ceramic floor tile

[Snipe Hunter]

1 more thing....

The "Ceramic" tiles at the borgs are usually a little thin. "Ceramic" isn't very durable when compared to "Porcelain". It chips and cracks fairly easily. Most tile shops offer ceramic as a less expensive alternative to Porcelain and will offer a lot more patterns in porcelain than in ceramic. Ceramic is more porous but all tile is porous except glass, but the grout is still porous. IMHO, buy porcelain if you can. Tile shops will have a much greater selection but you'll have to order it. Usually takes about a week to get it and it will all be from the same lot, as opposed to the borg. They also have a better selection of accessories like aluminum corners and edging, shelves, trim pieces like pencils etc. Most tile shops will take a quick 15% off the price to get your order. HD and Lowes carry good, name brand thinsets, mortars and grout. But if you order all that through your tile shop, you'll stand a greater chance of getting them to discount the whole order. I've found that The Tile Shop
sells a pretty poor quality grout and thinset and their prices are no better than a local tile shop. Their grouts and thinsets don't mix smooth and don't stick well without really working it onto the sub-strait and color control between bags can be off. The brand they sell is "Superior", I didn't like it at all. Lowes sells Mapei grout products. I like it a lot. Some Lowes and all HD sells "Custom" thin-set and mortars. I like Custom a lot. Some Lowes carry Mapei thin-set and mortars, I like it too.

[Natosha Jacobs]

Lots of YouTube videos on tile installation including lots of bad ones. Search for Sal Diblasi videos, he does it the right way and has hundreds of how-to videos.

A few more suggestions....

For larger tiles, like a 12x12 and bigger, you need to start with a really flat floor. Flat as in not more than 1/4" out over a 10 foot span. If it's not flat, fix it. For wooden subfloors/joists it's good to know how much they will deflect - and that's based on joist dimensions, spacing and spans. John Bridge has a calculator here you can plug the variables in and check Link (works like the old "Sagulator" calculator).  That same site has a user forum with lots of professionals answering DIY questions....you might want to check it out.

The last tile work I did we used 12 x 12 and 12 x 24 tiles with narrow grout lines. There are leveling "systems" out there now that help keep all the tiles in plane and they did make a difference on the finished product.

For 1400 sf, get some knee pads.

Good luck!

Nice.

[sleepy hollow]

If I may jump in here, based on my experience here are some response and considerations regarding your post.

1. Underlayment - depends on the subsurface and deflection (flex) of the subfloor.  If concrete, then you can lay on the slab, but may also want to introduce a membrane to prevent any cracks or slab movement from projecting through the tile.  If plywood, then depends on the joist spacing.  I have used DITRA with great results, but is more work since you are effectively laying another layer of thinnest mortar and membrane under the tile which will also have a thinnest layer under them (on top of the DITRA).  But Schluter makes great stuff, not cheap, but really good and time-saving for the most part.  I am not a big fan of backer board as it does not provide any structural stiffening, and it is not waterproof, but it does provide flatness when installed properly.  It also is basically another layer of thinnest, sort of.  At least that is how I think of it.  

2. 12" tile or larger is considered "large format" tile, and must be set on a very flat surface as pointed out by one of the contributors above.  And just to be clear, Flat does not have to be level.  Flat is about avoiding lippage from tile to tile.  It is not easy to get all the tile on the same plane if the underlying floor is not flat.  Thinset can help greatly, but only to a point.  Having said that, the larger format are very pleasing aesthetically and tend to make a room look larger, especially when set on a diagonal.  

3. Grout is either cementitious or epoxy.  Epoxy is really great, but very expensive and a bit tricky.  It's basically plastic so it is very stable and looks great for years. Great for shower floors, for example.  Cementitious is either sanded or unsanded.  Usually the break between unsanded and sanded is if you have joints larger than ⅛".  The sand is added to prevent cracking in the larger joints.  Many colors available, often selected to contrast with the tile as a design element.  My wife makes those decisions.  

4. Floor tile should only be laid in thinset mortar IMHO, not adhesive.  There are several brands and formulations.  Depending on the application you may wish to use a latex modified thinset which includes a polymer to enable some flex of the tiles/thinset bedding.  Many readily available brands already are modified.   Schluter products sometimes require unmodified thinnest so be sure to understand whatever system you are using so you get the correct thinset. Also there are latex additives that can modify thinset.  So, there is an array of possibilities.  As for how much to buy, that is tough to estimate and depends on the approach you'll use.  Remember thinset is needed for laying backerboard and the tiles (as well as for DITRA if used instead of backer board).  So you need enough for the entire planned usage which is often more than just the tile setting.

5. Typically the backboard joints and screws are covered with thinset kind of like drywall as I understand it.  The joints usually need a special mesh tape as well.  I only used hardibacker once for a shower about 20 years ago.  Worked well and the joints and screws were handled as I described.  

BTW, I have always used a drycut 7" blade mounted in my tablesaw.  It works great and allows for all of the benefits of a full sized table saw when cutting, especially for cutting large format tiles on a diagonal.   I use it outside due to the dust, but it is much cheaper and much faster than some of the less capable tile saws.  For the occasional tile project it has been great for me over the years. I've done about ten significant projects over ~20 years.  But it only works outside.  You'd never use it indoors except in the garage which is really outside anyway.  The downside is you need to give the saw a thorough cleaning after use, and it will scratch your table a bit, but not terribly.  Mine is a 20yr old Delta contractor saw, so it works fine with that.  If you have a high end saw, you may not want to do what I have done.