By Steve McIntyre

Have you ever imagined yourself achieving a great finish to laying floor tiles? You soon will if you follow these tips on how to tile floors.

#1. Draw your layout to scale on graph paper. That way you can accurately count how many tiles you need plus some extra for breakage.

#2. Make sure your floor is flat, level and rigid. If it's not flat and level, it will look really bad when the tile is set. If your floor isn't rigid, the grout will crack. If the floor is in poor condition, you can install cement backerboard.

#3. Make sure the floor is clean. Dust, oil, wax or grease will prevent the adhesive from working properly.

#4. To improve appearance, plan your layout in a way that you start with whole tiles working from the center outwards. This means that any cut tiles will be at the wall edges. Ideally you want the cut tiles at each end of the room to be the same size.

#5. Lay all the whole tiles first. When you are ready to do all the cut tile, go and hire a professional tile cutter. This minimizes the time you need to hire the cutter. You'll break far fewer tiles and get a much better cut with professional equipment compared with d.i.y. tools.

#6. Grouting can make or break the appearance of your floor. By setting some spare tile on some spare plywood or backerboard, you can practice grouting before applying it to your new floor.

#7. Make sure you seal your grout when the job is done. Many people skip this step. This will prevent the grout from absorbing dirt and grime and will prolong the life of the grout.

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