[Closed] How hard is it to tile a bathroom?

As long as the walls are flat and square it's fairly simple.

Get an electric tile saw - the £30 Screwfix ones are fine for occasional use.

Its very easy to tile what is hard is to make sure its all straight and perfect and the further and larger area you go the harder this gets

If the walls are square and true its not that hard to do but if it does goes wrong it will look a mess.

Like anything else that looks easy, it's more difficult than it looks.

+1 for the tile saw, you save the cost of it in one job.

Like most building jobs preparation is the key. Also you don't want to end up with a tiny sliver of a tile at one end so a bit of dry laying out to figure out what cuts you do need to make is worthwhile. If you've razor sockets or mountings to work round then try and get those to line up with tile edges so you are making a notch in the edge rather than trying to make a hole in the middle of a tile.

Ha!

Dont do it the way I did it (a very long time ago)

I had a bathroom in my old place that was underneath a very steep hill.. so it really did need "tanking" or whatever you call it.. Like I knew that then..

So I started applying the grout to a really bumpy wall ( the house was an old coaching house form 1788) and started to apply the tiles.. one by one and thought I was doing a good job of it.. then my then GF popped her head around the door and said " they look all bumpy and a bit random" being a bloke I was slightly annoyed by the comment..
Until I looked behind me.. as I was apply the tiles to the wall the grout wasn't drying quick enough and they were both slipping and dropping off the wall, so really did look very random and very bumpy.
However.. I progressed, I pressed them against the wall again, even got all inventive and dragged a couple of pellets and some 4x1 timber (from an extension I was having at the time) and left it overnight... or so i thought..

At about 2'ish I heard a massive crash! so jumped downstairs and opened the bathroom door to find the whole wall of tiles had fallen off in one and into the bath and over the floor..

Hilarious.

As we still keep in touch (my old GF and I) she still reminds me of that day....

If you DIY it, DO NOT let the Mrs choose the tiles as she will invariably go for something either the size of a tectonic plate or a roman mosaic. And you dont want to be hanging either of them.

Choose a good size tile that doesnt have it's own gravitational field.
Spend money on good adhesive and grout (Mapei)
Cheap wet diamond wheel cutters are fantastic things for the money.

Plan your setting out
http://www.handymanknowhow.co.uk/tiling/setting%20out%20your%20tiles.htm

I did my own but wish i hadn't. It turned out ok, but took forever, and halfway through I was wishing I'd paid someone to do it.

Not helped by the fact that we had to cut an awful lot of tiles, I think one wall has only got 4 full tiles due to the door positioning.

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[url= https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3843/18813221096_ebe0871448_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3843/18813221096_ebe0871448_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/uEsFbY ]Bathroom renovation[/url]

More in progress pictures here

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ebygomm/albums/72157654608583461

I did both of mine, and the kitchen.
I quite enjoy it. But picking easy tiles made it less stressful.
[img] [/img]

Doing my brother's bathroom with some huge stone tiles was a pain in the arse.

Sounds good - Wickes have a good video on making a measured wooden support that makes it look a doddle. There isn't really any features on the wall just a large mirror and the window so should in theory be straight!

Is it best doing the walls before the floor?

Thanks for the advice (and horror stories) chaps

My OH does it, as above it's straightforward on a nice flat wall, but the first sign of a bump in the plaster it all falls apart.

Start from the middle of the first wall you see (or the middle of the sink, or whatever the focal point of that wall is), and work symmetrically from there.

Is it best doing the walls before the floor?

If you think there's any chance you might accidentally drop a tile then yes.

tiling's relatively easy... Get stuck in, use a bit of care, job done. There's a satisfying degree of 'eye' to getting the tiles to sit pleasingly - keyed into wall corners, that kind of thing. but that's mostly to win the approval of other tile geeks (a bit like lining up the hub logo with the valve hole when building a wheel)

but grouting is witchcraft.

that's why i like big tiles, less grout.

(i have more success with mix-your-own grout)

i nearly became a tiler, with my cousin. 'Wiles Tiles' we were going to call ourselves...

