Wall tile is a feature that works for most rooms in the house. It's attractive, plus it protects the walls from dirt. Tile is much easier to clean than most other types of walls! Here are a few suggestions for how to install wall tile.

First, you need to prepare the wall. To do this, first seal the walls with adhesive. Seal the walls first with a thin coat of adhesive. Be sure to strip away all loose will suffice.paint and wallpaper. If the wall has any kind of glossy sheen, be sure to get rid of it by sanding lightly. Finally, use spackle to patch noticeable cracks.

Next, decide what kind of pattern you want for the tile. Much like floor tile, there are a few alternatives. The two most common are the running bond and jack on jack pattern. Running bond just means a pattern with offset grout lines on the rows, whereas the "jack" format has the tiles set up much like the squares on a chess board.

As to how to install the wall tile itself: Begin by attaching a support strip at the bottom of your base horizontal line. This becomes your reference point. It will show you where the tiles should fall. It will also help support the tiles until the adhesive dries. Once this is accomplished, use the trowlel's notched side to spread the adhesive. Spread until you've got what looks like beaded ridges. Spread the adhesive in approximately 2 foot sections, increasing the coverage as you become more accustomed to the process. Remember not to cover your reference lines on the wall.

Find your support strip again. Using a twisting motion, gently push the first several tiles into place above the strip. Remember: twist, don't slide, as this will push the adhesive out of the way... which you don't want.

Between your tiles, you'll want to place plastic spacers in order to keep your lines from running crooked. These should stay in until right before you grout, when you can remove them. Keep going with this process, always being careful to keep the tiles lined with your reference lines. In the event of excess adhesive rising above the tiles, clean it out immediately.

Continue to lay your tile up and across to the edges where trimming is needed. Then you can take down the support strip and install the tiles that go under it. Do the same on the remaining walls. Finally, measure along the edges, cutting your tiles to fit. After you install the edges and then trim the excess, you will have accomplished your goal: successfully-tiled walls!