How to Install Porcelain Floor Tile

Remove the floor trim using your hammer and flatbar. Do it carefully if you want to reuse the same trim at the end instead of installing new trim.

Lay cement board over the whole floor, starting in one corner and cutting pieces as needed by scoring them with your razor knife and snapping them. Affix them to the floor with carpenter's glue and screws sunk every square foot. Spread thinset mortar over the seams between the boards with your drywall knife, getting it as smooth as you can.

Use your chalk snapline to divide the floor into four equal sections. Use your notched trowel to spread thinset mortar in the corner of one of the sections, where the lines intersect in the middle of the room. Press your first few porcelain tiles into place, using the snaplines as guides and separating them with tile spacers.

Continue laying tiles, working in sections across the floor and building off the previous tiles. Lay all the full tiles, then measure and cut the partial tiles for the edges of the floor, using your wet saw. Remove the tile spacers and let the floor set for a day.

Add water to your powdered grout and mix it in the bucket until it's the consistency of cake frosting. Let it "slake'' in the bucket for 10 minutes. Spread it onto the floor using your grout float, pressing it into the spaces. Wipe off the excess grout from the floor with a damp sponge. Let the grout set for two days.

Seal the grout with grout sealer, using the sponge applicator on the bottle. Re-install the floor trim.