How to put the tiles on the walls yourself?

Every person can have a situation where it is necessary to repair small sections of walls in the bathroom, shower room or in the kitchen, where tiles are used as decoration. Of course, in such cases it is possible to hire a qualified specialist who will perform his work in a short time for a fee. But if there is a desire and some skills in the construction sector, you can do it yourself. In addition, knowing how to put the tiles on the walls in a small area, it will be easy to do this in large volumes, that is, to finish the entire bathroom. When performing these works, we can identify the main steps that we will try to highlight in this article.

Preparatory stage

Before you put the tiles on the walls, you need to do a number of preparatory works:

1. Remove the old finish. In this case, you must first release the room from plumbing and other items. For removal, you can use a chisel and a hammer, with which you can also clean the wall of the adhesive (old mastic, mortar and the like).
2. Clear the walls. In this case, if the old layer of plaster has blisters and cracks, and when it breaks, it is better to remove it completely.
3. Align the surface of the wall. This work can be done with a device (load on a rope), which is fixed on the wall at the junction with the ceiling and the plumb angle is determined by the angle of the slope of the wall from the vertical. For small values of this value, wall defects must be eliminated by applying a plaster solution. With greater curvature, it is better to use additional structures.
4. Check for the presence of bulges and dents of the wall surface with a water level (length at least 1 m). For small deviations (no more than 5 mm per running meter), depressions can be eliminated with plaster.
5. Priming the surface. Before you put the tiles on the walls, it is worth treating them with special compounds with antibacterial properties. Thus, the occurrence and reproduction of fungi and other microorganisms can be avoided.

Laying of finishing material

Also, before you put the tiles on the walls, you need to decide how the finishing material will be connected to the wall surface. This can be done in two ways:

1. With cement mortar. At the same time, it is possible to simultaneously level the wall surface (with small deviations). Beforehand, it is better to install rails at the corners of the wall, as well as tiles for control, the position of which must be determined with a plumb. They are installed along the edge (along the angular vertical) with intervals of about 50 cm, along them lay out the remaining elements of the finishing material (you need to install the cords horizontally, which will act as guiding elements).
2. With adhesive compound (special mastic). At the same time, a layer of ground mixture (mastic) is adjusted about 2 mm thick. After this, wipe the surface with a damp cloth and glue the finishing material.

The main moments of laying the decoration

In order to understand how to glue a tile on a wall, the following information is not superfluous:

1. Adhesive composition (mortar or mastic) is applied to the back of the finishing element with a trowel.
2. Tile should be glued, gently pressing to the surface of the wall, so that the adhesive mass is distributed over the entire area of the element. Remains left outside in the seams must be removed by the trowel.
3. To the distances in the seams between the tiles were the same, you can use special wedges (thin slats or matches), which are stuck at the time of laying the finishing element.
4. For adjustment, the tile can be cut using a glass cutter. To do this, on the reverse side, mark the line and, after inserting the ruler, hold it several times with a cutting device. Unnecessary part with a hammer.

Knowing how to lay a tile on a wall, you can easily perform repairs at home, saving a significant amount of money. To do this, it is enough to have a few skills of handling construction equipment, patience and accuracy.