How to Install Wood Look Tile
Master laying wood-look plank tile using a staggered offset pattern, thinset mortar, and leveling clips to eliminate lippage across your floor.
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🧰 Required Tools & Equipment
- ✓ 1/2-inch x 1/2-inch square-notch trowel
- ✓ Wet tile saw or manual tile cutter
- ✓ Tile leveling system (clips and wedges)
- ✓ Rubber grout float
- ✓ Corded drill with mixing paddle
- ✓ 4-foot spirit level
- ✓ Tile sponge and clean buckets
📦 Materials & Supplies
- ✓ Wood-look porcelain plank tile
- ✓ Polymer-modified thinset mortar
- ✓ Sanded grout (or premixed grout)
- ✓ 1/8-inch tile spacers
- ✓ Clean water
⚠️ Safety Checkpoints & Warnings
- • Wear an N95 respirator and safety glasses when mixing dry mortar powder and cutting tile.
- • Keep hands at least 3 inches away from the wet saw blade; use a push stick for narrow cuts.
- • Wear heavy-duty gel knee pads to protect knees from joint strain on concrete subfloors.
📋 Step-by-Step Guide (5 Steps)
Establish Reference Lines and Offset Pattern
Measure the room and snap chalk lines perpendicular to the longest wall. Plan a 1/3 (33%) step-down offset pattern rather than a 50% brick pattern to prevent edge lippage caused by natural tile bowing. Dry lay two full rows along your chalk line to verify spacing and avoid narrow cut strips at the room edges.
- • Crisp chalk lines crossing at 90 degrees on a clean subfloor.
- • Dry-laid plank rows showing staggered end joints spaced at roughly one-third plank length.
- • Using a 50% brick-bond pattern which places the highest bow point of one tile directly next to the lowest corner of another.
Mix and Comb Thinset Mortar
Mix polymer-modified thinset with clean water in a bucket using a drill paddle until it reaches a peanut-butter consistency, then let it slake for 10 minutes before remixing. Key the mortar into the subfloor with the flat edge of the trowel, then comb in straight parallel lines using the 1/2-inch notched edge. Back-butter the entire reverse side of each plank with a flat skim coat of mortar before setting.
- • Uniform, uncollapsed mortar ridges running straight in one direction.
- • Full, flat coat of mortar covering the backside grid of the tile.
- • Swirling the trowel in circular patterns which traps air pockets beneath large format planks.
Set Planks and Install Leveling Clips
Place the first plank down and press firmly with a slight forward-and-back sliding motion across the ridges to collapse the mortar bed. Slide tile leveling clips under the edges every 8 to 10 inches along the long sides and 2 inches from each corner. Set the adjacent plank into place, insert the plastic wedges into the clips, and tighten them until the surfaces sit flush.
- • Leveling wedges firmly seated in clips along every plank junction.
- • A 4-foot level sliding smoothly across joints without catching any raised tile edges.
- • Over-tightening leveling wedges which can lift the opposite side of the tile out of the mortar.
Cut and Fit Perimeter Planks
Measure the remaining gaps against walls, subtracting 1/4 inch for a perimeter expansion gap. Mark the cut lines on the tile face with a pencil or wax crayon. Cut the tiles using a wet saw, keeping the blade cooled with water and pushing the plank through with steady, even pressure.
- • Cut plank ends aligned neatly along room perimeter leaving an even 1/4-inch gap from base plates.
- • Smooth, chip-free cuts facing the wall where baseboards will cover them.
- • Pushing tile through the wet saw blade too fast, causing severe chipping on the glazed wood-grain surface.
Remove Clips and Apply Grout
Allow mortar to cure for 24 hours, then kick or mallet the leveling clips off parallel to the grout joints. Mix your sanded grout and force it deep into the joints holding a rubber float at a 45-degree angle. After 15 to 20 minutes when the grout feels firm to the touch, shape the joints and wash surface residue using a damp, well-wrung tile sponge in circular motions.
- • Leveling clip bases snapped cleanly beneath the tile surface.
- • Uniform, fully packed grout joints sitting slightly below the tile bevel with no pinholes or voids.
- • Using a soaking wet sponge that washes out grout pigment and creates hollow, concave joints.
Credit: inspired by an original tutorial by Lowe's Home Improvement — watch the original on YouTube.
Don’t have everything?
- No Tile leveling system (clips and wedges)? Standard 1/8-inch cross spacers paired with constant 4-foot level checks across joints
- No Wet tile saw? Score-and-snap manual tile cutter for straight crosscuts plus angle grinder with diamond blade for notches
- No Drill mixing paddle? Heavy-duty margin trowel and vigorous manual mixing in a 5-gallon bucket