The simplest surface to lay out is a straight counter with no sink because it has only one con­trol line. Begin by using a framing square and a story pole to survey the countertop.

“Counter Layout,” on p. 398, assumes that the counter edges are finished with V-cap trim, a

I Counter Layout

A straight counter needs only one layout control line to indicate the first tile joint back from the edge.

common choice, and tile joints are Vs in. wide. Place several V-caps along the counter edge; then measure back from the edge & in. from each cap to mark the middle of the first grout joint. Snap a chalkline through these marks to establish a con­trol line. Because the front edge is the counter’s focal point, you’ll place full field tiles next to the row of V-caps.

Using your story pole, measure the length of the counter to see if you must cut tiles. If one end of the counter abuts a wall and the other is open, plan a row of full tiles along the open end, thus consigning cut tiles to the wall end where they’ll be less conspicuous. If both ends of the counter are open, and you see that you’ll need to cut tiles, move the story pole so that cut tiles will be the same dimension on both ends. That decided, mark positions for the tile units along the control line.

Last, measure to the back of the counter to determine whether the final row of tiles will need cutting. You can precut tiles; but on a counter so simple, you can just measure and cut partial tiles individually after all the full tiles are set, likely giving you more accurate measurements anyway.

If a sink or a cooktop in the counter interrupts the layout and requires tile cutting, mark secondary control lines on either side to indicate where full tiles resume.

An L-shaped counter will have two major control lines, running perpendicular to each other. Add lines as needed to indicate sink placement, open counter edges, and so on.

Once you’ve snapped layout lines and vacu­umed the setting bed one last time, use the straight edge of a notched trowel to spread thinset adhesive. Then, using the notched edge of the trowel, comb ridges into the adhesive.

As you apply and comb adhesive, try to stop just short of the layout lines, so you don’t bury them under adhesive.

‘ Л

2.

Installing a Floor

Using a framing square and a tape measure, check to be sure the room’s corners are square and parallel. Make a quick sketch of the room, showing which way corners diverge. Or sketch this directly onto the setting bed.

FLOOR LAYOUT

Floor layout begins by identifying the focal point of the room, and snapping two chalklines (con­trol lines) onto the setting bed, perpendicular to each other. In the photos on these two pages, the doorway is the focal point of the room. Thus, the first control line will run through the middle of that doorway and continue across the room till it hits the opposite wall at roughly a right angle.

Full tiles look best in a doorway. So the installers butted uncut tiles against the threshold and continued the course until it met a sidewall near the doorway. The installers then shifted the course slightly till an uncut tile butted into the sidewall, as well. They noted the tile joint closest to the middle of the doorway and marked it on the subfloor. Then they moved to the wall oppo­site the doorway, measured out from the same

In theory, you can start setting tiles any­where, but it’s usually best to start where the control lines meet and work out toward the walls. That way, you know that tile joints in the middle of the room—which are the most visible-will line up. Set several tiles; then pull up one and examine its back, which should be uniformly covered with adhesive. If it isn’t, you may have applied too thin a layer of thinset, or used a notched trowel with teeth that are too small, or mixed the thinset too thin. If you are using large, handmade tiles like Mexican pavers, they are often irregular, so you may need to "butter" additional adhesive onto their back surfaces before setting. For buttering, use the straight edge of a trowel.

Conversely, if adhesive oozes up between tiles, the notched trowel’s teeth are probably too large; try one with smaller teeth. Use a mar­gin trowel to remove excess thinset between the tiles before it hardens. Left in place, the thinset between tiles would prevent grout from filling the joints and bonding properly.

4. As tile fills each quadrant, have a straightedge nearby to see if tiles edges line up, especially if thinset has obscured the chalklines. Note: Chalklines indicate the middle of the tile joints. An experienced installer uses both the chalkline and a straightedge to align tiles—whichever gives the better-looking result.

sidewall, and made a second mark that repre­sented an extension of that middle tile joint. They lightly snapped a chalkline (as shown in photo 1) through the two marks to create a first control line. But they snapped the line lightly because they knew they might need to move it a bit before settling on its final location, as explained next.

Before photo 2 was taken, the installers used a framing square to mark a second control line perpendicular the first, thus dividing the bath­room roughly into quadrants. They wanted full tiles against the threshold, so they placed one end of the story pole there and measured away from it to find a tile-joint mark close to the midpoint of the first control line.

The rest of such a layout is mostly fine-tuning, with an eye to the four time-tested tips of tiling, as outlined earlier: using full tiles at focal points, cutting as few tiles as possible, making layouts as symmetrical as possible, and avoiding tiles less than half size. For this, a story pole is essential.

SETTING THE TILES

Set full tiles before partial tiles. To get a rhythm going, most tilesetters first set all the full tiles, and then attend to partial tiles, which take time to cut and set. However, you may want to make complex cuts beforehand, for example, where tiles meet obstacles in the middle of the field, such as a toilet closet flange. By cutting these tiles first, you can set them quickly and install other full tiles around them. Give the adhesive a day to harden, and you’re ready to grout the surface.

