Bathroom tiling - floor or walls first?
Discussion
Possibly a really dumb question 
Trying to plan my next couple of weekend's work: Obviously I'll do the main part of the walls first, but where the wall tiles meet the floor, is is usual to tile down to the bottom then butt the floor tiles up gainst them, or to lay the floor tiles then fix the bottom row of wall tiles on top?
I suspect do the whole wall top to bottom and then the floor last, but wanted to check.
Also I'm a bit wary of how well my cheapy rotary tile saw is going to cope with thick porcelain floor tiles. This kind of thing:
Anyone ever had any problems with them on porcelain, using diamond cutting disks? Am I likely to need something a bit more industrial hiring in?
Trying to plan my next couple of weekend's work: Obviously I'll do the main part of the walls first, but where the wall tiles meet the floor, is is usual to tile down to the bottom then butt the floor tiles up gainst them, or to lay the floor tiles then fix the bottom row of wall tiles on top?
I suspect do the whole wall top to bottom and then the floor last, but wanted to check.
Also I'm a bit wary of how well my cheapy rotary tile saw is going to cope with thick porcelain floor tiles. This kind of thing:
Anyone ever had any problems with them on porcelain, using diamond cutting disks? Am I likely to need something a bit more industrial hiring in?
Walls bottom to top first, you dont want to be tiling from the top down, you'll have tiles sliding all over the place! I expect this is what you were intending to do anyway.
Measure up first so you have a complete tile and the top and a "part" tile at the bottom, or a half tile top and bottom, rather than silly slivers of tile at the top or bottom of the wall. They look silly and are a PITA.
Do the floor last, I suppose technically you could tile the floor first, but you'd f
k it up in the process of doing the walls.
IF you room is perfectly square you can start at the walls for tiling the floor, if it's not you may want to lay battons a bit away from the wall to tile against so the floor tiles are in straight rows.
Wicks have a really good how to tile leaflet.
I expect this is what you were intending to do anyway.Measure up first so you have a complete tile and the top and a "part" tile at the bottom, or a half tile top and bottom, rather than silly slivers of tile at the top or bottom of the wall. They look silly and are a PITA.
Do the floor last, I suppose technically you could tile the floor first, but you'd f
k it up in the process of doing the walls.IF you room is perfectly square you can start at the walls for tiling the floor, if it's not you may want to lay battons a bit away from the wall to tile against so the floor tiles are in straight rows.
Wicks have a really good how to tile leaflet.
Edited by davido140 on Monday 11th October 14:28
Simpo Two said:
That cutter doesn't appear to have water cooling, which might be aproblem with thick tiles. Mine (Plasplugs I think) has a recirculating system with a gutter round the edge - you can use it indoors with litte mess.
It does, it has a tray underneath that is impossible to get in or out when full of water, without emptying itself all over the place.Thanks folks - I'll finish the walls first. Much of it's already done; I tiled upwards off battens screwed to the wall leaving the bottom tile-and-a-half to finish later. On one small section I've put the full tiles underneath the batten too (after removing it!) and just used little wood props to keep them from sliding down. So just the bottom half-tile to fix there. Unconventional perhaps but it worked and looks fine
The tile saw is water cooled and it's fine on ceramic wall tiles (if messy), but the porcelain floor tiles will be something else again I suspect.
The tile saw is water cooled and it's fine on ceramic wall tiles (if messy), but the porcelain floor tiles will be something else again I suspect.
minimoog said:
On one small section I've put the full tiles underneath the batten too (after removing it!) and just used little wood props to keep them from sliding down.
Whn i do any tiling you have to back out of the room very carefully as half the tiles are supported by matches/other tiles/chisels/chunks of wood 
I personally would say either do the floor tiles first, then cover and protect them while you do the wall tiles, or do the wall tiles apart from the bottom row (should be around 1/2 tile in height for easy cutting), then do the floor tiles, before finally doing the bottom row of wall tiles.
It looks an awful lot better when the floor tiles sit under the wall tiles rather than butt up to them.
It looks an awful lot better when the floor tiles sit under the wall tiles rather than butt up to them.
minimoog said:
I tiled upwards off battens screwed to the wall leaving the bottom tile-and-a-half to finish later.
That's the way I do it - floor first, then the first whole wall tile upwards off a batten, with a cut tile to finish the wall underneath after the battens are removed. Not sure why, it just seems the best way to get level wall tiles... 
Floor always first, agreed, nothing looks worse than a floor tile butted up to a wall tile, even a bead of silicon looks bodgy IMO rather like beading around laminate flooring where the skirting should have been romoved. With no obvious problems I would start at a line level with the top of the bath, as small cuts around the bath also look bodgy.
minimoog said:
Also I'm a bit wary of how well my cheapy rotary tile saw is going to cope with thick porcelain floor tiles. This kind of thing:
Anyone ever had any problems with them on porcelain, using diamond cutting disks? Am I likely to need something a bit more industrial hiring in?
I tried to use one of these to lay thick tile (i.e. 1cm thick) and it was hard work - the tiles were very big as well. Ended up using the angle grinder which was much quicker and easier.Anyone ever had any problems with them on porcelain, using diamond cutting disks? Am I likely to need something a bit more industrial hiring in?
Guess it depends what size grout gaps you are having, and how perfect you want the finish to be? If it were me doing it again I'd save the purchase price of the saw and hire something more appropriate which would allow me to achieve a better finish.
james_tigerwoods said:
This saves me a thread to start as I'm planning on tiling the bathroom (once it's fitted) myself - and it's something I've never done before and, frankly, wouldn't really know where to start!
drop me a mail with some drawings, and the size of the tile- I will happily plan it for youEmsman said:
james_tigerwoods said:
This saves me a thread to start as I'm planning on tiling the bathroom (once it's fitted) myself - and it's something I've never done before and, frankly, wouldn't really know where to start!
drop me a mail with some drawings, and the size of the tile- I will happily plan it for you
james_tigerwoods said:
Emsman said:
james_tigerwoods said:
This saves me a thread to start as I'm planning on tiling the bathroom (once it's fitted) myself - and it's something I've never done before and, frankly, wouldn't really know where to start!
drop me a mail with some drawings, and the size of the tile- I will happily plan it for youminimoog said:
Also I'm a bit wary of how well my cheapy rotary tile saw is going to cope with thick PORCELAIN floor tiles. This kind of thing:
Anyone ever had any problems with them on PORCELAIN, using diamond cutting disks? Am I likely to need something a bit more industrial hiring in?
OP, are they porcelain or thick ceramic? It will make a big difference.Anyone ever had any problems with them on PORCELAIN, using diamond cutting disks? Am I likely to need something a bit more industrial hiring in?
I have tiled with pretty much everything over the years, slate (natural and honed), glass, ceramic, porcelain, marble, stone etc etc and i would say that porcelain is by far the hardest thing I have used, it will take you 3 times as long as anything else.
Porcelain is stupidly strong, tried hitting one of my large wall tiles with a 4lb hammer and not a mark.
This isn't the problem when cutting though it's the heat build up from the friction and they just crack, you would think that a water cooled cutter would cure this but again not always the case, I tried 4 different cutters before I found one that worked and it was the one with the thinnest blade, the thicker blade ones just got to hot even with the water.
Also another thing to think about if using porcelain on walls is do you want to hang any mirrors, cabinets as you will need a water cooled diamond drill bit, which aren't cheap, I paid £200 for mine which does a small range of hole sizes.
hope this helps
kev
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