Tiling Bathroom floor - Toilet sink etc on top of tiles?

[405 TD Estate]

Is it best to put the toilet, sink and bath on top of the tiles or tile around them?

I can't imagine I'd get a very tidy job if I had to cut tiles around the toilet?

Any problems putting the tiles around first?

[Paul Giverin]

In message , 405 TD Estate writes

In my case, I put the toilet pan on top of the tiles. Bed the pan onto the tiles with a silicon sealant. Mask off the tiles first with tape to avoid the sealant squidging out all over your new tiles. If the pan is secured to the floor with a couple of screws, drill through the tiles in advance of final fitting.

I put the bath in first and ran the tiles under side and end panels.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Toilet and sink yes, bath? It depends By baths are very mucvh 'built ind and I tile up to them. Also to basin tops.

You can..but you may not want to.

Yes and no.

My general feel is that I tile as little of the floor as is necessary to get the basin pedestal and loo on TOP of the tiles, then fit those. I don't screw then down - too hard wth tiles - they go on a bed of silicone instead.

Then the toilet CISTERN area is tiled if its a mount over type. They are HARD to tile up to.

I then generally install the bath, using loads of timber all over it and car body filler to make it rigid. And build an MDF casing for it. Any gaps round it are siliconed at this point.

Similar for showers.

Then I finish the floor tiling up to the bath and or shower tray areas, and tile down from the toilet cistern to the floor, cutting around the soil pipe, and grouting the gaps.

The basin, shower tray and bath are tiled around: The grout forms the aesthetic seal and the silicone under forms the real seal. If they are mounted properly there is no flexure and the grout doesn't crack.

It all looks very neat and tidy.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Another technique that really works is

let it squidge.

Ge a modelling scalpel or SHARP Stanley knife and cut vertically down the SET silicone around the pan.

Peel off the surplus.

You will be amazed how sharp and clean an edge this leaves.

then fill the screw holes with white silicone! :-)

And find that the longest brass screws you can get are not long enough to go through pan, tiles, thick cement layer and do anything useful in the wood underneath :-)