Very helpful video. Thanks! I am getting ready to install a small LFT bathroom floor for the first time. I like the way you cut each piece for dry-fit first. The floor is level when I used my 4' level. I am using the leveling system that you showed. There is a large enough crack that I had to use a membrane to cover It. The crack is about a sixteenth off from one side to the other. When I did a dry fit over it, it worked out well, with no lippage. Now I'm more confident that this is going to turn out the way I envisioned it. I'm not sure if you said only stagger 1/3 for LFT. I was going with half-way, like brick. It works out well around the sides. Six inches is the shortest and that is against the tub and behind the commode. One thing I have learned in working with wood pieces is, applying numbers or letters to each piece. On tile, you could use a grease pencil or even short pieces of painters tape and mark each tile. Then when you take them up you will know exactly which one goes where. I found it very helpful over the years in wood working. This would work well for a DIY'er. I don't do tile very often, but when I do I want it to look like a pro did it.
the attention to detail during your dryfit was simply awesome to see. I spent more time planning the lay out and doing a dryfit then I spend laying the tile. Very nice in deed
I spent 3 hours trying to use a saw getting the rest of the plastic pieces that ripped above the tile, never again with wedges! Ty for the video, learned a few pointers!
Very helpful video! Thank you for posting. I'm about to use LFT for our front foyer and your video has given me the added confidence to do it. I'm going to use your 'pre-layout' system as I need to rent a 10" wet saw, so this this way I can rent it and cut all the tiles and return it, then do all the motor and layout the next day. Less rushing! Cheers.
Thanks for the education....I agree with the spacers and the additive added to the mortar. Also....I saw where you have to allow for the mortar... when doing your molding cutting on existing trim. This guy said to take a piece of your tile and tape approx 1/8" thick cardboard to the piece as a guide...then use your saw to do the cut back. Just a thought...to help. I LOVE YOU TUBE !!!
You make it look easy bro. A lady wants me to tile her whole restroom tomorrow in Scottsdale, AZ. Including shower and stairs into tub. I'm a handyman with so many skills, but have never done tile. I feel confident though🇺🇸👍.
One thing I've noticed with LFT is that due to amount of thinset you're using because of the notch size, it gets really messy with squeeze out. I usually do my notches parallel with the shortest side of the tile in order to allow air to more easily escape and collapse the ridges faster, so that may contribute to the amount of squeeze out, but definitely having a wet sponge nearby is helpful for that.
Suction cups made it much easier with large and heavy tiles to butter and place. I built a small triangular stand with three pieces of plywood with a lip at the bottom to hold the tile while I butter it. I also dry fit and number each tile with a pen and masking tape.
Yes. But you can make a less careful cut around the pipe instead and then install the flange on top of the tile. That's where the flange is supposed to be.
Yep, trowel notches parallel with the shortest side. This is to allow for easy expelling of air from the channels. Other than that, thank you, very helpful information.
Great video. I’m a diy tiler and for round cuts, I use a classic compass and pencil. It ensures perfect circles every time. If I’m working with a glazed tile, I apply some blutac for anchoring the pivot. Hope that helps you get more pride on site :)
I feel like my mind is blown by you cutting and placing tile first before setting; I didn't do that in our other bathroom and that would have saved me SO much grief! Glad I watched this before digging into the second bathroom tiling project!
What kind of blade was on that angle grinder? I'm doing a similar job right now, prep is done, Ditra mortared in, but I'm wondering is a quarter of inch above the toilet flange going to require a spacer? I'm assuming the wax ring on the new toilet I put in will be able to handle that quarter of an inch of tile and sit well.
Thanks for the video and your service. Glad I saw it. The people at the tile shop sold me a 1/4' trowel. Now I know to get the 1/2" ( I have 12X24 tiles.) I see you put the toilet flange down first. Many others put it on top of the tile. Does it matter? I actually made a cardboard template of my bathroom floor and put it on top of y kitchen floor to get my grout lines. I have precut all the tiles and didn't have the time to lay them tonight. Glad i didn't.
todays wax seal with flange allows toilet drain flange to be on the plywood floor. But its better if its ontop of the tile if the tile thickness is thicker than 3/8”. Never, Never tile over other tiles. Any builder that doesnt put in the Orange S system shouldnt be in business. Thus why owners and trades will tell you never buy a home built by East Indians. Surrey, Burnaby and Vancouver Canada is presently going thru unprecedented shady builds by East Indians. The Home builders warranty in Canada is a false insurance and a false warranties only to benefit the builders and bad plumbers.
