Setting the Ceramic Tile

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Once you've defined two sides of the 3' -square area, fill the rest in with field tiles. You can use a straightedge to guide you to straight grout lines, but squinting with one eye closed is often effective.

With either thinset or mastic, you'll be able to nudge the tiles around for as long as two hours, so further adjustments are possible later. In fact, it's a good idea to return to each completed section after about an hour and rock each tile a little to see if it's well set. Occasionally a pebble or wood chip will get underneath a tile and prevent it from seating properly. At this stage, such a problem is still pretty easy to correct. Just remove the tile, clean its back and the substrate, butter the back of the tile with adhesive, and push it back into place.

If you're feeling confident after the first section, you can move right on to the next one as long as your thinset isn't getting too dry. Mix new thinset if the old is beginning to break into clumps when you try to spread it. (Never add water to "renew" thinset.)

Grouting

Thinset or mastic on walls should be allowed to dry at least overnight before you apply grout. Let mastic on plywood floors sit for two days before you put weight on it.

Mix grout as you would thinset—with the electric drill and stirring rod—but to a slightly wetter consistency. It's difficult to face the prospect of tossing a blob of cement onto your pretty new tile, but that's how you start. Scoop a glob about the size of a snowball onto the grout float, and plop it down near your hidden corner. Then use the rubber-faced float to spread the grout and force it into the grout lines. Don't hesitate to apply some pressure to remove air bubbles.

Though it won't hurt to apply grout at wall corners and at joints between floors and walls, don't be surprised if some cracks appear later. Most house frames are built from wood, which expands and contracts with the seasons, so you can expect distinct wall and floor elements to move relative to each other. You could devise expansion joints for such locations—as would any professional who wouldn't want to get a callback—or you could just wait and caulk the ones that crack.

Once the grout lines are full, scrape away the excess with the long side of the float. Angle it at least 45° from vertical so it won't be prone to gouge out the grout lines, and be sure to apply light, even pressure. The grout lines should be flat or slightly concave and just below the surface of the tiles.

When you've removed all you can with the float, switch to the sponges. Wring as much water as you can from them before wiping the tile faces, and clean them frequently, replacing the water in the bucket as soon as it starts to get a sudsy foam on top.

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