Basic Tools Needed for a Tiling Job

Many homeowners love doing things their own way, especially when it comes to simple home upgrades. If you’re one of those handy people, most likely you already have a complete set of tools needed for these types of home projects. However, if you’re planning to do a tiling job, you’ll need some specialty tools that you might not yet have in your toolbox. Before starting any tiling project, be sure to have these tools first to do and finish the tiling job efficiently.

·         Tile Wet Saw

In every tile job, you’ll need something to cut the tiles into desired sizes especially on corners and edges. A tile wet saw is one of the tile tools that you need. Its blade is made from diamond or carbide grit, which is the most effective material to cut almost any type of tile – from glass, ceramic, stone, etc. It is called a wet saw because the blade gets flooded with water while cutting, to prevent overheating. You can either rent or buy one depending on your budget. But having this tool is really handy if you’re planning to do more tile jobs soon.

·         Grout Float

This tool looks more like a trowel but has rubber as its base. When installing tiles, you need to apply grout on the spaces in between them to seal the surface. To do this efficiently, you’ll need a good grout float to force the grout into the joint space and scrape the excess above the tile. It makes this task a lot easier than using other tools.

·         Notched Trowel

To make the tile stick to a wall or floor, you need to put some tile adhesive on the surface before sticking the tile into it. This type of trowel has notches to create a rough surface while placing the adhesive. For floor tiles, you’ll need a square notched trowel. On the other hand, V-notched trowels are for wall tiles.

·         Tile Nibbler

A wet saw can only cut straight lines on tiles. However, if you need to cut irregular shapes such as semi-circles, curves, and other irregular lines, you’ll need a tile nibbler instead. It looks almost like pliers and works like a fingernail trimmer in cutting tiles. Although you won’t really need it that much on every tile job, having this tool is really handy in case you need it.

·         Rubber Mallet

When installing tiles, you’ll need something to tap them securely into place. A regular hammer won’t do since it could crack the tiles when you tap too hard. It still won’t do even if you wrap a regular hammer in something soft like foam or fabric. Instead, get a rubber mallet exclusively for your tiling job. It won’t break the tile as you tap since it has a soft surface that just bounces back from the tile surface.

There are still plenty of other tiling tools that are helpful in making your tiling job faster and more efficient. Once you have all of them, you can now start your tiling project with no hassles.