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Don’t try to do too much in one day and make sure you arrange alternative washing and toilet facilities with a neighbour if necessary.

Preparing the floor The most suitable surface for laying ceramic tiles is concrete. However this must be wood-float finished (rough textured) — if it is a mirror-smooth or steel- trowel finish, it will first need to be scratched, roughened with a chisel or acid-etched.

Ceramic tiles are rigid and should therefore not be laid directly over a ‘moving’ surface. Because timber expands and contracts, one layer of fibre-cement underlay sheets should be laid over the timber floor at right angles to the joints between the planks. The underlay should be fastened with annular nails at the points marked on the sheets by the manufacturer. Fibre-cement sheets may have some construction dust on them and require a coating of ceramic tiling primer to bind the dust and allow good adhesion of the tiles.

Marking out Tiled floors look best if they are evenly spaced between walls, with equal tile cuts to both sides. This allows you to cut edge tiles to walls not quite running true. Remember, it is much easier to cut a tile into halves than to remove a thin sliver off the side, so adjust any starting point to allow cuts as close to a half tile at the edges as possible.

Accurate working lines are the key to a successful tiling project. Locate the centre point on each of two opposite walls, and snap a chalk line between the two points; then find the centres of the other two walls and stretch your chalk line between these points.

To make sure that the two intersecting lines between the walls are truly at right angles, either use a carpenter’s square or apply the 3:4:5 rule. If the lines are not at right angles, adjust as necessary and recheck your measurements.

Laying the tiles Make a dry run first: loosely lay out the tiles to decide whether to start with a tile joint or the middle of a tile at the centre of the room. Full tiles may start at the walls if the two walls are exactly square. Tiles are laid in the quarters that have been marked out, but ensure that you don’t work yourself into the room with no means of escape.

If you are using an adhesive that doesn’t require mixing, it can be applied directly from the container. Cement-based adhesives will need to be mixed as recommended by the adhesive manufacturers to a thick creamy consistency, and then left to stand for around 15 minutes before use. Mixing is easiest in a separate bucket but only mix enough to do about two square metres at a time. If there are two people working, one can be mixing to have adhesive ready when the previous batch runs out.

Apply the adhesive near the crossed line in the first quarter and spread it with a trowel to a maximum area of one square metre. Use the 10 mm notched trowel to spread the adhesive to an even thickness, ready to accept the tiles.

Fix the first tile at the centre for untrue walls, or against a square wall if square. Position it, then bed it into the adhesive with a gentle rocking motion. Just to make sure that you have the technique right, prise this tile off and check that the back of it is completely covered with adhesive. If not, practise with using a little more adhesive, or by applying more pressure when bedding the tile. It is a good idea to do this from time to time just to monitor how you are going. If you use too much adhesive it will squeeze up between the tiles and prevent grout being properly inserted in the joint.

Make sure you have the technique right by prising off the first tile and checking that the back of it is completely covered with adhesive. Continue to do this from time to time as you tile, just to monitor how you are going.

The next tile is laid along the marked-out line, allowing for the appropriate grouting joint between tiles. In most cases ajoint of 3 mm is adequate, but some tiles may need up to 12 mm for grouting. It will depend largely on the uniformity of tile sizes — extruded tiles such as glazed quarry tiles may have quite a size variation. This judging of gaps is normally done by eye, but if you don’t trust yourself, mark lines every two to three tiles to make sure that the gaps average out over the project.

Wipe away any excess adhesive as you tile as it will set hard and could affect the grouting colour later. The adhesive should not finish at the same level as the surface of the tile. Keep laying tiles until only the edge tiles remain to be fitted.

At this stage, you’ll need to cut the remaining tiles to the right size. If you need to walk on tiles that have been laid, carefully put down a 12 mm, or thicker, sheet of plywood to spread the load.

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