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Hey everyone, I've been at a stall in my bathroom reno most of this year mainly due to work being insane but also because I'm intimidated to have made it to the "finishing" stage and the thought of F'ing it up lol. The bathroom was a full gut and complete overhaul so I just want to cross the finish line properly. It's not a large space, but it's L-shaped and has a custom shower and freestanding tub, the room is about 12x7 (7 being the widest point in the L).
I've got DITRA that I'll lay down as it's a plywood floor and will be tiling 12x24 polished porcelain over it. I'm using Schluter All-Set, and I've bought a couple bags of the QEP Lash leveling clips (1\8th grout line) from home depot. They were the only brand I could find in my area and they've been around a while so I assume they work well enough. I did get the "wider" wedges, I've seen little guys on the shelf but avoided them.
Questions I have that keep me up at night:
1) How hard do I press the tiles down into the thinset? The floor is what I'd call acceptably level (1980's build, and I added fresh premium underlay 1\8th board ontop with glue and screws), but being wood it's not perfect. When bedding the 12x24's should I do full body weight and sweep forward\backward 2inches, or just wiggle down until I see some squeeze out and have a 6in level ontop to confirm the first set is flat?
2) Is it best to get tile #1 "flat and level" and then add clips and use it to essentially guide the rest? Should I check the level on every single tile, even with clips applied?
3) If something happens and I can't finish the entire field in one day can I margin trowel the squeeze out flush to the DITRA, add clips in the unfinished edge, leave it to cure a few days, then mix new thinset and just pick up where I left off without issue?
Sorry if this is basic stuff. Like I mentioned I've just made it so so far in this reno and I'd hate for the tile field to look like s%$# everyday when I walk into the bathroom for the next 20 years. I've only laid floor tile one time before and struggled getting every edge to be flush for some reason, but I wasn't using clips either and it was discount 12x24 just for a landing at a hunt camp, nothing critical.
I've got DITRA that I'll lay down as it's a plywood floor and will be tiling 12x24 polished porcelain over it. I'm using Schluter All-Set, and I've bought a couple bags of the QEP Lash leveling clips (1\8th grout line) from home depot. They were the only brand I could find in my area and they've been around a while so I assume they work well enough. I did get the "wider" wedges, I've seen little guys on the shelf but avoided them.
Questions I have that keep me up at night:
1) How hard do I press the tiles down into the thinset? The floor is what I'd call acceptably level (1980's build, and I added fresh premium underlay 1\8th board ontop with glue and screws), but being wood it's not perfect. When bedding the 12x24's should I do full body weight and sweep forward\backward 2inches, or just wiggle down until I see some squeeze out and have a 6in level ontop to confirm the first set is flat?
2) Is it best to get tile #1 "flat and level" and then add clips and use it to essentially guide the rest? Should I check the level on every single tile, even with clips applied?
3) If something happens and I can't finish the entire field in one day can I margin trowel the squeeze out flush to the DITRA, add clips in the unfinished edge, leave it to cure a few days, then mix new thinset and just pick up where I left off without issue?
Sorry if this is basic stuff. Like I mentioned I've just made it so so far in this reno and I'd hate for the tile field to look like s%$# everyday when I walk into the bathroom for the next 20 years. I've only laid floor tile one time before and struggled getting every edge to be flush for some reason, but I wasn't using clips either and it was discount 12x24 just for a landing at a hunt camp, nothing critical.
