Doing up your walls or laying out the floors? Then you can give subway tile installations a thought. These classic tiles never seem to go out of trend and are preferred by many home designers and homeowners.
“Subway tile” is the oft-used name for the conventional 2x6-inch wall tiles. Subway tile installations were common features of bungalow decoration in the first half of the 2nd century and the popularity of their pristine white finishes and interesting textures were eclipsed only by the Art Deco styles of the 1930s.
But their appeal has never faded and if you are wishing to recreate the 1940 New York feels, subway tile installations with 3x6-inches tiles are your best bet.
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In fact, this 3x6-inches dimension is now the most popular size of subway tiles and come with beveled edges. And the subway tile installations often follow the offset or brick layout pattern.
Subway tile installations tips insist on preparing the wall beforehand. Though tile adhesives stick to almost all surfaces, you need to ensure that the installation face is absolutely dry, spanking clean and sturdy enough to support the weight of the tiles. When you have a wet area to consider, say the shower enclosure, a cement-fiber board should go in first as the tile base.
Before you start laying out the tiles, it is better to have the layout prepared so that you have the tiles straight. The best way to go about subway tile installations is to start your tile-setting job from the center of the area and work your way outwards. Draw a horizontal line bang at the center of the installation area and have the edges of the loose tiles in line with it. This way you will ensure that the tiles at the corners are of equal width, which should be at least half a tile wide.
Repeat the same procedure for a vertical reference line too. You are now all set for actually laying down the tiles. You have to start with the first tile lying as close to the point where the two reference lines intersect each other at a 90-degree angle. Make sure that the first row of tiles is as close as possible to the centered.
The entire beauty and symmetry of subway tile installations projects hinge on these first few steps. You can use the level and the layout tool to draw a grid to help with more balanced placement of the tiles.
For some more accuracy, have a support strip fixed to the base horizontal line. This will also act as a support for the tiles until the adhesive has set. The tiles should be placed in position with a little twirling motion but never slid.
Use plastic spacers between the tiles as these will make for straight grout lines. Continue in a pyramidal fashion, working outward and upward.
Subway tile installations are actually not immensely difficult. The precision of the job depends on just following a few ground rules. More and more people are undertaking subway tile installations as Do-It-Yourself projects to spruce up their homes.
by Manuel Kupka
