by Rachelle de Bretagne

Created on: October 21, 2008

We all want our bathrooms to look fresh and clean, and the floor area is no exception and can make the world of difference to presentation. The bathroom area in a home is a high traffic area which is also prone to being subjected to damp conditions. It is therefore wise to know your options before spending a lot of money on unsuitable tiling for the floor of your bathroom. There are many things to consider before making that purchase and this article sets out the possibilities which will make your experience a successful one.

*Type of tile.
*Size which works best for your bathroom.
*Color range.
*Cutting.
*Adhesive and grout.
*Finish.

Type of tile.

There are a variety of tiles available to suit all budgets, though each has its own special needs dependent upon the type of sub-floor which is available upon which to lay tiles. For example, if you would like ceramic tiles though have wooden floors, preparation of the floor surface to take tiles may make this a costly process, and this should be decided before spending money. Wooden floors move, and the movement means that the tiles are subject to movement as well and can easily crack.

To prepare a wooden floor for taking tile, you must make that surface stable, and the best method to do this is to place a layer of three quarter ply onto the existing surface, making sure that the surface is perfectly flat, and finishing this with concrete backer board. What this does is give the ceramic tiling a great surface to adhere to, and eliminate the problem of movement. Thus if ceramic tile is to be used, you will need to add the expense of backing board and ply to the overall cost estimated.

Ceramic tiles come in various sizes. Look at the overall size of the bathroom when deciding which suits your purpose. Large tiles may mean less grout work, but large tiles do not always look elegant if placed in a small area and may be difficult to cut to size. Try different designs to see how they would work, as smaller tiling laid in a diagonal manner is often very effective, and can cut down on the amount of cuts you will need to get a great finish. The ceramic tile for a bathroom area should have a glazed finish, since absorbent tile is not really suited to an area of the house which will suffer from humidity.

Cork tiles are attractive as an alternative, though if you are going to lay these, do look for quality. The range of cork tiles available is vast and plumbing for cheap tiles can be a huge error, since the wear and tear factor means

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