Customer Reviews
Tile like a master 
2007-06-22
This is a great book for learning to set tile. Don't rely on the info from your local hardware store... Get this book and learn how to do it right!
Setting Tile 2007-05-13
Excellent book apparently. I got a copy for a friend who is tiling her bathroom. She thought it was a wonderful and informative publication and a must for anyone who is doing something of this nature.
Great book for me - Novice/JOAT 2007-02-06
We recently built our new home & I used this book & Tile Your World to do all the tile work. One of our best & proudest features is the masterbath I built with lg garden tub and oversized corner dual head shower with dual niche all tiled together - We love it. I can't believe I was able to do it all with friends & family and alot of sweat/work.
Saved thousands over best few estimates. I see why the labor is so pricy now....
Recommend both books.
Michael Byrnes's Work is Excellent 2007-01-09
Michael Byrne's work in both his book "Setting Tile" and his DVD "Tiling Floors with Michael Byrne" are excellent resources for beginners, and were I an experienced tile setter, I would say so for those folks, too.
As a complete novice I recently completed my first tile project, re-doing my bathroom, some 50 square feet. In my opinion it turned out very well considering it was a first time effort. I relied heavily on Mr. Byrnes's works. That would be small by most accounts, but let me assure you, for me, it was large. I am in the process of doing another 500 square feet of work on a plywood substrate. After that I have another 500 feet downstairs on a concrete slab to do.
He makes it simple for anyone to understand. These works will remain life-long resources in my personal library.
While it is not possible to cover everything in any works like these, some areas I would suggest for improvement are some more clarification on areas around door jams in terms of doing the tiling around those, trimming them. More information on toilet removal and installation would have been helpful. The toilet borders on plumbing and that is a subject unto itself though. One more area that would be helpful is the area of cementitious backerboard. There are several kinds on the market and each has its own idiosyncracies.
But if one is considering undertaking a project like this, you can always rely on Amazon.com for additional material.
Works by Taunton Press, the publisher of these media are also recommended. But again, no one resource can be everything. And finally, there is no substitute to finding reliable people to talk things through.
Again, I rate Mr. Byrnes's work as 5 Star.
Not for the beginner 
2006-10-15
Like most Taunton Press publications, Setting Tile skews abit toward the art side of its trade, and it glosses over quite a few things that an absolute novice, or even a fairly skilled worker in another trade, needs in order to get a good result. As other have pointed out, he doesn't go into using mastics or epoxy-based mortars. But those seem like decisions based on his experience with the materials. He simply uses thinset. Enough said.
One ommission that did seem a little odd was the lack of information about working with wet-wall installations. He only uses backer board, which for a worker/writer who is so thorough and skilled seems strange.
Especially given the fact that he does such a great job of explaining, step by step, how to build a shower pan, which is a fussy, finicky, yet back-breaking job if there ever was one.
One other fault (and this may be a fault of Taunton books in general): he doesn't help me anticipate errors. For example: Mr. Byrne recommeds that you fur out the backer board above a shower pan lining so that the board can hang over the lining without getting bumped out. And he recommends butter the back of the board with thinset where it mates with the lining (since you can't drive screws through the board as it would pierce the lining).
Now a non-idiot (not me!) would know that the mortar would tend to push the backer board out, especially in the corners where the lining is folded to three times its typical thickness. Such a non-idiot would fur out a little extra and use a little less mortar.
But not me: I butter the hell out of the back of the backer board and by the time the mortar set the board's bottom was out of pumb a good 3/16 of inch. Not a huge deal, until you try to make the tials look nice and perfect.
So some idiot warnings would be nice. Sort of a follow my advice, but here are some things to watch out for.
Then again, no taunton book I've ever owned (quite a few) does a good job with newbies.
