If you are a "Do It Yourself" person like me, you should look into two new products for laying ceramic tile. The first one has been around for a while but recently their price has dropped so much that it will pay for itself with a single project. It is the Ryobi Laser Level - Model Number ELL0006, shown here. I got mine at Home Depot for $49, and I wonder how I have been able to get along without it. It can be attached to a wall with a built-in suction cup with vacuum pump, or it can be mounted to a tripod, sitting on the floor, or attached to drywall with pins (provided). It is self leveling and provides vertical and horizontal adjustment. It projects red laser lines vertically, or horizontally, (or both), on walls, ceilings, floors, and any combination of the above. Prior to getting my Ryobi Laser Level I was snapping chalk lines on the floors and walls, even though they quickly got covered by Thin-Set. I use it to level tiles on opposite walls in a room and project lines on the floor up onto walls. The laser is powered by separate AA batteries than the vacuum pump since their power demands are vastly different. A friend of mine was laying tile around an island on the floor in his family room and he said that when the tiles met after passing around the island, it was a perfect match thanks to the laser level.
The second item I recently discovered is the lightweight Easyboard from CustomBuildingProducts.com. Use it instead of the heavy, and difficult to cut, cement backerboard. The stuff costs $1 - $2 more per sheet, but once you have discovered the benefits you may never go back, even if your poor assistant is the one who carries the backerboard up the stairs to the job site. I have found three main benefits from Easyboard; 1-It is very lightweight (I carry over 15 sheets myself), 2-It is extremely easy to cut (almost like bulsawood), and 3- It allows you to use pins or small nails to temporarily hold tiles in place when doing walls.
As a teenager I used to work for a stone mason and he taught me how to hold large stones in place on a wall until the cement set. He would attach a tiny wire to the wall and wrap it around the stone. Once the cement had set, we simply snipped the wire at both ends leaving no trace. I use that same principle when attaching heavy tiles to the wall. I simply push a small nail into the Easyboard and remove it after the Thin-Set has hardened. The nail holds the tile in place and is easy to install and remove by hand, leaving no trace.
These two new products along with my $200 Ryobi Diamond Saw (which paid for itself in two weekends) have greatly lightened my work load as I have spent the past month working to remodel our upstairs guest bathroom.
When I am finished the job, I will post a photo of the finished product.
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