How to Install Tile Baseboard

Though most floors have wood base molding, that's actually a modern development. The older idea of using rows of clay or stone tiles as floor trim can lend a dramatically different look to a room. Though most common in bathrooms with tiled floors, tile baseboard can work well in a living room or den, bordering wood floor or even carpeting. Make sure you want to go this route, though; removing tile baseboards presents much more of a challenge than removing wood ones.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Tape measure
• Chalk snap line
• Level
• Thinset mortar
• Notched trowel
• Bullnose tiles (curved on one end)
• 1/4-inch spacers
• Tile cutter
• Painter's tape
• Pre-mixed grout
• Rubber grout trowel
• Sponge

1. Measure from the floor up the wall to the height of one of your tiles, adding 1/4 inch to the measurement, and mark the wall with a pencil. Repeat every 2 feet or so along the length of the wall. Lay your chalk line horizontally along the wall, crossing each of the marks. Snap the line.

2. Use your level to mark a vertical line in the middle of the marked area, under the chalk line.

3. With your notched trowel, spread thinset mortar over a few feet of the wall, on one side of the vertical line and under the horizontal chalk line. Press your first tile into place alongside the vertical line and under the line, putting two 1/4-inch spacers under the area between the tile and the floor. Make sure the bullnose side of the tile points upward.

4. Continue hanging tiles alongside the first one in both directions, spreading thinset mortar as needed and putting spacers between and under them. Cut the end tiles as needed with your tile cutter. Let the tiles set overnight.

5. Lay a strip of painter's tape on the wall along the top of the row of tiles, and on the floor in front of the row of tiles. Apply your pre-mixed grout with a rubber grout trowel, pressing it into the lines between the tiles. Wipe the excess off the tile face with your damp sponge. Remove the painter's tape. Let the grout set for two days before resuming normal use of the area.

Tips & Warnings

• Wear eye protection when cutting tiles.

References

• TileAndStoneTips.com: How to Use Tiles Transitions.