A sealed concrete floor and a porcelain tile will greatly extend the cure cycle by limiting moisture migration.
Down ceramic tile before placing furniture.
Press down on the tile and wiggle it to embed it firmly in the thin set.
When you complete a section of tile inspect it before moving on.
Mix up the thin set or grout then let it stand for about 10 minutes.
Take your shoes off before walking on the tiles.
Installing tile in a kitchen or bathroom is hard work.
Don t just set each tile into place.
Continue spreading mortar and setting additional tiles.
Mark the loose tile and cut it to fit along the edge.
As for nailing down hardwood floor it goes down before the trim then it gets finished after everything is trimmed out plumbing electrical etc.
Consider this sample procedure for leveling a ceramic tile floor prior to installing glue down or floating vinyl.
This will level the tiles and embed them firmly in the mortar.
Mix a cementitious floor leveling compound such as henry 555 level pro or levelquik self leveling underlayment with water in a bucket until the mixture is pourable.
After installing three or four tiles make sure they are level.
There s no access to the house for a few days when it is getting finished.
Chip out any loose grout and then vacuum the floor.
Watch for tipped corners.
As a rule of thumb stay off of freshly set tile 24 hours after grouting generally a few hours to give the grout time to dry.
It is for this reason that schluter a tile membrane manufacturer specifies a non modified no latex added thinset for its floor membranes and porcelain tiles together on the tile side of the membrane.
For tiles the idea would be to have the tiles down first.
Then cover the tape with another layer of thin set and level.
That allows dry chunks time to absorb water before you.
This collection of tips may not eliminate all your tile troubles but it will help you avoid the most common headaches.
Cover the tape with thin set mortar and level it with a straight edge.
Check your alignment by stepping back every so often and looking down the tile edges to be sure the lines are straight.
First set a scrap tile against the wall it allows space for grout.
Then place another tile on the loose one and up against the tile on the wall.
But it works either way.
When you press a tile in place it s easy to tilt it slightly so that one corner stands higher or lower than neighboring tiles.
Allow the thin set to dry before proceeding usually a day.
If you use non adhesive tape you ll want to first fill the gaps with mortar before setting the tape in the mortar.