How to Install Mexican Tile Floor
Mexican floor tiles create what's best described as a rustic-desert look. Saltillo is the most common type. It's hand-crafted clay, with slightly irregular shapes and contours, and generally comes in earth tones (though some are brightly painted). Because the bottoms of the tiles aren't reliably flat, you have to use more mortar than usual, spreading it on both the subfloor and the bottom of the tile, which can make for a messy job. It's very important to start with a solid, immobile base, as Mexican tiles tend to be more fragile that ceramic or stone. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Chalk snap line
- T-square
- Mexican tiles
- Notched trowel
- Thin set mortar
- Tile spacers
- Wood shims
- Sponge
- Wet saw
- Grout
- Grout float
Instructions
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1
Divide the floor area into four squares by laying two intersecting lines with your chalk snap line. Use a t-square to ensure that the lines are exactly square off each other, laying the square at the intersection before you snap the second line.
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2
Use a notched trowel to spread thin set mortar over the middle of the floor, covering an area about 3 feet across. You should be able to still see the lines through the combed pattern of the mortar.
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3
Hold a Mexican tile in your hand with the underside of the tile facing up. Use your notched trowel to spread mortar on the back of the tile, making a layer of about 1/4-inch thick. Press the tile into place at one of the corners of the intersection. Mortar and set three more tiles at the other four corners of the intersection, using tile spaces to separate them.
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4
Repeat the process of spreading mortar on the floor and on the backs of the tiles and setting them along the lines, with spacers between them. After every six or eight tiles are laid, take out the spacers and run a shim along the spaces, digging out the built-up mortar there. Wipe excess mortar off the tiles as you go, using a damp sponge.
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5
Build from the middle of the floor out toward the walls. Lay all the full tiles that will fit. Let them set overnight. Go back the next day and cut and install the tiles at the edges of the floor, using a wet saw to make the cuts. Let the cut tiles set overnight.
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6
Grout the tiles, forcing grout into the joints between the tiles and squeezing it off the surface with the long edge of the float. Wipe excess grout off the tiles with a damp sponge.
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Tips & Warnings
Wear goggles when you cut tiles.
