Sometimes there’s just no saving your bathroom tile floors. The grout is permanently stained, the tile finish has lost its luster and it is just uninspiring to look at each day. Replacing your floor tile as part of your bathroom remodel can be done without a contractor, but be ready for two weekends of effort. The project plan is laid out right here for you.

Go to a contractor tool rental location and rent a demo hammer. Break out the floor tile and the mortar bed underneath. You need to get down to a clean wooden subfloor before you start to build back up with new materials. Please reference my related article, in the upper, titled “how to demo tile floors”.

Now that the wood subfloor is clean, it is time to install the backer board on top of the subfloor. The best contractors use Durock brand backer board. Use the 1/2″ Durock underlayment. Mark your cuts on the board with a pencil, drawing a straight line with the help of your level. Cut the Durock with a skilsaw, but score both sides with a utility knife prior to using the skilsaw. Fasten the Durock into the subfloor with 1-1/2″ hot dipped galvanized screws. Be sure to offset the seams of your backer board from the seams in the subfloor.

Seal the seams in the backer board with latex fortified mortar. After filling the seams with the mortar, quickly apply fiberglass joint tape. Once the tape is set, cover it with a layer of the same latex fortified mortar.

Use a notched trowel at around a 45 degree angle to spread sanded thinset mortar (avoid fast setting mortar). Start your tile layout against the bathtub and the wall that adjoins the bathtub. Slide the tile into place as opposed to pressing it into place. If mortar is oozing up in between your tiles as you place them, you’ve used too much mortar. Revise the amount of mortar you trowel on as you progress. Be sure to clean off any excess mortar that has accumulated on your floor tile before it dries.

Use tile spacers as you go in order to keep your tile installation uniform with attractive looking straight lines.

Before installing the grout, you must seal the tile! Grout leaves a haze on the floor tile once you’ve finished installing it. This haze will forever cloud the finish of your floor tile unless you seal it before the grouting process. The tile sealer prevents the grout haze from bonding with the tile and it is then easily washed off.

Wait 48 hours after setting your floor tile and then install the grout. Using a rubber float, press the grout into the joints firmly. Remove the excess as you go by gently moving the float across the tile at an angle and back towards you. Use a large damp sponge and wipe the tile in a crossing fashion until your grout joints are smoothed out. Be sure to keep rinsing the sponge in a bucket of water so that you are not spreading about excess grout film. After you’ve finished this process over the entire floor, go back with a fairly dry sponge and begin to remove more grout film. Finally, clean the floor with a cloth.