We will show you the best techniques for measuring, laying tile, cutting mosaic tiles, using special tools and more.

Not long ago setting mosaic tile meant embedding each small piece in a mortar bed. Later, sheets of mosaic held together by paper facing helped reduce installation time. These early face-mounted sheets, however, were difficult to line up.

Modern mosaics are bonded to a sheet with plastic dots or on a plastic mesh, paper, or threaded backing.

You'll find mosaics in many colors and in squares, rectangles, random designs, and all forms of geometric figures. Most mosaic tiles are glass or high-fired porcelain, so they're impervious to moisture. Porcelains come with glazed surfaces for walls and nonslip surfaces for floors.

If the style you've chosen is available only in dot-mounted sheets, make sure the dots are free of any residual manufacturing oil. This oil interferes with adhesive bonding. Check two or three sheets in each carton, wiping them with a paper towel.

If replacing a carton is not an alternative, either change your design or wash the back of each sheet with a mild detergent.

Arranging Random Patterns

A mosaic pattern that features randomly placed colored tiles is more difficult to set than one that has regular geometric patterns — you have to balance color throughout.

Lay the sheets on the surface in a dry run, changing their positions until you get the arrangement right. Then take up the sheets and number them so you can mortar them in the same order.

Keep Colors Consistent

It's impossible to set mosaics without some of the mortar creeping up into the grout joints. To keep your work from looking blotchy when you apply the grout, use the same product for both the mortar bed and the grout —100 percent solid epoxy of the same color. Alternatively you might be able to color the mortar to match the grout, but such attempts often result in noticeably different shades.

Embedding the mosaic sheets into the mortar will inevitably force some mortar onto the surface of the tiles. Before you set the next section, use a synthetic scrubbing pad to clean the tile, then wipe it with a dampened sponge. Don't use too much water — it will wash out the epoxy from the joint and weaken it.

Cutting Mosaics

One advantage of mosaics is that the small individual tiles can often fit around obstacles without being cut. Use a utility knife to cut the backing in the contour of the obstacle and strip away the tiles.

If you need to cut an individual tile, remove it from the backing and cut it with a snap cutter. Backbutter the cut piece and set it into the mortar.