When using adhesives, surface prepartion can be important. Any painted surface should be checked carefully, because in some cases the paint may flake, peel or become chalky and tiles will not adhere. You can test such surfaces by installing four or five tiles at different places around the room, and waiting 48 hours to see how well they have adhered.
Using the technique oulined in Section 4 (determining the size of border tiles), make sure that border tiles will be the same on both opposing sides of the room.
Snap a chalk line along each side of the room the width of the border tile from the edge to align the first row of border tiles along both the short and long sides of the room. (See Fig. 2).
Cut your first border tile to size. Because this tile fits into the corner it must take into consideration the dimensions of border tiles along both short and long sides of the room. For example, if your border tiles on the long side of the room turn out to be 10", and the short side of the room only 9", the corner tile should be cut twice to make it 10" by 9", allowing all other border tiles on both short and long sides of the room to line up properly with your full-size tiles.
Place the adhesive or cement in each corner of the tile (about an inch from the edge) and one daub of adesive in the middle of the tile. (See Fig. 3).
Place the border tile into position in the corner (See Fig. 4). It is important that the wide stapling edge lines up with the chalk marks, on both sides. The flange must be exposed so the tongue of the next tile can slide into the tile already in place, guaranteeing a solid fit.
If necessary to hold the tile while the adhesive dries, you may use a staple in each flange, but follow the adhesive manufacturers' instructions on this.
Place several border tiles in position along each edge, and then fill in between them with regular tiles. (See Figure 5).
After completing the installation of the full-sized tile, you must measure and fit each border tile carefuly on the opposite border.
