Back to basics - wall tiling

[cornish_crofter]

I'm looking at the process of tiling.

I've cut and pasted some rough notes about the process of tiling.

Comments please?


Prep

Flatten out wall. Choose find high spot and go from there, or consider removing high spot and reassess. Level out using rapid set or similar

Tank as necessary

Decide on layout etc, grout lines with floor, or reasonable cuts etc on corners

Setting out - decide how the tiles are to look.

Mark centre lines on walls

Battening above bottom row all around

Apply adhesive and tile about a metre squared at a time. Use tile spacers then.

Work the whole wall, ensuring that grout lines line up – I have problems here how to I get this wrong?

Carry on until you reach the edges the walls

Remove batton

Measure and cut each edge top and bottom tile

 

[White Room]

Mark on the wall if for any border or features, so easy to forget

 

[Brinkley]

datum line around the whole room

 

[doug boardley]

you've got the basics covered there Hugo.

 

[Ian]

I'm looking at the process of tiling.

I've cut and pasted some rough notes about the process of tiling.

Comments please?


Prep

Flatten out wall. Choose find high spot and go from there, or consider removing high spot and reassess. Level out using rapid set or similar

Tank as necessary

Decide on layout etc, grout lines with floor, or reasonable cuts etc on corners

Setting out - decide how the tiles are to look.

Mark centre lines on walls

Battening above bottom row all around

Apply adhesive and tile about a metre squared at a time. Use tile spacers then.

Work the whole wall, ensuring that grout lines line up – I have problems here how to I get this wrong?

Carry on until you reach the edges the walls

Remove batton

Measure and cut each edge top and bottom tile

Space the tiles one at a time, as you go. If you have irregular sized tiles (and there are alot about at the moment) you are giving yourself a hard task if you are trying to line up a square metre at a time. I've also found that with these cheaper tiles if you use a bigger spacer it gives you a bit more to play with if you need it ie. 3mm instead of 2mm on walls and 5mm instead of 4mm on floors.

 

[cornish_crofter]

Space the tiles one at a time, as you go. If you have irregular sized tiles (and there are alot about at the moment) you are giving yourself a hard task if you are trying to line up a square metre at a time. I've also found that with these cheaper tiles if you use a bigger spacer it gives you a bit more to play with if you need it ie. 3mm instead of 2mm on walls and 5mm instead of 4mm on floors.

Are you saying its a case of fix first tile to centre line, then fix 2nd tile using tile spacers next to it, then third tile next to that?

As you say, irregular tiles are giving me a problem and I have been spacing the tiles as I go. However I do struggle when I come across a slightly bigger tile and I can't get the spacers in. To that end your suggestion of using 3mm spacers would work. Would you advocate carrying both 2mm and 3mm spacers, using the 3mm spacers to start with then going to the 2mm if I get problems?

 

[BoldreChris]

Irregular sized tiles are a real PITA. I've found that you can squash the spacers from 3 down to 2.5 or even 2 using pliers. Then you can lock the oversized tile in place without disturbing the overall pattern.

Do you mean "Battening above bottom row all around"? I usually batten below the lowest full tile and aim for about 3/4 tile height down to the floor from there.

 

[doug boardley]

Are you saying its a case of fix first tile to centre line, then fix 2nd tile using tile spacers next to it, then third tile next to that?

As you say, irregular tiles are giving me a problem and I have been spacing the tiles as I go. However I do struggle when I come across a slightly bigger tile and I can't get the spacers in. To that end your suggestion of using 3mm spacers would work. Would you advocate carrying both 2mm and 3mm spacers, using the 3mm spacers to start with then going to the 2mm if I get problems?

with irregular sized tiles Hugo, I find that wedges are the way to go, you can adjust the spacing accordingly with them.

 

[Ian]

Are you saying its a case of fix first tile to centre line, then fix 2nd tile using tile spacers next to it, then third tile next to that?

As you say, irregular tiles are giving me a problem and I have been spacing the tiles as I go. However I do struggle when I come across a slightly bigger tile and I can't get the spacers in. To that end your suggestion of using 3mm spacers would work. Would you advocate carrying both 2mm and 3mm spacers, using the 3mm spacers to start with then going to the 2mm if I get problems?

Exactly that, or get some wedges then you can open or close your joints to suit. I dont use wedges, like you said just have 2mm and 3mm next to you when tiling, start with the 3mm and use the 2mm if you get a big one!

 

[Ian]

I didn't copy Doug! Honest! 🙂