Is it best doing the walls before the floor?

We did the floor first

Don't do floor and walls in white, like my mate did. With a white bathroom suite as well, it's actually rather difficult to see in there. Very disorientating. Actually worse with the central ceiling light on.

Not difficult. Wear eye protection when using the tile saw.

the first tiling job I ever did was 700 porcelain tiles on every wall of the bathroom, floor to ceiling, including overhangs, boxed in pipes, round toilets and sinks, etc.
it wasn't hard to get right, it just took fooorrreeevvvveeerrrrrr.

It's a luxury, but a laser level is just an awesome bit of kit for this type of thing.

Makes horizontal and vertical lines dead quick and easy.

[img] [/img]

but what if your ceiling and floor isn't horizontal?

Take loads of time over planning ... lay a few out ... check walls marry up with floor... walk away come back to it the next morning and try it a different way... I've draw on the walls/floor before to double check... its worth it.

Walls first but leave the bottom run ( batten to necessary height)... Do the the floor then remove batten and tile the bottom run.

Depending on the type of tile material don't forget tile sealant

good luck

Cost me £130 to get my bathroom done by a pro. No chance I'd do it myself if its that cheap (tiles were extra £ obv).

brakes - Member
but what if your ceiling and floor isn't horizontal?

You can lock the laser to any angle and line it through with your wonky ceiling and still make it a doddle to follow.

Its very easy to tile what is hard is to make sure its all straight and perfect

This pretty much sums it up. I've done it in the past and it was okay, but not perfect. Had our bathroom done recently and the amount of prep the guy put in to make sure everything lined up properly was very time consuming.

So it's easy enough to do an okay job, much harder to do a really professional job.

Easy but a crappy job. Takes ages, is stressful cause you need to make sure everything is perfect.

Prep for ages and get some tile spaces.

I did my bathroom a couple of years ago and whilst I'm really happy with the result it took a bloody age! My two penneth worth:

> Tiling stressed me a bit because I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I was constantly balancing out getting them up at a reasonable rate within the adhesive open time (~25 mins I think) and getting them spot on/flat/even etc..

> Do walls first IMO. That's what I did and seemed to work (i.e. not worrying about the floor the whole time doing the walls).

> As above: plan plan plan. You don't want a daft slither of a tile top/bottom or left/right. Start 1 row up from floor level with a batten fixed to the wall to keep things nice and level, go all the way up to ceiling and then bottom row later.

> Make sure to scrape out any excessive adhesive from grout lines immediately (I just used a tile spacer).

> Buy loads of those £1 orange buckets from B&Q, using 1 per mix and then just bin them. It's not worth the hassle of cleaning them (half set adhesive is a pain to clean out).

> As above. If the walls are flat it makes things so much easier. I dot and dabbed (with screws through dabs into masonry) all the walls and tanked/taped the area where the shower is. I wouldn't even try tiling an uneven wall as a DIY'ist.

> Pick tiles not too big not too small.. Too small and it's more time getting them up/grouting and too big they will be a nightmare on anything bar a perfectly flat wall (they'll "rock" on any bump and stick out at the extremity of the tile more than a small one).

Think that's it from me.. IANATiler just some of the things I found out along the way.

It's a job you can do, but when you've finished, will wish you'd paid somebody else. Unlike carpet and lino laying, which is always a pay someone else job.

When I was fitting bathrooms I used to do my own tiling for a long time, and I was pretty good at it. Never had any complaints at least.
But I met a proper tiler through a mate when I was pushed for time on a job, and he did one for me.

I never went back to doing it myself.

I used to pay him £30/metre to do the tiling, and he supplied adhesive/grout/trims. And it was worth every penny. His finish was perfect every time, and he was way faster than me too.

Hard to quantify what he did different, but it just looked "better"
And he would advise on tile type/size/colour/layout/straight or brick set etc depending on the size and shape of the room.
And he just seems to know what would would work.

Speaking as an experienced tiler, who could make a good job of it if I needed to, I would call in someone who does it for a living, every time.

I did my kitchen, paid someone to do my bathroom afterwards.

