How to Tile a Small Bathroom Floor | DIY Bath Remodel
Today I'm going to show you how I replace the dated floor tiles in this small bathroom with these great large format tiles that really open up the space. We're remodeling the entire bathroom so we ripped everything out from the tub to the mirror today. I'm gonna be focusing on the floor install using the new line of tile tools from Ridgid. After taking everything else out of the bathroom I moved on to the floor I used a large demo bar to pry up the tiles and it worked really well My subfloor is 3/4 inch OSB with the Ditra underlayment. I'll talk more about that. Later But ripping up the tiles actually shouldn't be this easy They didn't install it correctly which made my life easier But don't expect yours to necessarily go as smoothly you may need a hammer drill with a scraping blade to get up all the mastic off the subfloor After I installed the tub in the shower, which you'll see in the next video I started prepping the subfloor for install Having a flat surface to start is key in any flooring install My OSB subfloor was mostly flat, but the seams were raised up a bit So I grabbed my belt sander and I flattened all the seams even with the rest of the floor Now I'm using Schluter ditra for the underlayment.
That's the same stuff that was on there before It's an alternative to backer board and it's both an uncoupling membrane and a waterproofer. I measured the floor to cut the ditra roll to length and it's easily cut with scissors or a box cutter I notched it for the doorways leaving a quarter inch gap from the walls The second piece to fill out the room is not full width So I cut it down to size and I laid it on the floor to reference the toilet flange I used my box cutter to cut out the hole for the flange.
So it just slipped over the opening for an OSB subfloor installation it calls for modified mortar between the wood and the underside of the Ditra I mixed up a batch of the mortar using the new rigid mixer here and this thing makes short work of Mixing and it's got the power to do it versus a common drill Which you can easily burn up if you're mixing too much mortar and pushing it too hard I got the mix to a thick milkshake consistency. Then I let it sit too slack and mixed it up again after 10 minutes I probably could have gone a little wetter with the mix because it did stiffen up some after And when you're done mixing the mortar the quickest way to clean your paddle mixer Is it putting the bucket of clean water and run it at high speed cleans it in a jiffy Now for my application the mortar gets apply with a quarter inch by 3/16 inch v notch trowel and this could vary depending upon your underlayment and ditra type So make sure that you reference the Dietrich install handbook.
I Spread the mortar onto the subfloor and then I laid out the larger piece It's a little tricky handling the full length sheet from the side I think unrolling it from the doorway would have worked a little bit better here Now using a grout float I pressed the Detra into the mortar bed and smooth it out around the whole sheet I also peeled up a corner to check for adhesion and make sure it was bonding to the subfloor.
It wasn't exactly perfect But it was definitely way better than the original install Next I spread the mortar over the rest of the subfloor and pulled in the smaller sheet of Ditra the fit was perfect up against the other sheet and for full water proofing a layer of Schluter Kerdi band could also be added to this joint You can actually start laying tile on top of the dieter right away, but it was late So I came back the next day to start the tiling I'm using a 24 by 12 inch large format tile and has spent some time trying to figure out the best layout I Used a program called Sketchup to layout the size of my floor and my tiles with the grout spacing that I wanted This let me try different staggering and placements to see how they looked right there on the computer screen my goal is to have as many full tiles as possible and make sure they didn't have any small slivers near the walls or the doors we settled on a brick pattern layout with a third of a tile overlap between the tiles and This helps to reduce lipid when two tiles aren't level with each other Which is more prone on these larger tiles because they aren't always flat And when using a printed pattern on the tiles it helps to lay out all the tiles that you have across different boxes So you can avoid duplicates next to each other If you do have a duplicate that you'll have to use just make it a cut piece flip it in for Inverses the other one or hide it underneath the vanity or the toilet after we got the layout we wanted we labeled all the tiles and then transfer that to a printout of the computer layout we designed That way in the midst of laying the tiles we could use it as a reference and not get mixed up and put those duplicates back together if you're new here and you like what you're seeing so far go ahead and subscribe and say hello down in the comments The door jams needed to be cut back a little for my thicker tile and mortar bed I used to tile on a small spacer to represent the mortar when I cut the jams with my JobMax multi-tool As a final piece of prep work I slid the tiles under the door jamb and set them in place with spacers just like they'd be at install Then I used the painters tape and marked eight inches on the tile as a reference for my 1/3 overlap And I figured out the cutoff piece size that I'd need for the front of the door For the bond between the dieter and the tile I needed to use an unmodified mortar Unfortunately, they only had two unmodified mortar in the gray up in my local store it's better to use a white mortar when you're using light grout if you can get it, I mixed up the mortar the same as before and while it was slacking I cut the first half tiles to size that would go against the tub And the most important joints visually here are gonna be the ones at the door so I started in the corner by the door on the tub and This made the install a little bit harder since typically you would start on the far wall and work your way out row by row But I didn't want to risk the cumulative error throwing off my joint at that last row by the door.
