of room for expansionand contraction; the other is when you fillthis tub up with warm water, normally thingsflex a little bit. You really want to geta nice caulking joint at the tub. And if youhave a space there, that silicone going intothat joint will create a nice, good grip forthe silicone. If you just went flat to thetub, you’re basically just smearing siliconeagainst the tile on the wall, and there isn’ta lot in the corners. So you end up havingseparation of it. But the main reason forhaving any type of space here is for expansionand contraction because, believe it or not,either cold or hot weather, the tile willactually expand and contract. Just slightly;not a lot. But enough that you want to havea little bit of room. So I just like to usethese horseshoe shims. I think these thingsare really so much easier than those rubberones that you get at home stores, and they’reall really very consistent. And it’s justreally easy to be able to shim them up. Likeif I were, say slightly off level here—butyou can see I’m pretty level—but if Iwas off level, I can just easily add anotherone and get the height. Horseshoe shims aredefinitely something, especially with subwaytile. It really helps out a lot.Tip #4 is to use a laser level, one of ourfavorite tile setting tools. As you can seehere, we have a laser level that has botha horizontal line and a vertical line. Thisis just a personal preference, but it definitelyhelps us out with not only subway tile, butlarge format tile. And you can adjust thelaser and move it over to the edge of thetile so that you know you’re getting a reallynice level pattern for the first row, whichis critical for your tile setting.Tip #5 is to use the right size trowel, andthis depends on the size of the tile, itsthickness, and how heavy it is.For the subway tile, we’re actually justusing a ¼” x ¼” square notch trowelfor it. And with the flat side of the trowel,I’m just going to burn the thinset intothe substrate here. Use directional trowelingwith all the ridges going in the same direction.Tip #6 is to take a coffee break. Coffee isvery, very important on cold days in Pittsburgh.Tip #7 is to back butter tile using the flatside of the trowel.And then since these are larger subway tile,we’re going to actually back butter eachone just to ensure that we have a nice coverageon it. And just basically go with our laser.Tip #8 is to leave a gap in the corner betweenthe tile and the adjacent wall, typicallyabout 1/8 of an inch.And you also want to have a gap in the cornerfor expansion and contraction.As you could see, we used these 1/16 inchhorseshoe shims to not only provide gaps betweenthe tile and the tub, but between themselvesand in the corner.Tip #9 is to get between 95% to 100% thinsetcoverage between the tile and the backer board.The reason why we back butter the tiles, eventhese 4x12 subway tiles, is because that doesallow us to get the 95% to 100% coverage thatthe TCNA, the Tile Council of North America,recommends for wet areas. Because this isa shower, it’s considered to be a wet area.So having that much thinset coverage providesyou with a strong bond between the tile and,in this case, the HYDRO-BAN Board.Before I forget, we have a video that showsyou how to waterproof the walls in the shower.We used HYDRO-BAN Board. It’s super easyto use, easy to cut, and light. So if youwant to see that video, it’s right here.So you can check that out for yourself.Tip #10 is to check for lippage between thetiles. You can always use a tile levelingsystem. But for 4x12 tiles, we typically don’tuse one. As we set tiles, we immediately checkedthem to see if there’s one tile that’shigher or lower than the other. And if thereis, we immediately correct that problem.Tip #11 is to use a Schluter metal profileif the tiles that you’re using don’t havea bullnose or a pencil trim. We chose to useSchluter’s metal profile RONDEC on the bottomof the shower niche and also on the top. Youcan embed it first, or you can slide it behindthe tiles. We actually have it capping theplumbing wall and the wall opposite the plumbingwall, too, in this particular case. And youjust butt tile directly up against the RONDEC.You don’t have to worry about a gap betweenit and the tile.Tip #12 is to pitch the niche. As you cansee, we’re back buttering these sill platetiles. These are the tiles that go directlyon top of the shower niche—the shelf thatis—and the reason why we do that, it’seasier for us to pitch the downward towardthe bathtub or shower. That way water willdrain properly from the shower niche.Tip #13 is to clean the grout joints as you’resetting tile. One of the little tools we loveusing is a linoleum knife. This is perfectfor cleaning the joints, and then you justsponge off the top of the tile.And just look at your grout joints becausethis is going to be a real easy place to kindof look straight down to see whether theseare aligned.You can use a paintbrush just to get thisthinset behind the tile. It kind of makesit a little bit easier to clean out ratherthan scraping each joint. And you don’thave to get all the thinset out. You justhave to get it obviously below powdery.Tip #14 is to create a radius for the tilethat’s going to be wrapping around a tubedge. We first create an L-cut in this subwaytile using the wet saw. You can also do itusing an angle grinder, but a wet saw’sa bit more accurate.So we’re cutting this short so that we canmake this little radius that fits around thetub nicely.So we just snapped out that little piece oftile, then we used an angle grinder with adiamond blade, in this case, Montolit’sCGX115 to cut out this radius. So the mainthing is be very careful when you’re doingit, but this is one of the best methods forcreating that radius for around the tub. Andthen just clean off the thinset that oozesout and then add your spacers.Tip #15 is to cut the hole for your mixingvalve. So we’re just tracing the outlineof the mixing valve hole onto the tile, andthen we’re using our angle grinder withthe CGX115 diamond blade to cut that out.Again, be very careful. Wear a Silica Dustrespirator when you’re doing this. And thisis just one method for cutting that hole outfor the mixing valve.Tip $16 is to tune up and of the holes thatyou cut for the mixing valve or for your showervalve. This is called the Mondrillo millingbit by Montolit, and we used this to cleanup the mixing valve hole or any kind of showervalve hole. We didn’t necessarily have anissue with this—it was covered by the escutcheon—butwe wanted to make it look nicer. So as youcan see here, we have a nice circular shapeusing that bit.And then Tip #17 is to leave a gap betweenthe last row of tile and the ceiling. We haveabout 1/8 to 1/16 inch of a gap between thetile and the ceiling for expansion and contraction.So this is on all three walls in this tub/showercombo, and the reason why is the house isgoing to have expansion and contraction, andwe’re going to fill that gap with sealant.Give us a thumbs up if you like the tips intoday’s video. If you want more tips, we’vegot a great short guide. It’s like a 2-pageguide over on Home Repair Tutor. You can clickright here to get that. You’ll also getearly access to our online course that’llshow you how to remodel a basement tub/showercombo.Thanks for watching the video today. If yougot any questions, ask them down in the comments,and we’re more than happy to help you out.Take care!\n"