It was ok, but annoying, gawd knows why anyone would choose it as a career, I'd rather be a rent boy.

The FIRST tile dictates where every other tile on every wall will sit. Some posters above could have avoided needing tiny sliced tiles if they'd laid their first tile in the correct place.

we had a pro do our kitchen tiling recently and he was shit, and it was only flat walls. his tiling ability was very good, but his brain didn't function very well so he kept forgetting what he was doing and missing bits. he spent a lot of time swearing when he realised his errors like he'd ran out of tile adhesive or he packed up and was on the way out the door when he realised he'd missed an entire section...

what I did find hard to get right was consistent grouting and bad grouting can ruin a good tile job.

Tiling is an entirely suitable diy job... if you are detail focussed.
Some people will have great succes, some won't.
If you can't cut a piece of wood to the exact length you want, then don't bother trying to tile your bathroom.

You can't just bodge a tile job.. grout won't hide your inaccuracies.

Are you tanking the walls?
Is your subfloor able to take the deflection of your install and traffic? Do you need to reinforce and alter structure, is an uncoupling membrane important?

Don't use tile adhesive in a bathroom. Adhesive is typically mastic... You want a cementious product. Typically thinset and modified or unmodified depending on the substrate you are tiling over and the type of tile being used.
Grout...use expoxy grout if you have a smooth and sealed tile but read the specific application instructions as it applies very differently to traditional grout which needs sealing through its life. Epoxy on a Matt finish or textured tile can be a real pain and the haze is a b*tch to get off if you missed it during clean up.

Consider any edge profiles, trim, transitions etc.
Every cut edge should be hidden.
Don't plan to miter tiles with a cheap saw.
Avoid ceramic tiles certainly on the floor. Aim for good quality porcelain.

Use a wet stone to ease edges on cut porcelain where it meets any trim profiles.

Basically it's doable, but the devil is in the details. If you don't like detailed skip this job.

It's a job you can do, but when you've finished, will wish you'd paid somebody else.

+1

^^^ typical tradesman trying to make things sound more complicated than they are to scare people away from DIY

Is your subfloor able to take the deflection of your install and traffic? Do you need to reinforce and alter structure, is an uncoupling membrane important?

You're overthinking this

his tiling ability was very good, but his brain didn't function very well

This is the sort of thing that is easily discovered by having a chat about the job before deciding who gets the work

I am a Tiler, too ugly to be a rent boy obviously.

It's doable DIY but as discussed above, you need to be very detail focused.

How flat and what state are your walls and floor in? If new flat plasterboard and nice shiny floorboards or slab it's fairly easy. If the walls are a state get then sorted 1st. A lot of the tiling work is in the prep and making sure you know what sticks to what.

Choose tiles that aren't too big and aren't too small, either of these makes life harder if the walls and floor are not bang on flat (very unlikely)

Use a primer and cement based adhesive, do not ever use ready mix and especially never use a fix and grout type product, they are all foul. Do not use Rapidset, it will go off to quickly for a novice tiler.

I hardly ever use a wet cutter, I prefer my straight manual RUBI cutter but I see why people use them but they are slow.

You don't need a fancy laser level, just an accurate one and use it well and religiously. If you get the set out crack on then it makes the job much easier.

Spend time thinking how the cuts are going to look before you start, especially round the ceiling/floor/corners and the top of bath/shower tray and window cills.

Work to your set out lines! Don't assume just sticking spacers in will keep it square and level, it won't.

Spend good money on grout, I'd NOT use epoxy at diy level as it's a sod to work with. A good grout job can save an average tile job but a bad one will wreck even the best tiling.

Good luck with it if you crack on with it as it's a good skill to learn, but I doubt you'll save much money once you factor your time in and the kit you'll need to buy. Decent tilers are around £30-£40/m2 usually including the adhesive and grouts.

Is your subfloor able to take the deflection of your install and traffic? Do you need to reinforce and alter structure, is an uncoupling membrane important?
You're overthinking this

He's really not.

 

his tiling ability was very good, but his brain didn't function very well

This is the sort of thing that is easily discovered by having a chat about the job before deciding who gets the work

our "installation team" selected him...

