Setting the Ceramic Tile

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Finally, prepare your substrate by snapping chalk lines at intervals equal to a number of tiles that works out to something close to 3'. For 3 7 / 8 ” tiles with 1 / 8 ” grout lines, for example, snap lines every nine tiles. These lines aren't so much to align tiles as they are to establish areas over which to spread adhesive.

Setting

Once you have all the tiles laid out and the cuts made, setting is really pretty easy. If you're using mastic as an adhesive, there's essentially no prep work.

Thinset, however, needs to be mixed, left to stand for 10 to 15 minutes and then remixed before use. Clean, plastic five-gallon buckets, like the ones used for dry-wall mud or commercial pickles, work well for mixing thinset. Don't mix much thinset in any one batch. It has a working time of only one-half to one hour, depending on the temperature, relative humidity and additives used. Start by placing about one-half gallon (the contents of a two-pound coffee can) of dry mix into the bucket. Then begin to add water, stirring constantly. Be sparing with the water, the mix will go quickly from too dry to too wet. Try for the consistency of thick hot cereal.

You can mix thinset in these quantities by hand with a trowel, but you'll have more strength left for tile setting if you use a mixing wand on a ½” electric drill (observe safety precautions for power tools in a wet environment). Whichever method you choose, restir the thinset after it's stood for 15 minutes. Then tote it inside.

Start laying tile in the least-visible corner, so you'll make your beginner's mistakes in an unobtrusive spot. Scoop thinset or mastic out of the bucket with the trowel, and spread it in a layer about ¼” thick in a 3' square. Apply adhesive a couple of inches beyond the chalk lines.

Next, use the notched side of the trowel, holding it so it's angled at about 30° from vertical, to rake the adhesive into ripples. Test the thickness of the adhesive bed by pressing a tile into the adhesive with a twisting motion. There shouldn't be an excessive amount of adhesive squeezing out from underneath, but the entire underside should be coated when you lift it. If there's too much adhesive, increase the angle of the trowel from vertical, or retreat and get a trowel with smaller notches. The opposite problem requires opposite solutions.

Start at the corner, and work outward along both walls. Press the tiles into the adhesive with a little twisting motion. If adhesive oozes up between the tiles into the grout line, you're putting down too much adhesive. Be sure to remove the adhesive from the grout lines so the grout will have somewhere to go. (Bamboo shish kebab skewers are particularly effective for cleaning out narrow grout lines.) If any adhesive gets on the face of a tile, remove it immediately.

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