Sgt. Donovan, I salute you (ex Military man myself). I have been ever so carefully preparing our bathroom reno (long overdue), and am ready to start tiling. I simply wanted one more Pro showing me the process. Your video formed an outstanding recap for me! and included some final excellent tips. Only one constructive feedback: The National Tile Contractors Association video (which you reference, and which I watched a few days ago here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Way5bMh-eYg.html) instructs to make the trowel straight strokes parallel to the shortest side of your tile, such that air has the shortest way to escape from underneath, when collapsing the rows. Starting my tile job right now :-) Thanks to you, I'm ready! Thanks so much, Sgt. Donovan.
Remember that brick pattern can be done on the short side, too. Depending on your taste and situation that could be a good solution. Did work for me. Also, staggering does not have to be 1/3, can be anything. Depending on your preference, but yes, 1/3 is about as far as I'd stagger on the long side. I personally do not like large tiles, but heck, today there is just nothing to choose from in smaller tiles. Floor & Decor supposed to be this super-warehouse for tile and all they have is large tiles and wood-looking plank tiles I found maybe 2 crappy-looking square tiles. Home Depot has more but their tiles are not so good.
Thanks for all the great videos - I don't know if I missed it or not but I did not see you butter the smaller tiles? Is it unnecessary to do that for the smaller cut portions vs the full tile on these LFT's? Getting ready to put these down into my entry way! Thanks again for all these great videos...
Good job, the only thing I see wrong is the tub, I just returned one just like it. American standard , it cracked when I sat on the front edge, it was so thin you could see the shadow of your hand through it, no reinforcement under the top edge...
Question. Do you always install the long side of the 12x24 tile parallel with the tub, no matter which direction the tub sits? Would lippage show more with smaller grout lines and large tiles?
Thanks for your informative video, I am tiling the whole unit means there are two rooms and a hall way and living area which will be covered. Tile is 600 X 600. What is the best way to plan them? It is literally impossible to make them all good and I will have small cuts..what is the optimum way to lay them down?
great job my friend, one pointer I would have eliminated the small cuts by the tub to wind up with bigger cuts in the front door in my opinion it looks much better otherwise you did a fantastic job thank you !
Just did a bathroom last week with the large format tiles. Wish I would have watched this video before. I didn't have any issues, but I may have used the incorrect trowel. I also see your builder had the same attention to detail as mine with that one wall by the door. Are square walls really that hard to build?
Excellent video. Glad you show your work and don't have stupid elevator music. Taking your time is clearly indispensable for a job like this. One question though - does it matter what orientation the trowel-lines go (length-wise or width-wise)? That contractor video with the guy smashing tiles said they should go across the longest dimension of the tile. Thanks.
Thanks for the kind words. I’m not sure if it matters enough to worry about it, but I’d try to follow the instructions of those that have put in hours of research rather than assuming I personally know better. If they say run the lines across the longest side I’d do that even though I don’t think the other way will hurt.
Got it. Thanks very much. I'm looking to tile about two-thirds of my whole downstairs (about 650 sqft) with 8"x45" porcelain wood-look tile, and I realize it's fraught with pitfalls, many of which you address here. It never occurred to me to dry-lay the whole thing and get the cuts done in advance - don't know how it eluded me. I'm also avoiding tile-leveling for now on your suggestion. Thanks again sir. Look forward to more of your content.
@@SgtDonovan: Several other videos make a BIG point of orienting troweling perpendicular to the long dimension to facilitate air release. Might be a minor point, but it makes sense and might save a tile. Now that I'm done, I notice that WokeinCali below agrees. PS, I also agree with the layout comments.
yeah, I hate cutting around the flange, but I love that sense of pride and joy when its done. Its doesn't feel right to take the easy way out. And appreciate mentioning back buttering, but the thinset trowel line should be perpendicular to the floor's trowel line, its so when pushing the tile onto the floor/wall, the criss-cross from the thinset spreads evenly and fill in the air pockets
@@cottoncandi7672 yeah, we usually pre-slop the floor with a thin layer of concrete over the hot mop so we have a premade angle, that way we usually just use a quarter inch trowel all the way, which should give the tile an eighth above the drain.
I've only been doing tile for about 3 years. I've seen it done both ways. With and without. My guess is the budget will determine the quality of the job. Showers have become more if an oasis with one shower a day times X members of the family. The shower will see a LOT of water in 3-5 years. Do you want to do this again in 5 years bc there is a leak causing potentially catastrophic damage. Note: it was only water that carved out the grand canyon.
Question sir. Just tore up carpet in advance of laying down 6x24 porcelain. The slab is reasonably level but rough, like sandpaper. Does it need to pretty smooth? I thought conventional wisdom was that adhesives adhere better to rough surfaces than smooth, but I was wondering if I might get your opinion. Thanks.
