For countertops with ceramic tile, you have probably noticed that the corners can get beat up. When I say beat up, I mean they get chipped, cracked, or broken right off. Replacing them is a matter of finding a good match, securing them and grouting.
The key to a good finished product is to find the right color and style of tile. These corner tiles are called “V-Cap” tiles and are rounded over so you don’t have to cut two pieces to form the 90-degree corner. You must, however, make sure the surface of the new tiles matches the old tiles. The thickness should also be the same or you may find yourself grinding off some of the counter’s sub-top or adding mortar the get the height just right.
When you are ready to secure the tiles, you can use either thin set mortar or mastic. Use a notched trowel and lay down the mortar or mastic and set the tile in it. You should feel it smoosh in to the mortar or mastic. Make sure you get the height and spacing right. Some tiles have built-in lugs to keep the spacing uniform, and others you will need to use plastic spacers.
After the tiles are set and the mortar or mastic is dry, you can mix up the grout. Use a float and push it diagonally into the grooves and wipe it off with the float. Let this sit and then use a damp sponge to clean off the rest of the grout and dress the grout lines. Finally, wait until a haze builds on the tiles and use a clean white cloth to buff the haze off of the tiles.
There may come a day when you need to cut a hole in ceramic tile. If you install shower doors in a tub enclosure, or want to install a shower grab bar, or even some decorative item, like a hand towel holder, you’ll need to drill a hole into the tile to mount it to the wall. Drilling through grout is a lot easier than ceramic tile.
Ceramic tile has a glaze on it that makes it difficult to get a drill bit to bite in. In some cases you can attempt to break through the glazing by tapping something hard and sharp into it, but that is risky. You could crack the tile and then your quick weekend job just got much longer. Once the glazing is penetrated, you could use a masonry bit to chew through the tile.
There is, however, an easier way. The right tool makes the job much easier. Use a glass and tile cutting bit chucked into your drill. The bit is shaped like the tip of a spear and cuts wonderfully. The tip bites into the glazing and keeps going through the tile. The sharp tip makes it so that the bit doesn’t wander all over the surface of the tile, but instead stays in place and just plows a hole.
Once the hole is drilled you can mount whatever it is you have to the surface and into the wall stud, or you can use a wall anchor.
At one time or another, we will all want to replace our flooring. If your current flooring is ceramic tile and you want to replace it, you've got a lot of work to do. This is hard, messy work and you're going to be sore for awhile.
You could take the slow way and use a hammer and chisel, or even a 6-foot breaker bar, but for the money and speed, I would rent an electric hand jackhammer. This is the mini version of a traditional jackhammer. Before you fire it up, you need to prepare for it.
You must wear eye protection, hearing protection, breathing protection, knee pads, and gloves. This little jackhammer will spit shards of tile everywhere. Remove the furniture from the area and drape heavy drop cloths along the base of the walls.
It may make sense to start in the middle of the room and work towards the walls or start at the entryway and work your way in, it's your choice. You will find yourself breaking up tile and then using a wheelbarrow to haul it out of the house. You might also think about protecting the floor where you will be running the wheelbarrow as it will tend to leave a track of dirt from it's tire.
The trick is to try to lift the tile with the blade of the jackhammer. So you will want to keep the jackhammer at a low angle and attack the edge of the tile in hopes that the blade separates it from the sub-floor it is attached to. Otherwise it will shatter the tile and you just have more pieces to sweep up.
Realize that the jackhammer won't remove every piece of mortar from the floor. For this you can use a floor scraper. This is a large steel blade attached to a long wood handle. Once you've got everything cleaned up, you can start thinking of installing your new floor.
If you've ever grouted a floor or wall, you know that grouting is not a difficult job. However, the perimeter of the area can be troublesome if you are not careful.For example, on a ceramic tile floor that meets the baseboard, you can really create a mess if you try to push too much grout into the gap between the edge of the tile and the baseboard, and the grout gets on the baseboard and looks sloppy.
Some people will try to cut the tile right up to the baseboard, but you still are forced to deal with a small gap. The way around that, of course, is to remove all the baseboard, install the tile, and then reinstall the baseboard over the tile. This creates additional work and also raises the baseboard which may cause problems if the room is adjoining and the other room's baseboard isn't being raised up as well.
My handyman tip is to use painter's tape. You can use a roll of the painters tape and lay it flat on the ceramic tile after the mortar has cured. By laying the roll flat, you are aligning it flush with the surface of the tile, so that the finished product will be seamless.
So before you start grouting, lay out a strip of the tape (1" or 1 ½" wide works well) around the perimeter of the room. I start a strip on the baseboard and then, laying the roll on the floor, pull the roll out and stick the section to the baseboard. I do about a foot or so at a time until all of the baseboard has tape on it. You don't need to completely cover the baseboard, just at the bottom where the grout could touch it.
Once you grout the gap between the tile and baseboard, you can pull the tape slowly off the baseboard. This will essentially cut the grout perfectly level with the surface of the tile. The trick is to pull it fairly soon after you've grouted the area. If you wait too long and the grout has dried, the tape will rip and not be able to pull through the grout. A few minutes is all you will need after you have grouted the perimeter. When you pull the tape, the grout will crumble off of the tape and you will have a perfect finish right up to the baseboard.
Have you ever walked through a house and marveled at the
intricate ceramic tile medallions or borders and wondered how the installers got it so perfect? The answer is they didn't.
You or your handyman can buy beautiful medallions or intricate border pieces that look as if Michelangelo made them. They come in ceramic, marble, travertine, tumbled marble...whatever surface you are working with you can find these fine finishing touches. What you don't see is the netting that these intricate pieces are glued to before they are installed. Buy purchasing them in this "ready to install" fashion makes them virtually as easy to install as regular square tiles. Here is an article on ceramic floor tile installation.
I've also seen people make their own medallions and borders. You can break or cut several styles and colors of tile into random pieces or cut them into uniform pieces. Then buy the netting and glue them into whatever shape or design you want. The spaces in the netting allow the mortar to pass through to the tile and adhere to them like regular tiles.
The medallion is usually installed first and the surrounding field tiles are installed around it. Once the mortar is dry the entire surface is grouted and buffed clean.
The edge of your kitchen countertop takes a beating. I can't tell you how many houses I've been in where the ceramic edge tiles on a counter are broken or cracked. Either someone drops something on them or hits them from underneath. The result is a sharp edge that needs replacing.
The job gets easy if you have a replacement tile. You can find several colors of white and off-white at home centers, as well as different colors of grout. You will be looking for a V-Cap edge tile. This tile is pre-molded with a round over built in, so instead of creating a corner with 2 tiles, this one tile is shaped like the letter "L".
1. Remove The Rest Of The Broken Tile
You can remove the grout from around the tile you are replacing with a grout grabber tool or a Dremel tool. Once the grout has been cleared, pry up the broken tile with a screwdriver or pry bar.
2. Remove The Old Mortar
Use a flat blade or a scraper and get rid of the old mortar so that you have a nice smooth surface to work with, then vacuum up the debris.
3. Mix Up A Batch Of Thin-Set Mortar
Mix up a small amount of thin-set and let it slake per the manufacturer's specifications (usually around 10 minutes). Use the suggested notched trowel and apply the mortar.
4. Install The Tile
Cut (if necessary) and install the new tile and use blue painters tape to hold it in place. The last thing you want is for the tile to move slightly causing you to do the job all over again. The tape can easily be removed when the mortar hardens.
5. Grout And Clean
Finally, mix up some grout and fill the voids. After that it's a matter of sponging off the excess grout and buffing the tiles with a clean cloth. For more information, read my article on ceramic tile replacement.