Preparing for the Hex Tile Floor

With the surround nearly finished at my bathroom remodel in Inglewood, it was time to prepare the floor for the unglazed 1" hex tiles that would add to the period look of this bath.

Thankfully, the floor was fairly flat and level already. This is important, especially when using small mosaic tile because they'll show any unevenness and make it impossible to keep your grout lines even.

The subfloor in this bath consisted of two layers of 3/4" tongue and groove pine so it was sturdy enough. I just went over the top with 1/4" Hardibacker cementboard to add more stiffness and cover all the seams between the boards.

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To lay the Hardibacker I first cut it to fit by scoring it and snapping it. Then, I spread a bed of thinset with my 1/4" notched trowel and nailed it in place with 1 1/4" galvanized nails. Once it was nailed, I covered the two seams with mesh tape and filled them with thinset as well, trying to keep it as flat as possible.

The final preparation is to mark a few layout lines to guide us as we go. I like to make one that is perpendicular to the door and parallel with the tub. This is my main line to follow. I made a few others to use as reference points as well.

Tiling the floor is coming right up!

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com