Today I learned how to tile.

[AnnaGrowsAMustache]

A friend who's a tiler had a job tiling a shop fit out, so I tagged along and spent a few hours tiling. I started some tile lines at the skirting, used the strip thing that supports corners, used the manual tile cutter thing (which is awesome, btw), mixed up the glue mix, everything except grouting. Now I'd be confident enough to tile my own backsplash or small bathroom, which is great considering I intend buying in the next 18 months. Yay!

[MommyCake]

That is SOOO great!  I wish I knew how to tile.  I'm scheduling my fiancee for a Home Depot class to learn to tile, because we need a very tiny entryway tiled, and it makes no sense to make pay someone.  You are lucky to have friends with such skills :)

[AnnaGrowsAMustache]

That is SOOO great!  I wish I knew how to tile.  I'm scheduling my fiancee for a Home Depot class to learn to tile, because we need a very tiny entryway tiled, and it makes no sense to make pay someone.  You are lucky to have friends with such skills :)

Not only skills, but all the tools I can borrow when the time comes :)

Have to say that tiling always seemed like a bit of a black art to me, so I'm really pleased to know how, especially cutting tricky bits around corners, outlets, pipes and all that.

I have a lot of tradie friends, most of them own-the-company-but-still-get-hands-dirty stage. Very handy folk, and generally willing to show me how to do something - or check what I've done before I turn the water back on!

[Alim Nassor]

I enjoy doing tile work, but my back and knees kinda don't

[AZDude]

Congrats, when our pos dog ate our carpet, I put tile down. First time doing it, and it does not look too bad. Grout was a slightly different color, but wife seemed happy with the work.

[SquirrelStache]

My hubby tiled my MIL's shower for the first time last week, just by going off of YouTube videos.

I think for a lot of people it's fear of the unknown rather than not actually being able to do something, so congrats on gaining some new knowledge Anna :-)

[meghan88]

Hilarious posts above - congrats to the brave ones!!

For newbie tilers:  four tips:  (1) check out the John Bridge forums:  http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/index.php.  You can start a thread and post your own projects and get tips from a bunch of exceptionally nice professionals; (2) borrow or rent a tile saw (wet saw) when the time comes, especially if you're working with large tiles; (3) buy 5 - 10% more tile than you need - you will need to make some strange cuts.  And after, there will be breakage and it's always good to have a few spares after the job is done; (4) prepare, prepare, prepare.  Make sure your sub-floor or other surface is sound.  Sucks to spend all that $ and then have things crack because your joists were too far apart or you didn't put down a good decoupling membrane.

[JG in Hangzhou]

I remember my first tile job.  Seemed great until I realized that the floor underneath wasn't quite flat...
There are a few key tricks to it.  If you get those down, you can do it well after a little practice.

[AnnaGrowsAMustache]

I remember my first tile job.  Seemed great until I realized that the floor underneath wasn't quite flat...
There are a few key tricks to it.  If you get those down, you can do it well after a little practice.

I only did a wall but there were a few minor issues. I learned how to check the tile edges sat smooth with the other tiles, and how to pack a little or reduce a little with glue if they didn't. I think floors are a bit harder.