Laying a porcelain tile floor can be done by homeowners. You have to follow instructions very carefully and make sure the substrate is solid and secure. If it's not you will want to rip off the old surface and make sure it is smooth and solid. You decide your layout for the backer board making sure that stagger the boards so you don't have four corners meeting. Then you lay the 1/4" thick Hardibacker (cement board) with mastic. You screw the boards down at the seams and then mud the seams and use tape over them. You should let this set up for a period of time. You are then ready to begin tiling. Again you decide your layout and where you should begin. You lay down your mastic in about 3 square foot areas and begin laying the tiles. You use spacers to determine your grout lines between the tiles. After you have laid all of your tiles, including cutting any pieces around the edges, you should wait at least overnight before you grout. You mix up your grout or use pre-mixed grout. You work the grout into the grout lines with a float using an angled motion. Wipe the excess off of the tiles and continue. After you have grouted the whole thing you need to remove the excess grout with clean water and clean sponges. Change the water frequently. After you think you have all of the grout off, you will find that you don't. A haze will form on the tiles and you need to remove that too. After the grout dries for a period of time you need to seal the grout lines and perhaps the tile as well. This is an important step in order to make sure your grout will stay looking good. Now...hire a professional instead if you can afford it. :) p.s., we've done this to three kitchens, a foyer and two bathrooms. Oh our aching knees!

I'm considering using a herringbone pattern on a shower wall, with 8"x20" tiles. But on another thread, I read that the length of the tile has to be evenly divisible by the width of the tile - that a herringbone pattern can't be done with 8"x20" tiles. Can you help clarify or give an example of how it could work?

If you can get a sample board or see real grout that would be best. We picked out a color based on a brochure, went to a tile place and the plastic "sample" was totally different! So while we have a tentative color, I'm getting a sample board made. White can be very tricky due to undertones.

Ok, thanks everyone...just got back and the tile guy has already ripped out the wall. it’s only a 3’ by 4’ space, so shouldn’t be TOO much trouble to retile... fingers crossed. But I’m hearing that this will be really tricky and a pain in the butt. Any advice for getting it right the second time????