#3 You have the option of putting the joint on the centre line of the centre of the wall or putting the centre of a row of tiles on the centre of the wall. (In both directions.) This gives symmetry to the job.
You should do whichever necessary to avoid having to cut narrow strips of tile close to the edge.
This gives the neatest appearance. Also reduces the number of cuts needed.
As to the rest, always looks best with the tiles under toilets/skirtings etc etc. Less work/need for accuracy too. You just need to be careful drilling any holes through the tiles.
Under - every time. 1) It makes it possible to change the loo if it breaks without having to fiddle with the floor; 2) It's simpler (unless you have already fitted the loo!)
I prefer this. Same reasons as above and you are keeping the water resistant layer continuous.
I'd tile the walls fully. But at the very least tile a whole tile beyond the boundary of the unit, then you have some latitude for change later.
Matter of preference. What I did:
1) Get a self levelling cross line laser (£90 odd quid) - worth its weight in gold for this job - and the means to slide it up and down and swivel it freely. The Stanley one I got off ebay can with a floor-ceiling spring pole that was ideal - but a tripod would probably work.I started at the bath line, after having checked that this would leave me a sensible offcut at the bottom. That may not work for you, so you may prefer a whole tile from the floor assuming the floor is level all round (do check this).
I started at the bath and worked upwards, then ran a line around the room and worked both up and down from it. The laser's vertical line is extremely useful for maintaining plumb but you only need to swivel and check perhaps every few columns, not every column. Spacers are helpful, but they can introduce cumulative errors.
Floor first. Then the go under the wall tiles. Grout the floor first. I prefer (but it's optional, depending on solidness of floor) to not grout the bottom row to the floor, but to run either good quality silicone or perhaps something more sticky but less shiny like Geocell TheWorks around that joint - as you'll get a lot of water down there in places with either people dripping or just mopping the floor.
Don't do what I did and use a very light grout - I spend a lot of time scrubbing the stuff - my one mistake, but I'll just have to live with it. Apply grouter sealer as soon as you are done.
As for walls, I really liked the BAL Greenstar adhesive. Easy to work with, ready mixed, stop and start as you wish and excellent grab (at least for smaller tiles). Plenty tough enough for an ordinary bathroom, but probably not the right stuff for a wetroom.
Floor - best to use a good quality powder and mix as needed. I used one of the Mapei ones.
Oh - and the floor - do a dry layout first to make sure you haven't got any silly cuts. Then lay all the whole tiles working from a centre cross line. Let that set, then you can fill in the cut tiles as a second operation.
If you have a window the datum line should be one tile below the cill level , bit tiles look really naff at the cill. If you are having any fitted furn iture, install that first and tile up to it as it is much easier to compens ate for unevenness in the wall otherwise you end up scribing work tops or e nd up with uneven caulk lines. Always work from centre lines so cut tiles e nd up in corners even if you have cut more tiles, nothing looks more naff t hen a whole tile in one corner and a cut at the other end.
Richard
Thanks all for the replies, been helpful.
In message , ss writes
Assuming no skirting, tile the floor first such that the wall tiles overlap the floor tiles. That way, any water running down the walls will hit the floor tiles, not the join.
Having tiled the floor, though, be careful not to drop anything heavy when tiling the walls :-)
Thanks, yes I will be taping sheets of cardboard over the floor tiles to give some protection when I do the walls.
Good idea!
You can also buy rolls of sticky plastic from Screwfix at al that is great for forming a covered path between you and the house door, especially if stairs are involved.
Looked that up and will get a roll tomorrow. Nice tip, I didnt know that stuff existed.
When I had my bathroom done the tiler screwed a batten to the wall leaving a space the height of one tile. He tiled up from the batten then the floor before removing the batten and filling the gap.
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