I Worked the mortar into the waffle pattern I back buttered the large tiles to make sure that I had a good bond Then I set them in place To space the tiles. I used the rigid level Mac system. It's a spacer in lipid reducer all-in-one The teacher is a little tricky to get the hang of You really have to work the mortar into the waffle print to get it to fill the voids I used a half inch by 1/2 inch square notch trowel and work my way down the wall After I established that first row by the door in the wall, I worked my way across the front of the tub I cut the tiles to size as needed and I set them in place Wiggling them from side to side to collapse the mortar bed lines and get full adhesion on the tile again It helps to check here and make sure that you're getting good coverage when you're doing your tile placement And this is where the level max system comes into play there are spacers here for T joints straight joints and Four-way joints and the spacers go under the tiles at the joint and the stems are threaded So the top pieces are screwed down as they're tightened.
It pulls all the tiles flush with each other. It's a really cool system I'll have a link below in the description. You can find out more about him. I Work my way to the far wall and I needed to make the cuts for the toilet flange Now at this point we were in the heat of the moment and that mastic was setting up so I didn't film it But here's how I made the cuts Curb cuts can be notched out with a wet saw but I used my angle grinder with a diamond embedded wheel and the key here is just to take light sweeping cuts and don't let the grinder bog down and Dry cutting tile throws a lot of dust and chips.
So make sure you protect your eyes in your lungs - I Went around the toilet and I worked my way out the door laying the last full tile right in front of the doorway now the level max system really did a great job of keeping the tiles aligned and it sure beats the old days of using a carpet covered 2x4 to beat the tiles into place now after the mortar dried for 24 hours I came back to snap off the stems of the spacers and this part right here is probably the most fun of the whole job a Swift kick snaps the stems off of the spacers and the part left is under the tile The tops can be unscrewed and used again.
I feel like this might be like a new therapy technique to relieve stress - I Clean up the joints of any excess or loose mortar and then I vacuumed everything clean We went with a light grout to try and help the grout joints disappear and have the focus be the tiles I Mix the grout by hand and with large format tiles, you really don't need a lot of grout at all. I Work the grout into the joints using a grout float at a 45-degree angle to the joint If you push the grout in parallel or perpendicular with the joint lines Then the edge of the float is gonna fall in and catch and it's just gonna pull the grout out After filling in all the ground I rinsed the excess off of the damp sponge you really want to wring the sponge out well so that the grout doesn't get more water in it because if you get more water it can cause discoloration and weaken the joint I let the grout dry overnight and I came back the next day to buff off any grout haze and There were some tough spots there where I had to use a haze remover to get it off but it works well with a microfiber towel, I Used to grout colored caulk to go between the tub and the flooring and then I reinstalled all baseboards And the floor turned out awesome It's a great focal point for the small bathroom in the light-colored large-format tile really makes this room feel bigger You will see the full bathroom remodel it is gonna be right there when it goes live I've also got another video queued up for you right down below if you're not subscribed to the channel already I'd love to have you as part of the team and until next time guys get out there and build something also
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