The FIRST tile dictates where every other tile on every wall will sit. Some posters above could have avoided needing tiny sliced tiles if they'd laid their first tile in the correct place.

If you're working in a bathroom where you've got to consider a window, bath edge, doorways, sink etc. sometimes it's a question of choosing the least worst option.

Is your subfloor able to take the deflection of your install and traffic? Do you need to reinforce and alter structure, is an uncoupling membrane important?

You're overthinking this

He's really not.

Yep, our downstairs bathroom floor has flexed and all the grout cracked.

I did my own but wish i hadn't. It turned out ok, but took forever, and halfway through I was wishing I'd paid someone to do it.

I had panels put in instead. Look fine and no grout to have to endlessly clean.
Seemed like a perfectly possible job for a reasonable DIYer, not that I tried myself

Found a local guy that looks pretty descent from his pics? [url=

He said "Hi Alex, I would need to have a look to give a definite quote, just to confirm firm all surfaces are sound and if any prep work is needed, any complex areas, what materials are being used, etc. but generally £25 per m2"

All sounds pretty fair right? it doesn't bloomin add up fast though does it!

Can anyone recommend which tiles to "AVOID" other than sizing but more based on quality?

If you have pretty straight corners and walls its very very easy [b]if you are patient and pay attention to detail[/b].

The difference I think in a pro is they can do it MUCH quicker

When I tile it takes me a lot longer to get it as perfect as possible (and as said any imperfections multiply) but it's not hard .. it just takes a lot of time. A pro might get every bit of tile cement spot on... I might have to try and then pull the odd one up and redo it... because it's not exactly level or its not exactly straight... the problem here is then it adds to the next row and the next etc.

It's one of those things that the extra time adds up and the temptation to cut corners is huge...
For example I mix a small amount of tile cement as I take longer and might have to redo the odd one... so this then means extra time remixing cement.

So all that said it might take you 4x as long but if you enjoy it then it's also very rewarding.

avoid anything other than full colour body porcelain for the floor. Avoid cheap porcelain as some, if you look closely, have their pattern printed on by some 80's dot matrix printer

Avoid cheap glazed ceramic.. its worth 50% more in material cost to get a better tile.
I've seen glazed ceramic suffer localised discolorations with water bleed through cementious grout, surface cracking in the glaze etc.

For large format tile, when choosing the tile, put 2 tiles face to face.. they should touch at all 4 corners and be nice and close along the long edges otherwise your installer will be chasing cupped tiles all around the floor trying to get it true (if brick, or limited to less offset or soldier to hide)

Make the tiler use appropriate edge strips/threshold transitions. Many wont as it eats their bottom line. Any transition from nice new tile should be considered at the point of installation - NOT as an after thought and screwing a bit of metal over top.
Make sure he tiles half way under the door.
layout - layout - layout

A friend of mine did our bathroom (he's a bathroom fitter) - spent 4 days just planning the tiles.

Bathroom was a back to brick job so new boards etc were needed. Again time spent here making sure they were nice and level meant the actual tiling went much more smoothly.

If you're doing the floor as well onto wooden floorboards you need to put down some Hardebacker boards and then join the boards with concrete paste so the whole thing becomes one 'slab'. Any individual movement will cause the floor tiles to pop up.

Oh and he was delighted that we chose 900mm X 300 mm porcelain tiles weighing about 8kg each - absolute pain to work with.

He did a smashing job - nice centred grout lines which line up right across the room etc.

Could I have done it myself? Possibly. Would it have looked as good? Absolutely not and having seen the amount of work that went it to it I'm glad I got someone in.

Done 3 walls (which is half the bathroom) so far and a work in progress. It was easy enough when I got going, but a pig to start - and I hate grouting. Would a professional have done a better job? Yes, definitely - I'm happy with my efforts though. The effect of the tiles is uneven, so I didn't have to get every single edge flush.

Definitely start one row up and regarding an electric tile cutter - only use for awkward cuts - for straight cuts, a scribe/snap cutter is much easier and quicker

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