MOSAIC TILE   After you’ve set paper-backed sheets of mosaic tile in adhesive, the paper will start to soften, allowing you to reposition the tiles slightly. To move a row of tiles, place the straight edge of a trowel against them, as shown, and tap the trowel lightly with a hammer handle.   Countertop Front and Back Edges   Use a grout float to seat mosaic tile in the thinset adhesive. Be sure to don knee pads that are comfortable enough to wear all the time.   Flash the front edge of a counter, as shown, to prevent the exposed edges of the plywood from wicking moisture from the thinset adhesives and then swelling. Because the back edges of the countertops are also vulnerable to water damage, caulk and flash them, too.   through those marks, perpendicular to the con­trol line, to the back of the counter. L-SHAPED COUNTER On an L-shaped counter you have, in effect, two counters at right angles to each other, so you will need two control lines, perpendicular to each other, running along the front edge of each section. Any other layout considerations are subordinate to these two control lines, for they determine how the two oncoming tile fields will align.   STRAIGHT COUNTER, WITH SINK To tile a straight counter with a sink, the layout is much the same as a counter without a sink, except that here, your main concern is making symmetrical tile cuts (if necessary) on either side of the sink. If you need to cut tiles, move the story pole side to side until the tile joints are equidistant on each side of the sink’s rough open­ing. Then transfer those two marks to the control line. Finally, use a framing square to run lines &nbsp

Use your framing square and a straightedge to establish control lines and to keep the tiles aligned once you’ve turned the corner. After set­ting V-cap trim tiles, start tiling where the two control lines intersect. As with straight counters, put full tiles along the front of the counters and work back, relegating cut tiles to the very back, to be covered by the backsplash. If you use the same tile for the backsplash, continue the tile joints up the wall so that the backsplash and counter joints line up.

Tub Surround

Never assume tub walls are plumb. Always check them with a 4-ft. level. If walls aren’t plumb with­in % in. in 8 ft., correct them with a mortar bed or reframe them. Otherwise, tile joints from adja­cent walls won’t align. Moreover, never assume that a corner is a good place to start tiling, for it may not be plumb. Instead, establish level and plumb control lines on each wall to guide your layout.

Most tilesetters start by laying out the longest wall, which we’ll call the back wall. Use your 4-ft. level to determine if the tub is level on all three sides of the surround. If tub shoulders are level, you can start measuring tile courses up from the tub; but in renovation, tub shoulders are rarely level. More likely, the tub will slope. So, from the lowest point of the tub shoulder, measure up one tiling unit and mark it onto a wall. (A tiling unit is a tile width plus one grout joint.) Through that mark, draw a horizontal control line, and extend that line to all three walls of the surround.

Now locate a vertical control line, roughly centered along the back wall. Holding your story pole horizontally, determine whether you need to cut tiles and, if so, where to place them. In most cases, back walls look best if there are symmetri­cal (equally wide) vertical columns of cut tiles at each end. That decided, chose the joint mark on your story pole closest to the middle of the wall, and run a plumbed line up, bisecting the back wall and the horizontal control line you drew