1) Always take care of your body first (the most important of all our tiling tips!)
- Wear appropriate safety gear (ear-muffs, eye goggles, dust masks etc)
- Watch how you lift heavy material and follow correct form to reduce the risk of injury (bend at the knees, if possible ask for assistance when manoeuvring Larger format slabs etc)
- Work Smarter not Harder.
2) Practice patience
- Laying tiles/natural stone requires as much patience as possible, so take your time (but hurry up).
3) Try and be as clean and tidy as possible
- Try and keep your work clothes clean. How you present yourself is a representation of your work. You will also look more professional and show duty of care rather than having your outfit covered in layers of adhesive.
- During domestic work; apply drop sheets/plastic to protect the clients home to reduce the load of mess, dust and the risk of damaging the clients belongings.
4) Ensure your tile/natural stone has adequate amount of coverage when applying adhesive and that it is applied correctly
- Using the suitable size notched trowel/spreader with the right size tiles. The bigger the tile the larger size spreader, the smaller the tile (mosaics) the smaller the spreader.
- Always spread in straight grids never curve your glue spread in the shape of a ‘C’ for example as this can create voids due to different heights in the adhesive spread.
- If you are looking for product recommendations that match our tiling tips, Kerakoll has a great range of adhesives to choose from.
5) Applying the final touches (e.g. Grouting and caulking)
- This is what can make or break any tiling job. This is what changes the game.
- Grouting and Caulking requires a lot of patients and technique. If you’re uncertain on what to do, there are many YouTube videos that show the suitable procedures to follow or give yourself a couple of practice goes first.
6) Know what you’re working with.
- There are vast amounts of materials out there in this day and age when it comes to tiles and natural stone, so this is very important.
- If you’re using a very particular tile or natural stone; research the product. Know what is the correct application to avoid any nasty surprises later. This applies to substrates that you’re not sure about.
- Before the job begins there is enough help out there where for example if you’re not sure about the substrate or materials used you can ring the supplier or manufacturer for a better understanding. Some jobs can be specified materials, I would encourage you to reach out to the appropriate personnel for technical support. The help is always there if you ask for it.
We hope these tiling tips helped! If you have further questions, give us a call at (02) 9316 9677.
A special thank you to Jarryd Repeti for providing us with these tips.