Note: This description is much condensed. If

you’re a perfectionist, you’ll fuss with the spacing between tiles or between tile sheets, and continue making little adjustments till the job is done.

Be sure to stand back from time to time for an overview of the layout.

Countertops

The front edge of a counter is almost always the focal point. Thus the primary control line runs parallel to the front of the counter, and all other layout lines are secondary to it. If the counter will be subject to moisture, install a membrane before installing a setting bed.

If you’re installing a popular tile that a local sup­plier has in stock, wait till you’ve installed the set­ting bed before estimating tiles. If you order too many, most local suppliers will take back extras, as long as they aren’t damaged or returned too long after purchase. Ordering tiles is not compli­cated unless surfaces to be tiled have a lot of jogs, recesses, odd angles, and obstacles. Using a tape measure and a pad of graph paper, calculate the square footage of the surface to be tiled and add 8 percent to 10 percent for waste, damage, and future repairs.

Handmade or exotic tiles are another story.
Because they’re expensive and must be ordered

I Tiling a Floor_________________________________________

Tile layouts impose a grid that’s basically square in a room that often isn’t. Start by recording the room’s dimensions, use a framing square to see which corners are square, and note any obstacles to be tiled around.

If the doorway is the focal center of the room, use a story pole to find the tile-joint mark closest to the middle of the doorway. Ideally, the first control line will run through that mark, and there will be full tiles along the threshold.

The second control line is perpendicular to the first, intersecting it roughly midway along its length. Although you can start setting tiles anywhere, it’s best to start where control lines meet in the highly visible middle of the room.

Place angle-cut and partial tiles away from the room’s focal center. Because cutting tiles takes longer than installing full tiles, most installers cut tiles after the field of full tiles is in place.

well in advance, suppliers rarely accept returns. To save money, try to draw layouts that are accu­rate to an inch so you can count individual tiles. But you should still order extra tiles—say, 5 per­cent above your tile count—which is preferable to waiting 2 months for the next tile shipment from Italy. Besides, tile colors can vary greatly between batches. Your detailed drawings will also help you accurately frame out the area to be tiled.

Finally, when ordering tile, calculate the num­ber of trim pieces separately from your calcula­tions for field tiles. For each distinct piece of tile trim (such as surface cove, V-cap trim) add 15 percent to the lineal feet of trim indicated by the layout. Order at least two specialty trim pieces for any one-of-a-kind piece (such as radius-bullnose down angle). This is also the time to order compatible adhesives and color-matched grout and caulk.

TILE LAYOUT

Most tiles are square or rectangular. So the most common floor-layout dilemma is in imposing a grid that’s basically square onto a room that isn’t. Laying out walls and countertops is much the same, except that wall layouts are more affected by plumb. Wherever they occur, though, layout lines have the same purpose: They keep tile joints straight. When setting tile, it’s easy to obsess about individual tiles and spacers, getting lost in close-up details. Thus layout lines help you keep the big picture in view and so keep tile joints from straying.

FOUR TIME-TESTED TIPS OF TILING

Though the following rules make sense most of the time, bend them when you must.

Use full tiles at focal centers. A focal center is any area that the eye is drawn to: the front edge

I Tiles at the Sink

DON’T DO THIS! DO THIS! both sides

Symmetrical layouts look better. When a layout results in unequal tile widths along the sides of a kitchen sink—a very noticeable spot—either shift the layout or move the sink to create equal tile widths on both sides.

of a counter; a room’s entryway; or a center of activity such as a sink, large window, or hearth. Common sense says full tiles look better than cut tiles, so put full tiles in conspicuous areas. Con­versely, put cut tiles where they’ll be least noticed. Cut as few tiles as possible. Cut tiles are extra work, and they don’t look as good as whole tiles. To avoid cutting tiles, you might be able to shift the layout a little to the right or left or slightly vary the width of tile joints. Make layouts as symmetric as possible. This rule is both an extension and, occasionally, a contradiction of the two above. Imagine a kitchen-sink counter: The sink is certainly a focal center but may be smack dab in the middle of a tile field. There’s often no way to avoid cutting tiles around the perimeter of a sink. In that case, try to shift the layout (or the sink) so that you can cut tiles an even amount on both sides of the sink. The result will look much better than almost-full tiles on one side and narrow tiles on the other. This is also a good rule for small counters, which you can see from side to side without turn­ing your head. If you must cut tiles, split the dif­ference at each end. Don’t use tile pieces half size or smaller. They’ll look terrible. It’s better to adjust the width of tile joints. Or shift the layout so that you have large cut tiles on both ends rather than a row of narrow ones on one end alone.

A story pole (also called a jury stick) is like an oversize yardstick but is divided into units that represent the average width of one tile plus one grout joint. Story poles give you a quick read on the number of full-size tiles you’ll need to get from point A to point B. For these homemade measuring devices, any straight board will do.