Assembling ceramic tiles on the hallway

Service Description

Assembling ceramic tiles on the hallway

Plating the floor of the hall with flooring tiles is a practical solution. Considering that the hall is the room of the house or apartment which makes a direct connection to the exterior, it must be easy to maintain and clean. And what material meets these conditions better than the flooring tile? Supposing that we have already decided on the ceramic tiles model, we know what it means glazed tiles and porcelain flooring tiles, we measured the surface and we bought the flooring tiles. The assembling of the ceramic tiles follows. Here you can find a plating work of the hall with flooring tiles, illustrated step by step with many pictures and examples of interior design.

First of all, we need to check the condition of the surface which we are going to plate with flooring tiles. This is called a support layer and it must be smooth, flat and clean. If we have significant oscillations of level, then the self-leveling screed will be poured. When the surface is ready, we start making our plan. It depends on the surface, how straight are the walls, the size of the flooring tiles. We can place a row of flooring tiles on the floor to visually check our plan.

How to make the flooring tiles assembling plan

Prepare the flooring tile adhesive. In a clean bucket we poured half of it with water. Add the adhesive from the purchased bag from the building materials store in the proportion indicated on the package. Wait until the adhesive absorbs the water, then mix, either manually or with a blender attached to the drill. Mix until the adhesive is homogeneous and leave it for a few minutes. The adhesive is ready for application when, being taken on the spatula, it is no longer flowing. With a notched mason’s float, apply the adhesive on the support surface in the right coat.

Put the adhesive on the surface

A quantity of adhesive will also be applied directly to the flooring tile plate. Then it is pulled with the notched mason’s float to ensure that the application of the adhesive is uniform on the flooring tile, after which the plate can be assembled on the substrate.

Stick the ceramic plate

Fastening of the ceramic tiles with adhesive for flooring tiles and faience

We repeat the process for the second plate and check the flatness with a level. In the interior design we need good tools which we can rely on.

Check the flatness with the level

The fastening of the ceramic tiles in the adhesive is made by a gently pressing by hand and then by a hammering with a rubber hammer. Be careful not to beat hard because the flooring tiles plate may break or it may reach to the base layer, which is not desirable. Eventually, we use a wooden board and beat with the hammer over it to bring the flooring tiles to the same level.

The plates are fixed with a rubber hammer

The distance between the ceramics is preserved with the help of the crosses, or the spacers for the flooring tiles and faience, which are placed between the plates at the corners. Thus, the distance between the ceramic tiles will remain equal. In addition, in trade we find spacers of various sizes, depending on the design we have planned.

Introduce the spacers between the ceramic tiles.

How to cut the ceramic tiles?

It is good to start the plating with the flooring tiles with the middle row and leave the wall row for the end. Why? Because in many cases the walls are not perfectly straight and we will need to “adjust” the plates a little. So, we measure the distance between the already assembled flooring tiles and the wall, of course, also taking into account the spacing.

Measure the distance to the wall.

Mark with a pencil on the flooring tiles plate the edge we need to cut.

We measure the flooring tile plate.

For cutting the ceramic tiles, we will use the flooring tiles cutting tools. For beginners in the profession and not only, here is an article about how to cut the flooring tile plate.

Cut the plate to the required size.

Placing the flooring tiles in a multi-door hall

We continue to measure the space for each plate in the row of the wall. We repeat the process: we measure, mark the plate with a pencil and cut it with a manual flooring tile and faience cutter. Periodically, it is good to clean the adhesive between the joints before hardening.

Measure the distance for each plate.

Here is the wall row finished. In some cases, it is not seen that the plates have been cut, and the visual effect is as aesthetic as possible. But the wall is not the only place where we need to cut the tiles.

The wall row of ceramic tiles

In our case, the hall communicates with the kitchen, with a living room and with the outer door, so the plates require cutting to assemble the flooring tile around the doorframe, leaving no empty or unsightly spaces. Here is how it looks the plated flooring tile near the kitchen door. Of course, the doors were assembled before installing the flooring tiles.

