tiling tips?

[noddy997]

My tiling always seems to go out of line and bit pear shaped. As is my grouting skill.

I hate the job but dont mind doing small tiling myself!

Any tips?

PS my tiling doesnt come off the wall though despite being wonky

[wine~o]

What you can be doing wrong...

Make sure you start with a level, horizontal line, use suitably sized tile spacers, twist the tiles into place (slight twist)..move onto next tile..

[noddy997]

^

I do that but the levelness of the wall can be annoying as some tiles may stick out!

[davecroft]

Hi
I've just finished my first tiling job and I think it went ok, a few people have said it looks good so it's not just me... I have attached a pic as I'm quite proud of my handiwork - just don't look too closely!

Anyway, a couple of things I learnt along the way (apologies if this is a bit obvious / basic but I'm only a DIY'er):

Get the walls as flat as possible especially if you have taken off old tiles. Sand down and fill where necessary, don't expect a thick layer of adhesive to cover things up.

Once I had put a few tiles on I used a length of wood across the surface to check they were level with each other (I used my spirit level to start with but it kept getting tile adhesive on it).

When using the spacers, I found it better to put them in the corners between the tiles and push them in between the tiles. Pro tilers usually stick them in on edge so they can pull them out afterwards and re-use, but the horizontals and verticals can end up being slightly out. Putting the spacers flat into the corners keeps the lines straight.

Tiling is a lot easier if you use the same colour tiles and grout, contrasting grout shows up every mis-alignment.

For grouting, I used the powdered stuff which I mixed up quite creamy. I think the combined adhesive and grout looks too 'stiff' and probably is a lot harder to clean off. I used a grout float which I found very easy to work with, then ran a small dowel across the joints before sponging off the surplus. I sponged over the whole lot about 3 times with clean water, then next day it was easy to take the slight haze off the tiles with a dry microfibre cloth and a bit of elbow grease.

HTH.

[DTWCeramics]

Nice looking job there Dave :)

I'd have personally started from the internal corner and worked my way out, leaving cuts on end and used a tile trim to finish.

Matt

[davecroft]

Thanks Matt, good to have a positive comment from a pro!

I agree it would have been better to have full tiles in the corner, but I started tiling in the centre of the left hand wall to centre the tiles over the hob and between two wall units, so I ended up with the cuts at the corner. My kettle sits there normally so not too noticeable!

Cheers.

[EJJ150847]

Thanks Matt, good to have a positive comment from a pro!

I agree it would have been better to have full tiles in the corner, but I started tiling in the centre of the left hand wall to centre the tiles over the hob and between two wall units, so I ended up with the cuts at the corner. My kettle sits there normally so not too noticeable!

Cheers.

I would have started with a full tile in the centre of the hob and you then would not have had small parts of tiles in the corner.

But then unless you try you'll never learn.

Always draw a 'tile plan' if you know what I mean

Nice looking job if it's your first go

John