Grouting

After finishing laying all of the tile and cutting the edge pieces, the next step was to grout in between the tile. Although spacing and grouting isn't necessary for this type of tile, I wanted to keep the look of traditional tile.

Preparing to Grout

Start off by picking up everything off the floor, and doing a good sweep.

Make sure that you remove ALL of the tiles spacers, this is important if you don't want to end up with something that looks like this:

Remove all tile spacers!!

Once all spacers have been removed, vacuum floor thoroughly to get any dust that may have fallen in the space between the tiles, and make sure you give the floor a quick pass to make sure that no spacers have been missed.

Equipment

One approach to this job is the "icing bag" approach, which can be a bit less messy, and probably should have been the way to go.... but hindsight is 20/20, I went with the more conventional float method

The basics for the grouting job include: Premixed vinyl tile grout, soft grout float, grout sponge (sponge on one side, scouring pad on the other), and a bucket of warm water.

Apply the grout mixture with the float at a 45 degree angle to pack it into the crack, then use the float edge at 90 degrees to level the grout. This process allows you to put a considerable amount of grout on the float and "move" it along as you apply it. After leveling the grout, use a damp sponge to remove grout residue from the tile.

If any grout hardens or hazes on the tile, use the scouring pad section on the sponge to clean up before the grout has a chance to harden.

Once the entire floor has been grouted, avoid stepping on it until the grout has had a few hours to set.





Sealing the Grout

Seal grout to avoid stains and prolong life

After the grout has had 48 hours to set, you can now seal the grout. Grout sealer prevents moisture from penetrating the grout and keeps it looking new and clean.

There are two kinds of grout sealers, the spray kind and the roll/brush on kind. The spray on kind is great for smaller tiles and small areas. This kind can also be bought in a version in which the over-spray evaporates, yielding the least amount of clean up possible.

If you have larger tiles, the roll/brush on kind can also be convenient and a quick way to apply grout; while minimizing waste or over-application.

Laminate to Tile Installation Part 1

One of the first things I did upon closing on the purchase of the house was walk in, find a joint seam for the existing (and hideous) blue and white linoleum, and started ripping away.

Existing Floor Removal

One thing I would recommend to anyone about to embark on a flooring project, is to invest in a good pair of cushioned knee pads.... trust me

You can see the first rip (above left) by hand into the linoleum. The first night, I decided the extents of the new floor and using a sharp utility knife, scored lines at the doorways where the linoleum would remain. I then removed the shoe molding, but left the baseboards to allow easier access to the edges of the vinyl.Without much prep, I started the process of cutting slits into the linoleum, and rubbing it with warm water to loosen the adhesive, then pulling it by hand. At about 6 AM, I called it quits and realized that I was probably doing it wrong.

The next morning and after some research, I went to my the hardware store and after asking the "knowledgeable" staff, they pointed me towards a scraper very similar to this:

After several hours of sitting on the floor scraping, it still didn't make sense that it would take as long as it was, so after a few calls to some friends and relatives, and  another trip to the hardware store, I then purchased a stand up floor model scraper 

This model finally yielded the results i was looking for, and allowed me to bear my body weight into it. The hand model became useful for removing anything left behind by the big one; however, it is not the option to start with.

Very warm water, a brush, and a clean cloth were essential in cleaning the adhesive residue, left behind by the scraper, off the sub-floor.

It is important to fill/sand any gouges that may have been cause during the removal of the old flooring so the new vinyl tile does not sink or protrude at those points.

The sub-floor should look like this once the vinyl and all adhesive has been removed