First time trying to lay some tile

[BlazinEagle]

My bathroom project started out as just a coat of paint and now has sparked a total remodel of it. I decided to tackle it myself since I enjoy learning how to do things and I dont have a ton of cash.
I went to harbour frieght and bought a 7" wet saw and then went to lowes and bought a dewalt diamond blade for it.

Here it is when my wife said to just put up a chair rail.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd250/blazin_eagle/004-15.jpg


http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd250/blazin_eagle/003-15.jpg

I hated it and thought it looked out of place so I decided to tile under it.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd250/blazin_eagle/007-4.jpg



http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd250/blazin_eagle/006-5.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd250/blazin_eagle/002-18.jpg

I think it turned out great so far. I still have to grout the entire bathroom, but that will be next weekend. This weekend will be full of beer and watching basketball.

[mustang8998]

Looks good, man!

Let me know, when you want some more practice! ;)

[JET50213]

Good job! I plan on demolishing my bathroom one of these days and doing something similar. Any advice on mistakes I might be able to avoid?

[SMOKE]

Looks good! I did 2 bathrooms, the kitchen and the laundry room plus the entrance to my house last year. Back-breaking work but worth it in the end. I used 16x16" tiles though to take less time! I can't imagine doing all that work you did with those small tiles!

Question... Is the process the same as laying it on the floor? Mud / Tile / Grout? If so, do you put the Mud directly on the painted drywall?

[black90lx]

let me know if you wanna practice on a kitchen floor. lol

[BlazinEagle]

Same process you just use a smaller trial (sp?) and I used an expensive mastic (not mud) to get the tile to stick to the wall. I did put it directly on the painted drywall. When I finished a row I would throw in a drywall screw under the bottom tile to make sure nothing slid and I had a level line. It was very easy and I think that buying the best blade really helped get perfect cuts. I still have 3 more bathrooms to do in my house and plan on doing a backsplash in the kitchen as well.

[BlazinEagle]

Good job! I plan on demolishing my bathroom one of these days and doing something similar. Any advice on mistakes I might be able to avoid?
Take your time and buy the expensive mastic. Why scrimp on something so important as what holds it to the wall. Also make it easier on yourself and start at the bottom and work up.

[Blowpastyou]

Looks good.... That outlet needs to be a GFI... lol.. A little common since, patience, and prep go a long way with tile.

[BLUE91LX]

Looks good.About to start doing the same thing.

[adragon72]

Looks good

[2Kblacksleeper]

Mastic is for walls, Thinset is for floors.

I dont care what the buckets says it will do. Mastic will not hold up long term on floors.
It does not have the total bonding strength that thin set does.

The way i explain it to people is, Mastic is mainly for walls. It will cause the tile to stick to the wall and then dry. So you can do a whole vertical application with out stopping due to tiles falling off.

Thinset sticks while it dries, so it dries to a harder density. Great for floors. The bonding strength for thinset is higher than mastic.

Your bath looks great.

[BlazinEagle]

Looks good.... That outlet needs to be a GFI... lol.. A little common since, patience, and prep go a long way with tile.
It is tied with a gfi outlet right next to the bathroom. The house is only 4 years old so it was built with GFI's everywhere. They SUCK!