New Floor Tile Tactics

 By Monte Burch

New tools, materials and techniques for this traditional flooring material.

Anyway you put it, laying ceramic floor tile is work—physically, mentally, and in closets and cut-up areas, challenging. New materials and tools, however, can take out some of the hassle.

Laying floor tile is a common but often daunting do-it-yourself job. The right tools and materials can remove a great deal of the hassle.

This kitchen project involved a house well over a hundred years old, with a double layer of vinyl flooring and several problems. The original floor was solid, with a solid-oak underlayment. Over that was a yellow pine finished floor. The pine flooring was well worn. The owners began remodeling about 40 years ago and laid down a 1/4-inch plywood “subfloor” over the pine, then installed vinyl flooring. Years later the old vinyl floor needed replacing. The old floor, however, was solidly stuck in place and impossible to easily remove. So, they simply nailed down another 1/4-inch plywood subfloor and installed another layer of vinyl flooring. To complicate matters, kitchen cabinets were installed over the flooring.

In the job shown, a double layer of 1/4-inch plywood and two vinyl floor coverings existed. The top vinyl and plywood layers were first removed.