Tiling floors

[Terry D]

I'm about to have a go at tiling my kitchen floor with ceramic tiles. I've done wall tiling before but never floors, although I regard myself as reasonably competent with all aspects of DIY. What's the best tile cutter to buy? The diamond water cooled disc cutters (Plasplugs etc) seem more versatile, or would a heavy duty scriber type cutter be as good and quicker as I also intend to re-tile my bathroom walls later this year. Or should I invest in both types? My tile cutting so far has involved a scriber and two matchsticks!

When I tile my kitchen floor, how much gap (if any) should I leave between the final tile and the skirting boards. Should this be similar to the normal grouting gap, and then filled with grout, or do I cut the border tiles flush with the skirting? Don't suggest that I remove the skirting as this is not an option - most of it is hidden anyway.

The floor is concrete and level. I've removed the old vinyl tiles but a lot of the old black adhesive remains, which I can't remove. What is the best type of adhesive to use? I've trawled B&Q today, but the choice is mind boggling. Economy wise, the powder self- mix types are cheaper but do I need waterproof or what. Is it best to go for a separate grout and should this also be waterproof?

I'm off to Homebase this evening to buy the tiles - they've got a very nice

33cm tile for £4.99 a square metre, with 10% off from 6pm and tomorrow, so £4.49. Unfortunately, Homebase is pathetic with their displays - the only way to view this tile was to surreptitiously peel back a corner of the box. Their tiling accessories section is equally bad - only two small containers of ready mixed adhesive on display. So I guess it's Homebase for the tiles and B&Q for the other bits & pieces.

Terry D.

[BigWallop]

You really need to hire a proper tile cutter because floor tiles are much harder and thicker than wall tiles are. You can also setup a spot outside the house and use an angle grinder with a stone cutting blade, but do the cutting outside because the dust that's created goes everywhere.

At the edges of the floor you need to leave at least twice as much of a gap as you normally leave between the tiles themselves. The gap could be filled with a matching colour silicone or a seal strip around the skirting / tile joint.

Make sure you get a proper, good make, of adhesive and not one of the cheap ones that the DIY stores sell (they're too watery and thin), and follow the instructions that are on the wrappers.

Don't buy a ready mixed adhesive for floor tiles. Go for a powder mix and follow the instructions on the wrapper for the different types of surface that can be used.

Make sure all your corners match up with each other and always at least a 6 mm gap between the tiles. It is also a good idea to powder or seal the tiles before laying them so they don't get marked with grout or excess adhesive, as this is a horrible situation to make good when try to get the dried stuff off the surface of the tiles.

Good luck with it.

[Terry D]

Why is the Plaspugs £29.99 diamond wheel cutter not good enough for the job?

What would be wrong in leaving a 5-8mm gap and filling with grout?

B&Q have a huge range of powder type adhesives (not sure of the brand) - would you not recommend these? I'm definitely going for a powder self-mix.

I'll be using tile spacers, so hopefully no worries there. I've got the whole thing planned out on AutoSketch, and hence (hopefully) avoiding thin cuts.

What can I use to treat the tiles to avoid excess grout/adhesive? Can't wait to get started, but unfortunately the kitchen will be out of bounds for at least 24 hours. Thanks for the very useful advice Big Wallop.

Terry D.

[Ken Adam]

I've just finished a bathroom floor and (large) wall tiles, and bought the non-name diamond cutter that B&Q were selling in a yellow box for $29.99 (the Plasplugs was £39.99 here in Edinburgh a couple of weeks back when I looked). This has worked fine, including cutting corners out around pipes etc. Does tend to chuck a lot of water about - so since I was doing this in an upstairs flat we were surrounded by buckets! (actually the water level in the tray is critical - too much it goes everywhere, too little it tuns dry, and there is no guide, so you have to suck it and see).

I used B&Q "slate effect" floor tiles (about £5/m2) and the floor tile adhesive powder they had stacked up beside them (sorry I can't remember what make it was).

SWMBO mixed up small batches to do about 4 tiles at a time, and it all went pretty "smoothly".

Ken.

[Cicero]

The Plasplugs cutter at £29.99 is OK for most jobs BUT it has a maximum cutting depth of 12 mm which should cut most tiles. If you need it for old type quarries (about 18mm) or other much thicker tiles then you need a better cutter. Check the thickness of your tiles - usually about 6mm to

15mm.

Cic.

[Graeme]

Is there something particularly bad with the ready-mixed stuff, or is it just down to cost?

[Scott Mills]

Yes. It is great for thinner wall tiles. It will do floor tiles but is a bit slower probably 45s per 12" on floor tiles compaired to 20s on wall tiles. Its noisy, and dirty. do it outside ...

[BigWallop]

I've always found the ready mixed stuff to either be to thin and gloopy or it goes hard to quickly and cracks away from the back of the tiles. Don't know why they make it like that, I find it that it is.

[BigWallop]

Never really tried one Terry, I've always used an angle grinder with a stone cut blade to make a neater edge along the tiles. But that might just be me. It's the way I was taught to do it. :-))

I find that 8 mm looks a bit to big and anything less than 6 mm looks to narrow, especially on larger floor areas, so I alway recommend leaving a 6 mm gap between tiles on a floor.

The powder mix is best as you can make it up to suit the floor surface. Just follow the instruction on the bag.

Take your time and everthing will go smoothly for you I'm sure. So, good luck and enjoy yourself. :-))

[Michael Mcneil]

All brands at all times?

[Christian McArdle]

Whatever you do, get a really decent floor tile adhesive from a good manufacturer, not some own brand "floor tile adhesive & grout" or such like.

My preferred manufacturer is Ardex. The specific adhesive I used isn't suitable (Ardu-Flex 7001 Timber System), but they have plenty of others. Probably something like Ardu-Flex 6001 would be suitable for a kitchen floor.

also do grouts. I'd go for Ardu-Flex FL, as the flexibility admix is always useful to prevent cracking. When everything is dry, the grout (and tiles if applicable) should be protected with Lithofin KF StainStop or Lithofin KF Grout Protector.

For details:

[Derek]

When I was tiling my bathroom walls I took down the surround around the door and routed a 2cm rebate - the finish was fantastic, as the tiles did not have to be cut very accurately and the surround just covered them.

I can't think of a way that you could rebate the skirting in place, but if anybody could (?), it would look great? I know that is not much help, I suppose I am just thinking out loud.

Derek.

[BigWallop]

Yes. All the ready mixed stuff.