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Tile evokes a feeling of permanence and luster. More and more it is considered an upgrade to other materials and it is easy to care for. Whether you are tiling a wall, a shower or a floor the process demands your attention in four areas: planning, surface preparation, installation, and finishing touches.

In the planning stage you measure the space, select the tile, and calculate the quantities of materials. All tile jobs depend upon some kind of glue, mastic, or mortar to hold them to the surface. In order to apply those materials you use notched trowels. You have to get the proper notch for the tile and adhesive you are using. Other things you will need include spacers for ceramic or porcelain tiles so you can maintain the same space between tiles.

Also for ceramic or porcelain you'll need a couple types of cutters. You can buy these or rent them just depending upon how much tile you are doing. One cutter cuts whole tiles into smaller pieces, while the other cutter, called a nibbler, is used to nip pieces so they fit around things better. The whole tile cutters can be electric like a wet saw with a diamond wheel that runs in water. Or, they can be manual with a wheel that scores the tile at the location you want to cut it. You will also select a grout for these types of tile and along with that you should get a grout sponge for applying the grout between the tiles.

If you are installing asphalt or vinyl tile you can use a razor knife to score them. Then you snap them along the line to separate the two pieces. If you will be tiling a floor you might also want to get a pair of kneepads.

There is no substitute for thorough preparation of the surface that will be receiving the tile. It has to be level to within a sixteenth of an inch over the dimension of the tile you are installing. So if you are installing a 12" tile the substrate can't vary more than 1/16th inch over 12". It also has to be firm, strong enough to support the tile, clean, and of a nonporous material. If you are putting tile on a wooden surface you should cover that surface with a layer of cement board and follow the manufacturer's instruction for fastening it down.

Now you are ready to begin the installation. Entire books have been written on this aspect but here are the basics. You layout the job so the tile that have to be cut are in locations as least noticeable as possible. You might use a chalk line or a four-foot level and a pencil to mark a center line to begin from. Then you apply the mastic

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