Quoted:
Quoted:
It's actually very easy, if you haven't been drinking all day.
Mortar consistency, setting the tiles properly with a rubber mallet, and snapping chalk lines as guides (don't use the stupid plastic spacer things).
Hmm, I guess thats two things I'm doing wrong
So the plastic spacers are no good? My lines are mostly straight, but its a big pain in the ass
Most important are mortar mix and tile setting. Without these, some of your tiles will be free floating and crack and/or the grout will continually crack.
The spacers are a waste of time and effort, don't even buy them.
No rooms are square - start off by finding the edge that you want to use as a guide, generally the most prominent wall. For each new row of tile, before putting mortar down, place the first and last tiles to align with the previous row, and snap a chalk line between them, which you will use as a guide for spreading your mortar, and to align the edge of each tile in that row.
I made very good money when I was a kid (15-18) doing high end tile work at 2.5-3 times the going rate for very picky customers. They would follow behind me a day later with straight edges and tapping all over every tile with a wooden dowel (reveals un-adhered tiles by change in sound)