We just installed our tub. I have been watching your videos and am about to water proof my tub surround. But how did you come to installing the floor tile first before the tub surround wall tile? Does the order matter? Also, what do you put between the tile and the flooring outside the bathroom?
Hey Sarge, It appears the tiles you're using are more than wide enough to accommodate the small space next to the tub and doorway. If you shifted the center line either towards the door or tub. You would have more full sized tiles and no small pieces at either end of the room. Resulting in less cutting, time saved and less waste. Why not just adjust the layout a few inches toward the door or tub to adjust the "centerline", so you don't need to cut all those smaller tiles to fill in? I'm not claiming to be an expert. Just asking a question as a DIYer who doesn't understand the reasoning of cutting all those small tiles when full tiles appear to fill the space more effectively and with less effort, time and waste.
The reason is symmetry. While it does boil down to a matter of preference, the more conventional approach to laying out tiles is to make the edge widths symmetrical.
How are you determining the center? I have an irregular shaped bathroom (closet included) and the length x width is 98" x 93 3/4" I can intersect the line anywhere so how do I determine the center?
it just doesn't make sense to me to water proof the walls 6 inches out and do nothing about the floor. Why not use a full floor water proofing membrane or at least treat the first 6 inches of floor with the liquid membrane like you did the wall? I'd expect more water to hit that section of floor than the first 6 inches of wall, as people step out of the shower or it escapes past a shower curtain (gravity) (Plus the potential event of a toilet wax ring failure could compromise that 6 inches as well if we're expecting water to penetrate the tile and grout 6 inches outside of the shower surround onto a wall). Either way great videos.
Shane Honeycutt only if the tile and thinset is higher than 1/2”. new wax seals have a flange seal that adds a second leak prevention. But it is recommended and should be on top of the tile especially marble. With todays tile cutters for dremels and grinders that are cheaply available, there shouldnt be any excuse that the toilet flange should be in todays world above the tile and tiles should always get set with self leveling clips , anyone who doesnt use self leveling shouldnt be in business. And never, Never tile over tile. Its much better to hire a experienced tile installer thwn doing yourself as they can do it much better, much faster and much cheaper than you having to buy all the tools . You only save $200-$275 and tons of hours as it gets done in two days. Handy Husband will take weeks to complete a bathroom reno. Avoid those husband. Trust me !
good vid mate but I wouldnt advise that left hand position @ 7.00. Never a good idea to leave a hand in the grinder slip-zone, better use a clamp and keep the two hands on the grinder. You only have to be unlucky once to loose a finger.
Costel Atanasiu all professionals use the tiling system as homeowners want perfection. There are many bullshitters in this world, lol and you either are ignorant to know or one of the bullshiters. None of my trades guy would want to work in a home or building knowing you dont use tools thatmake a home look better. ive seen your type of work in chinese restaurants and i surely don’t recommend it.
@@filipino_GMA I like how you say "all professionals". That would indicate you know every single one of them in the world... and I would call you a liar. I am an electrician and an IT engineer, many times I have down time while waiting for provisioning or other tasks to be completed (most of the time remotely) before I can proceed to my next step. During that down time, I generally watch the other contractors work and ask questions. Rarely do I see tile guys use a leveling system... and it is pretty common they don't even use spacers.... but when their job is complete there isn't any lipage or out of 'whack' tile rows... including a team who did a gorgeous herringbone tile pattern on a McDonald's lobby floor! They did have laser lines but no spacers or levelers! I eat lunch at that McDonald's several times a week and their tile has held up the last few years!!
It's DAMNED hard to follow ALL the instructions for all the products. DAMNED hard. You try and you are to be commended for it - and great job on the floor, by the way - but, yes, you missed a big one....well three actually. 1. Wet the backer prior to applying your mortar. 2. Key your mortar into the backer with the straight edge of your trowel prior to actually troweling your mud out. and 3. (More of a "recommendation" which is actually also the other half of the "don't trowel in swirls" recommendation) Especially with "large-format" tile: Trowel perpendicularly to the length of the tile instead of troweling the LENGTH of the tile. You run much less risk of closing off the air channels between the mortar ridges when collapsing the tile into the mortar and creating air pressure which can (and sometimes does, depending on the tile and mortar type) push your tile back up and create lippage. And DUDE, take it from someone with MANY years in the business and on and off my knees: GET SOME KNEE PADS ON! Please. You WILL regret not doing so. You think knee pads are a pain? Yeah...... you're in for a BIG surprise should you continue down this padless road. Trust me: "Man up" ain't not gonna help you a bit.
