Floor tiling is decided at the preparation stage and by respecting three rules from the French tiling standard (DTU 52.2): the right adhesive, double-buttering beyond a certain format, and the joints — the ones you see and the ones people forget. Summary.
Substrate and adhesive
- Flat substrate (5 mm under a 2 m rule), dry, primed — otherwise level first.
- C2-class adhesive minimum on floors (C2-S1 deformable over heated floors or large formats).
- Double buttering mandatory on floors from 1,100 cm² (33×33): adhesive combed on the floor AND the tile back — coverage must reach 100 % of the back outdoors/large formats, 80 % min. indoors.
The joints (diagram)
The installation, step by step
- Set out from the room's axis: balanced cuts at the edges, never a sliver < 1/3 of a tile along a visible wall.
- Levelling clips on large formats: they eliminate lippage between slightly bowed tiles.
- Bed each tile in (rubber mallet), check flatness with the rule as you go.
- Grout at 24 h, foot traffic at 24-48 h, heated floor restarted gradually after 7 days.
- Over underfloor heating, the first heat-up remains mandatory before laying.
Tiles or wood?
The full room-by-room match is in wood floor or tiles — and to marry the two (tiles in wet zones, wood everywhere else), the clean junction uses a threshold profile.