Tiling

[Jb]

A quick simple question. Is it better/easier to tile first or last when doing a bathroom refit? TIA Jb

[The Natural Philosopher]

Yes, definitely.

[Lurch]

On Tue, 29 May 2007 22:02:04 +0100, "Jb" mused:

In the middle. ;)

Depends how much you're tiling and where.

[John Rumm]

Fit the bath before tiling, and everything else after.

[Lurch]

On Wed, 30 May 2007 00:20:04 +0100, John Rumm mused:

Unless you're only doing a couple of splashbacks, in which case fit everything first and tile after.

See my earlier reply. ;)

[The Natural Philosopher]

Tile under the loo first, and a pedestal if your basin has one, then fit everything else, then finish the tiling.

[Jb]

Thanks for info... A bath and fitted units, tile floor, under floor heating, floor to ceiling tiles. Tiles about A4 paper size but I've just realised we have a problem. taps are the five hole type with a small microphone shower attachment. I can't see anyway to stop water going straight through and under bath. which is why I'm doing the refit in the first place. Am I missing a trick here or are these 'oh so modern' five hole tap arrangements a bit useless really? esp. as it will sit in spray area of main shower.

Thanks

[John Rumm]

Tiling round a sink or the back of a cistern always looks naff. By the sink you see the cut edges, and you can't get the cistern lid off the loo if they are thick tiles.

Whereas with a bath - especially one with a roll edge, you can chop that into the wall and tile down onto it. That way you eliminate any moisture traps at the edge.

[John Rumm]

Only really works if the back of the sink is flat, if its too curvy or slopes down to the wall at the last moment then the tile need to sail under it a bit to look ok.

[nightjar]

In my bathroom, the gap between the bath and the walls at either end was very neatly filled by the tiles and tiling first meant I did not have to cut them. As they were 450mm x 300mm x 8mm thick and needed a stone cutting disk in an angle grinder to cut them, that was a definite plus.

Colin Bignell

[Andrew Mawson]

"nightjar .uk.com>"

cutting disk

I would normally agree - but I saw a 'Holmes on Homes' program on the box yesterday where the bath (tub!) had an integral upstand, so by pushing against the wall and tiling over the upstand a totally waterproof joint resulted - quite neat I thought. Not sure if this style of bath moulding has arrived on our market yet - the program is of Canadian origin I think.

AWEM

[Andy McKenzie]

I don't know about baths but I fitted a Coram shower that had an integral upstand - brilliant for piece of mind if you are slightly lacking in confidence. Worth saying that their customer service was 110%.

Andy

[Lurch]

On Wed, 30 May 2007 02:03:53 +0100, "Jb" mused:

Tile the floor first, fit the bath, tile the whole rom then fit the rest of it.

You've lost me?

[TheScullster]

"Jb" wrote

When doing walls, plan the tiling to leave the lowest row (onto bath edge) till last. Then tile all walls (without working over bath and risking dropping tile in), fit bath, then fit final row down to bath edge. Likley that this last row will need to be cut using this method, so allowance should be made for this. The tile-bath sealant means that you won't see a full tile above the bath in any case.

Phil

[John Rumm]

nightjar In my bathroom, the gap between the bath and the walls at either end was

If the bath is set away from the wall a bit, then that way is obviously better. Many baths need chopping in on two sides to give them enough rigidity though.

[nightjar]

The instructions specified timber supports on all sides, either screwed to the wall or built up from floor level, with screws through those into a wooden strip moulded in under the lip. By careful adjustment of the bath feet, I was able to put the timbers exactly where they would also support the second row of tiles.

Colin Bignell

[Jb]

All good advice and my thanks to all. My plan is now: Fit bath (it is the design that has a built in upstand) by chopping back to brick. Fit heating, lay floor tiles, tile walls and finish with the built in basin, loo, cupboards etc.

Wish me luck guys it's the first time I've attempted a bathroom.

Thanks again

Jb