Regardless, this is a good, solid look at installing tile, especially installing and designing complex patterns. But you might need to augment it with something from Time Life say ;-)
Very good detailed information on all aspects of tile setting 2006-09-30
Michael Byrne's
Setting Tile is packed with more than enough information for those thinking of taking on a tile job in their home. It is so detailed and thorough that it serves as a Tile 101 introduction for those interested in entering the trade full-time or simply improving their skills and knowledge. Byrne opens this revised and updated version of his previous effort with a brief description of how tile was made 6,000 years ago. Granted, the history lesson may not help someone who's planning to tile a kitchen counter, but Byrne's passion and interest for the subject pay off for the reader in other ways. He advises his readers, for example, that even after they've found the right tile for the bathroom floor or kitchen counter--the one that is just the right color and that the manufacturer recommends--to take those tiles and put them through a few of their own tests. Rub it with your favorite frying pan to see how easily it's marked up and, in turn, cleaned off. Scuff it with junior's hiking boots to see how it endures a day in the life. "I tell my customers in the end that, no matter what grade of tile they select, they can be the best judge of a tile's suitability." Byrne devotes chapters to materials, tools and safety, troubleshooting and repairs, and surface preparation. And in his chapter stressing the importance of doing a proper layout long before setting that first tile, Byrne also gives the reader a few clever ways to check levels, straightedges, and carpenter's squares for accuracy. This is a highly detailed book loaded with technical information that relies equally on photos and illustrations. It's also more about materials and tile samples than completed jobs. Don't buy this book if you're looking for glossy color photos of pristine tile jobs; buy it if you want to learn how to correctly install such jobs.
--John Russell
Another perspective 2006-04-22
I've been setting tile for over 30 years, but studying this book was still an edification. It was filled with more information than I expected, and I found it to be very interesting and helpful. I counted 283 photographs and diagrams, although some of those were multiple diagrams within one larger diagram. As an engineer and perfectionist, I reject the myth that a professional necessarily does better work than an amateur.(The correct translation of the word amateur is one who pursues any study or art out of love instead of money.) The key to excellence is to thoroughly study and understand any undertaking beforehand, and then to allow enough time to do it as well as it can be done. So there's a reason why the term do-it-yourself often connotates a hack job - that's what you get when you don't have the patience to study the right way to do a job, and instead proceed with ignorance and impatience. This book isn't intended for someone who can't understand that once adhesive has been spread with a trowel, the tiles are placed on the adhesive. If you can't figure that one out, you need a professional. If you can't find the clear diagram on page 179 that illustrates how a membrane and backer board meet at a tub edge, you need a professional. If you can't find any of the book's references to the inferiority of pre-mixed air-drying mastics (glue) compared to latex-modified thin-set mortars, or how to mix and apply them, you need a professional. Here's one short excerpt from a five-page discussion of adhesives that starts on page 38, "organic mastics are probably the most commonly used adhesives, but they're nonetheless generally inferior to other adhesives." If you're too impatient to read this 244-page book and you just want to stick some tiles on a wall, go down to your local home center and buy a big bucket of glue and some tiles and fake it like a typical do-it-yourselfer.
Must buy... 2005-03-14
Doing tile right takes a bit of time and a bit of money. Most "do-it-yourself" books will give short shrift to tile laying, put in some pretty pictures and make it look easy. And they your tile will pop up or crack five years later. Tile should last decades. And sometimes it can take a lot of work to prepare a surface, and some surfaces shouldn't even be tiled at all. With that in mind, finding good information and digesting it is a must before taking any steps.
Michael Byrne's book is very thurough and detailed. It'll pretty much cover almost any tiling situation. One reviewer complained that it doesn't offer enough specifics or details on certain applications. I think the issue here is that there are so many possible substrates, tile types, adhesives, etc. etc. that unless you want an unreadable 1000 page book you'll have to use a little bit of common sense. Bottom line, you'll get more specific details in this text than anywhere else. For a specific nagging question there are always online forums.
Do yourself a favor, get this book and John Bridge's "Tile Your World" before doing a thing. A 15-minute Home Depot "how-to" seminar can be a dangerous thing - get real useful info instead.
A valuable resource for the first timer 2004-05-24
I bought this book because I have never set tile before and I wanted to unlock some of the mysteries that I had concerning tile installations. The book is full of wonderful full color photographs and great advice. If you are a do it yourself type of person, this book will take you start to finish. I like the thorough discussion of the proper way to do a layout so you never end up with tile slivers on the margin of your installation. There is a thorough discussion of how to make your installs waterproof, long lasting, and pleasing to the eye.
After reading this book I came to realize that what you have under the tile is almost as important as the finished product. There's a lot more that goes into that sandwich than you think.
Best book/clear details/very well written 2003-09-18
This is best book of tile installing I've found. It's very complete. I used it's information to install over 600 sq ft of tile in my home. Although it is very detailed, which some people may not care for, it's sort of an "everything you need to know about installing tile, but didn't know you needed to know". The installation was our first and came out well. We were able to talk to tile people on their level and knew more than many people in stores. He points how how critical preparation is to a good installation. Even if you don't plan on installing tile yourself, you should go through this book to learn how it should be done right. I understand he also has a video out.
