Tools For Slate Tile Flooring

When considering all of the elbow grease (mental and physical) that you will be dealing with while installing slate tile flooring, there are a variety of tools that you will need to either borrow or invest in for the journey.

Tile grout is the first thing you should have on your tool list. In case you are wondering what grout even is, today is your lucky day. For it is the day that you learn that a grout is a construction material that is used to seal the gaps and joints between various things, such as tiles!

Grout is lined up between the slate tiles by way of a grout float. A grout float is pretty much a trowel-like tool. It is flat-edged and smooth, such that it smooths out the grout line you create in the first place. Also recommended is a grout sealer. It is a water-based applicant that you place over fully dried grout. It will keep oil and water out of your beautiful slate tile flooring.

You will also need mortar for this slate tile journey. Yes, it is the same "mortar" as the phrase "brick and mortar" store. It is the other half of the phrase that isn't the brick. It's the concrete-like paste that binds all of the bricks together, and it will be the paste you use to keep the tiles together.

Mortar is made of sand, cement and water. A lot of earthy elements aren't there?

To add to the madness, it is recommended that you have a variety of hand saws ready. One almost mandatory type of saw is a "wet saw". This is a table saw that has a continuous stream of water spraying, such that the blades remain cooler and to keep the debris (from random slate tile edges) from flying out and becoming shrapnel to you.

(For that, you must wear safety goggles, should the water not spray down all of the sharp objects).

For precise measurement of the floor's full surface area, you should grab yourself a measurement tape, as well as a chalk line tool. It is a pretty neat apparatus, which is similar to a measuring tape but is made of a winded coil of twine bathed in colored chalk.

Once you find the center of each wall, you pull the chalky twine across the two walls, and snap the line against the floor. What results is an immediate straight line marked in the chalk.

Do this for the opposite remaining 2 walls, and you will have a nice largely chalked intersection (where you can place down the first slate tile flooring).

So, there you have it. But, do not take my word for it. This is merely a list of recommended tools for your very first slate tile flooring project, and you can feel free to add more as you like. The better quality the tools, the better the quality will be seen in your finished floor. Good luck!