Tiling: DIY or pay the professionals?

House extension means 2 smallish bathrooms and 1 downstairs toilet need tiling / retiling. Obviously money's tight so considering doing it myself. Never tried it before but fairly practical.

We'll probably go for a fairly large tile and cover all the wall areas.

Good idea? Or should I save myself all the grief and dig deep in my pockets.

Anyone got any good tips on learning the skills?

did it in my bathroom\kitchen without any experience, i'd say the bigger the tile the better, as there's less edges and corners to do. get a powered tile cutter, go from the middle out, and take your time. outside corners should be done with edging strip. Mine looks ok, not as neat as a pro, but tonnes cheaper

dig deep, Its one of those jobs that look easy but are a right fuker if you get it wrong.

And you will….. 😥

Take your time.
Make sure you're using a spirit level.
A powered tile saw is a god-send. Get a tile file too for more intricate finishing.
Big tiles sound easier (cos there's fewer) until you're having to cut round lots of power sockets and the like.

If the walls are flat and smooth it's a doddle. Just take your time and plan it out. If they aren't flat then that's when you need skill.

Well I've just come to the end of a bathroom refit and I would say go for it. I had big tiles (30×60) which are more difficult than small ones I reckon – it's easy to start going off and if your walls are not straight it's tricky. Take your time though and it's fine.

I used a tile cutter from Wickes (scorer that you then press down and snap the tiles with) which cost £12 and worked brilliantly. I also borrowed a tile cutter from a friend, one of those with a diamond wheel that revolves in a water bath – great for cutting out awkward shapes or shaving small bits off tiles.

Advice I had was that you should start on a batten fixed close to sink height, work up then remove the batten when the adhesive is set and tile down. The idea is that if you start at the bottom then it tends to be getting out of line by the time you get to sink height and that's the bit you see so by starting on a batten it's straight where you see it.

Those big tiles are heavy too! I had sore hands for a few days!

Good luck.

I do all my tiling, take your time and start on the least used/ visible room/ wall. Top Tips- get a decent quality level and don't use large tiles on uneven walls.

You will probably find that the walls are not vertical, at 90 degrees to each other or to the floor. Nor will the floor be horizontal, thus the skirtings (if fitted) will not be horizontal. Finding the level for the first row of tiles is the key to a good job.

1 Mark out vertical centre line on each wall. You may need to adjust this to ensure window aesthetics are properly allowed for
2 Temporarily fix wooden batten one tile up from the bottom. take care with this stage, check all walls are OK to begin tiling at that chosen level.
3 Apply adhesive, I do two or three rows at a time. Leave the corners/ edges until last, work out from the middle vertical.
4 More adhesive, more rows of tiles.

All the advice above is useful, esp, the powered cutter. Buy 10- 15% more tiles than you think you need. Shops will usually take back unopened boxes although it is good to have spares 'just in case' in the future.

And one more tip- Keep your tools clean. Tile adhesive stick like sh1t to a wooly blanket. Likewise, sponge off any excess adhesive from the tiles as you work.

I did my small bathroom, but floor to ceiling on all four walls
10×20 (smallish) tiles in a brick pattern over about 25m2, on walls, round radiator and pipes, on overhangs, everywhere
biggest issue was when I took the old tiles off the plasterboard underneath came with it so I had to patch up a lot of that
it took forever, I did all the sanitary bits first (round the bath, toilet and sink) then left it for a couple of months before I finished it off, it took several weekends to do

very proud of what I'd done, but it was a big long job for someone who'd never done tiling before

Done it, won't do it again. It was a good job, but my time is worth so much more than that and a pro can do a great job in less time.

FWIW you can tile onto an already tiled wall if they are soundly attatched.

Dig deep. We had our kitchen extended I was going to do the tiles myself. Gald I didn't. It took the guy two days would have taken me two weeks!! Dig deep.

if you use the 'professionals' make sure they're aware that a cistern(and various other parts) may require replacement and that this will actually require access to certain components ( and that you're not the proud owner of a treble jointed spider monkey with a C&G in plumbing). ie two friends have had pro bathrooms – 4-6k, in both cases issues with cisterms within 2 years that required taking apart a very well put together loo so they can be changed. Also make sure that ALL water end fittings have accessible isolators fitted.

If you have 3 to do tackle one first and see if it works for you.

I think like most DIY stuff remember the amateur does it either quickly or well – it takes a pro to do both.

Do the smallest simplest room first and then decide if you can do the others

What Ambrose said.

Plus, when doing your setting out, work out from the centre of the wall. If you end up with less than half a tile at the wall, shift your setting out so that at the centre you have the centre line of a tile rather than the join.

You should never end up with less than half a tile around the edges. It's the mark of an amateur.

SB