Laying tile can be time consuming, so developing methods to eliminate timely steps is key to making tile projects more reasonable. A lot of time management comes from doing a number of projects and seeing where you can multitask or cut out procedures. However, there are several tools and accessories that can greatly reduce time for your next tile project. I have put together a list of a few items that you may want to consider:
Tile Floor Stripper. Tile floor strippers make it easy to clean/scrape floors to prepare them for tile. These tools are capable of removing ceramic, vinyl, and other flooring materials from cement or wood floors. Ride-on and walk-behind models are available with different scraping capabilities. Ride-on models typically cost more, but have higher scraping capabilities and more features. Walk-behind models strip less floor per pass, but are cheaper and more accessible to small and mid-size contractors. A large floor stripper can be capable of removing flooring at approximately 500+ ft. per min.
Tile Saw Enclosure. For wet tile saws, an enclosure can save loads of time on cleanup, especially for jobs that require a lot of cutting. These plastic tent enclosures are reasonably priced and are a great addition to any contractor’s equipment. Because of their design, tile saw enclosures block water and debris from being omitted outside the structure, making it possible to operate the wet saw anywhere on your job site.
Grout Cleaning Kit. If you’ve ever applied grout, you know that wiping and rinsing sponges used to clean grout off of your tile can take ages. Using a grout cleaning kit can help reduce this time by automating the sponge/float cleaning process. Instead of wringing out a sponge, squeeze it through rollers that drop into a buck of water, cleaning your sponge instantly. If you use more than one sponge at a time, you can move even more quickly. The use of a grout cleaning kit will allow you to lay more grout at once and remove it more quickly than before. Check out the Squeeze-ESE Electric sponge cleaner that automatically runs sponges through the rollers when you feed them into the bucket.
Perfect Hole Kit. For those areas where piping or other fixtures come directly out of an surface covered in tile, a perfect hole kit can help you make precision cuts and save time. Instead of perforating the tile and breaking out the circular cut with the chance of ruining the tile, use the perfect hole kit and never second guess your work again.
These four tools can significantly cut down your project time and allow you to do more work or be more intricate while laying the tile. For more Tile Equipment hints, tips, and information take a look at CC's buying guides If you have any other suggestions to cut down work time during a tile project, let us know!
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