Flooring help looks difficult

[duckkisser]

So I want to do my front entrance like this but this looks very difficult has anyone done anything like this and can explain it to to me or show me a web site maybe a utube video showing the walk through.  I don't really know what to search for does this technique have a  name that I can look up? By the way was going to do this with my wall to match. 

https://www.google.com/search?q=tile+and+wood+floor&prmd=isvn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiznuavt8PKAhWDJiYKHQJSCSoQ_AUIBygB#imgrc=OKIhDkczvtbhSM%3A

https://www.google.com/search?q=diamond+wainscoting&prmd=isvn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwid29vVt8PKAhVFPCYKHfjYDGIQ_AUIBygB#imgrc=ZBhoj67PyvlpoM%3A

 

[Coop]

Sorry duck, but every site that I went to said to do the wall and hire someone to do the floor?

[..Kev]

Talk to the people at the place you're buying the flooring from Duck.  Most of that stuff is precut and ready to install unless you're doing a complete custom job with real hardwood flooring.

[duckkisser]

Custom with hardwood 

[wdwerker]

Practice in the basement, closet ,back room etc. Its not easy. A guillotine miter trimmer would be very useful. Tiles are rarely uniform so you need to measure every single one you buy and plan for the largest tile to have a minimum grout line around it and then the smaller tiles will just have a wider grout line.

Cumulative errors will bite you in the ass. You must be accurate as possible. Good chance the walls and floor are inconsistent so you  have to allow for that too. I would level the floor before I even started doing layout work. This will lead to difficult custom transitions or thresholds at each doorway.

Tread carefully ,you just may have champagne tastes on a beer budget !

I have had the same problem in the past inspired by interior decorators and rich clients I have worked for in the past.  Also think about the investment in a home that may never give you a payback when you sell it.

[Larry Moore]

Try looking for parquet flooring videos

[Brendon_t]

From every tile job I've ever done, I've found that even $20/sqft are not all the same size. It's absolutely doable, but looks like a real pita. However you go about it, I'd love to see it as you progress.

[duckkisser]

What if instead of tile I use an some kind of epoxy floor filler then I can lay out the wood and then fill the inside. Or maybe I could do a random tile placement like river stones then I would not need to have perfect tile layouts or level floors or leave off large tile and do small tiles they would be easer to cut and lay in since there in 12x12 sheets

not realy woried about time to put in don't have a family and I have lots of free time thought to come in and spend a hour every night working n it.

[Andy Wright]

If you plan for the tile to have a 1/8" to 3/16" groutline then you shouldn't have too much problem with variation in the size of the tile.

I would cut squares out of MDF that are the size of the tile plus the groutline, and use those as spacers to install the wood. The spacers will serve two purposes - 1) keep the layout square and 2) protect the edges of the wood floor from damage.

Once the wood is installed I would sand and finish it before I did the tile. This will reduce mess of staining, and it will also prevent any of the thin set from getting on the raw wood and ruining your finish. Once the finish is hard, you can tape the wood with blue tape and lay the tile. 

Definitely looks labor intensive, but not terribly difficult. You can greatly simplify things by using butt joints. That way all of the cuts are square except for the 45s that go around the edges, and typically most of the edges will be covered by base molding so you only have to be within 1/4"

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRjpLaITTMy5uhvLjSY71vYHuDYvSjOJJ5Uugt7_qZpW-S_TKYQQg

[duckkisser]

7 hours ago, Andy Wright said:

If you plan for the tile to have a 1/8" to 3/16" groutline then you shouldn't have too much problem with variation in the size of the tile.

I would cut squares out of MDF that are the size of the tile plus the groutline, and use those as spacers to install the wood. The spacers will serve two purposes - 1) keep the layout square and 2) protect the edges of the wood floor from damage.

Once the wood is installed I would sand and finish it before I did the tile. This will reduce mess of staining, and it will also prevent any of the thin set from getting on the raw wood and ruining your finish. Once the finish is hard, you can tape the wood with blue tape and lay the tile. 

Definitely looks labor intensive, but not terribly difficult. You can greatly simplify things by using butt joints. That way all of the cuts are square except for the 45s that go around the edges, and typically most of the edges will be covered by base molding so you only have to be within 1/4"

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRjpLaITTMy5uhvLjSY71vYHuDYvSjOJJ5Uugt7_qZpW-S_TKYQQg

good idea with the mdf spacer that should help me keep things in line I already have floorboards so I should be able to skip the raw wood and finishing it before I put in the tile.  so just have to lay the wood then lay the tile separate.  then just cut each tile to fit.

[Tom King]

I've done similar to that, and a lot more complicated.  It's a job better suited to a woodworker, and not the average flooring contractor.  I bought my shooting plane for a  more complicated flooring job, which was matching an old floor.  There is no easier way to get things to fit properly than with a shooting board.  Four way miters leave absolutely no margin for error.  Everything has to be perfect.  Cutting each piece perfectly with the first cut is a very low percentage possibility.

The tiling will be the easy part.  Mixing the thinset to the proper consistency, so you can use exactly the right sized notched trowel is VERY important.  You want the ridges in the thinset to hold the tile up just the right amount so it can be persuaded down just the right amount to fit perfectly flush on the top.

If you push a tile down the least bit too far, you can't pry it back up and expect it to stay there.  This is where getting the thinset perfect, and troweling the ridges just the right size is most important.  The space between the ridges gives the extra thinset somewhere to go.

Set the wood first, finish it, and lay the tile to fit.  Get one of these:  http://www.amazon.com/Tavy-Tile-Puck-Lippage-Detector/dp/B002FYE1LS  Forget about the level bubble on it.  You slide it around all the edges of the tile in both directions to make sure it's perfect.  If it hits the wood, pull the tile back up, and the thinset, and redo it.  If it hits the edge of a tile, the tile needs to go down a little more.  When it will slide all around the tile edges any kind of way without any clicking., that's what you want

I don't use a rubber hammer to lower the tile unless it's something larger than 12" x 12".  12x12 and smaller you should be able to ease down with fingers.  If you can't, the thinset is too hard, but too soft allows it to go down too easy.  I don't know how you get this feel without experience, but you will get the experience while doing it.  You may have to throw out the first few batches of thinset, so don't mix a whole lot to start with.

There's some art to doing a perfect grout job too, but I won't go into that here-maybe later if you get it down like you want it.

Kneepads are mandatory.  Try them on, and don't get any that fasten any kind of way above the knee.

Accept nothing less than perfection.  Anything less will look, and walk, sloppy.

[wtnhighlander]

So to summarize ... it looks difficult, because it is.

 

We have faith in you, Duck! If it's just you in the house, it should be no problem. I wouldn't tackle this for any amount of money with a wife and/or kids and or pets living in the house. That's what the pros are for!

[Tpt life]

Like Tom said, experience is the best teacher. Buy some cheap tile and practice on a sheet of OSB. That is how I was coached through my first tiling. It was not this complex, but I think the principle remains. 

[Tom King]

Whatever tile you use, make sure it's flat.  A lot of it isn't, and makes it impossible to get it perfectly flush all the way around.  I buy from a dedicated tile supplier instead of the box stores.