Choose wisely when installing your discount ceramic tile

BY TIM CARTER Tribune Media Services

DEAR TIM: I don’t know about you, but money is really tight in this economy. I want to install a new kitchen floor and desperately need discount ceramic tile. Ceramic tile costs seem to be through the roof, so I need a tile that I can install myself with little experience. Do you know of any discount tile flooring that will allow me to freshen up a room that really needs help? Can you share some ceramic tile flooring installation tips? — Amy B., Baltimore

DEAR AMY: Discounted ceramic tile can be found in many places, but you need to look way beyond the price of the tile to see what your floor will end up costing you in the long run.

A savvy ceramic tile storeowner may get you in the door with an attractive price on the tile, possibly selling it at cost or at a thin margin, but then they soak you for all the other supplies you’ll need to install the floor. The cost of the grout, adhesive, underlayment board, etc., may be way overpriced.

You also need to know that discount tile may be inferior. Also, the clay and the glaze, as well as the firing process, may all be substandard. You may get a tile that fractures or cracks easily or doesn’t wear well. Not all ceramic tiles are made the same, not by a long shot.

Porcelain ceramic tiles are currently the rage right now. They are durable. Modern printing technology and equipment allows patterns to be imprinted on them that mimic the look of natural stone.

The downside to porcelain tile is that you need a diamond wet or dry saw to make cuts. Dry saws create lots of dust, so make your cuts outdoors and wear a great mask to ensure you don’t breathe in any silica dust.

A savvy ceramic tile storeowner may get you in the door with an attractive price on the tile …

A new ceramic floor tile that requires no adhesive, often no underlayment and absolutely no grout can be found online. It will

save you money on all three of those components before you even lay your first tile!

These new snap-together tiles work just like old-fashioned interlocking acoustic ceiling tiles. They are precision made and come with recessed edges that, one the tiles are connected, create a natural-looking grout line. I estimate that a person could install an entire 10-by-12-foot kitchen floor in several hours. The best part is that you can walk on the floor immediately and move in furniture the moment the last tile is snapped into place. There’s no wait period for adhesive or grout to dry and cure.

This durable floor tile comes in attractive designs and finishes. You won’t be able to cut it with a traditional tile cutter that snaps tile along a scored line, but the trick to minimizing your rental time on a wet saw is to install all uncut tile first, leaving the cut tile for last.

Another trick to lowering your cost when renting a saw is to have at least two helpers: one helper marks the tile to be cut, and the second helper operates the saw. Just as the saw operator finishes cutting a tile, the marker is there to hand him the next one. This is a great timesaver.

The most important thing about installing this new snap-together tile is to make sure your floor is solid and in the same plane. Same plane doesn’t necessarily mean level. It means that there are no humps or low spots in the floor. Uneven subfloors mean the tile will not fit together well and that it may crack. If you step on a tile with a void spot underneath, that tension can easily crack a tile.

You can eliminate humps and dips by using pourable, self-leveling compounds. This, unfortunately, will add an additional step and slow you

down, since the materials will need time to dry and harden. But if you want professional results, the smoother and flatter the subfloor, the better your new tile will look once it’s installed.

Discount tile stores can be found online and in traditional sticks and bricks stores. If you want an education about how different the tile can be, take the time to visit a ceramic tile store that sells high quality or expensive tiles. Talk to the store manager and have her or him demonstrate how inferior a discount tile can be.

I clearly remember years ago buying discounted ceramic tile. We used it in a sunroom in the second home I renovated. This tile had a great pattern and color, but the core of the tile was deep red clay. When the tile chipped, which it did with little effort, you could see through to the red core. It was a stark contrast to the lighter glaze that made up the color you saw on top of the tile.

This tile was also quite soft. It took very little effort to snap or crack it. That’s not an issue if the subfloor is rock solid, but if you’re installing ceramic tile on a wood floor system that has some flex to it, be prepared for lots of cracks in the tile, if its strength is low. All of Tim’s past columns and videos are available at AsktheBuilder.com.