Take into account that we can not walk on flooring tiles for 48 hours. To avoid acrobatics in the hall, and, especially if we are not champions in the long jump, it is advisable to plate one half of the surface in order to use the other half of the hallway. After 48 hours, we can also plate the remaining surface.

 Assembling of the hall skirting board and joints putty application

We have reached the step of assembling the skirting board, or the base plates. The procedure is the same as assembling the flooring tile. For plinth, we can use either flooring tile or faience, which we cut according to the height we want to make the skirting board. In the work you see in the pictures, I preferred a darker, even more contrasting plinth than the flooring tile color. The chromatic effect will also be highlighted by the darker color of the joints putty.

Assemble the skirting board  formed of ceramic tile

So we got to the joints putty episode. Its preparation is similar to the preparation of the adhesive, but the consistency of the putty is softer. As for color, as I said, I chose a shade similar to the base plates, a darker red brown.

Joints putty preparation

Applying the putty is done by means of a scraper with a rubber thin plate stretched obliquely to the joints. We insist to make sure that there are no empty spaces through the joints. Periodically, wipe off the joints putty surplus on the flooring tiles with a wet sponge. The joints putty needs 24 hours for complete drying, while it is good not to walk on the flooring tiles.

Here is how our work on assembling the flooring tiles in the hall is over. The room is functional, we are going to choose the hall furniture.

The hall is ready

 Questions and answers about assembling of the ceramic flooring tiles in the hall:

Question: From where do the flooring tiles go in a multi-door hall?

Answer: In establishing the plan for assembling the ceramic tiles on a multi-door hall, try as far as possible to meet the following conditions:

– The ceramic tiles should be aligned with the door lines

– The row or the rows of the ceramic tiles in the middle of the hall will be aligned with the natural direction of the hallway

– Try to align a row of flooring tiles on the center of the entrance door and the doors in general

– The area in the center will be plated with full plates and the stripes are applied in the lateral areas

– The side stripes will not be very narrow because they make visible the asymmetry of the walls

– The size of the stripes should be comparable, not nearly full plates on one side and thin pieces on the other side.

All of the above rules aim to obtain a visual symmetry, since most of the rooms are not symmetrical the surface being not always rectangular or square.

As a working method, start with the middle rows. I put the rows in the middle without gluing them with adhesive and drawwith the chalk their alignment. Thus, we can get a good estimate of the final position.

A practical idea for anyone to make an initial plan and design of plating with the flooring tiles is to draw a drawing of the hallway at proportion, respecting the door openings. Separately, on a transparent sheet of paper, a surface with flooring tiles drawing at proportion is drawn. By overlaying the two drawings, you can test the different flooring tiles layouts.

Question: Why does the condensation appear on flooring tiles? PS: I am sitting in the yard and the house is new.

Answer: Generally, the condensation on the flooring tiles occurs in the rooms with increased relative humidity in the absence of sufficient ventilation or heating. The steam from cooking or bathing also causes the condensation on the flooring tiles and faience in these rooms. In other rooms, such as in the hall or in the living room, it is possible that the poured screed under the flooring tiles is not thermo-insulating.

Question: I need an advice. I have a two-room apartment for renovation and I do not know what flooring tiles and what color to put on the hall and the kitchen. I thought of a brown chess board. I mention that the interior doors are made of solid wood. Thank you!

Answer: Without other details of the furniture, room surfaces, etc., I can only tell you that you have to use warm colors, and light (being an apartment, I think that the space is not too big, which would not fit either the Chessboard model) that match the wood. And the type of the flooring tiles, you have to choose the bathroom and kitchen flooring tiles, and I do not recommend a glossy flooring tile, but rather a matte one that you do not slip on.

Question: How do I start with the flooring tiles if I want to put it in the corners?

Answer: Draw a diagonal at the desired angle first and assemble the first row of flooring tiles along it, then continue along this diagonal, to the right and to the left, and fill the corners from the walls.