Tiling Questions

[Rossl1985]

Evening All

looking for some tiling advice as this will be my first bash at it

looking for some recommendations on a good tile cutter for 10mm thick porcelain tiles as I don't really fancy cutting them all with a grinder and diamond blade (neighbours would not be impressed) unless thats going to be the best most cost effective way
also looking for thought on a tile levelling system

and last but not least advice on adhesive thickness, I was thinking 6x6mm trowel for wall tiles and 10x10mm trowel for floor tiles but im unsure if this is right or not

[aeromech3]

You don't say what size tiles and quantity you intend to cut.
My 1st bathroom job I did with a cheap tile cutter because I believed smaller tiles did not need the expense; messed up loads of tiles, then bought a Big Clinker and a cheap electric table wet cutter (today's prices about £50) what a difference that combination makes, you will also need a basic diamond wire hand saw for corner cuts (£10).
I think the Rubi at SFix (8115k) for £64.99 comes close to the Big C.
Have not done much flooring so unable to advise but I do not like multi size trowels, would not go bigger than 6mm for walls unless they are very uneven.
Looking forward to read others inputs?

[Rossl1985]

You don't say what size tiles and quantity you intend to cut.
My 1st bathroom job I did with a cheap tile cutter because I believed smaller tiles did not need the expense; messed up loads of tiles, then bought a Big Clinker and a cheap electric table wet cutter (today's prices about £50) what a difference that combination makes, you will also need a basic diamond wire hand saw for corner cuts (£10).
I think the Rubi at SFix (8115k) for £64.99 comes close to the Big C.
Have not done much flooring so unable to advise but I do not like multi size trowels, would not go bigger than 6mm for walls unless they are very uneven.
Looking forward to read others inputs?

tiles are 600mm square and I have 18 sq meters to do. Most of the cuts will be straight cuts but there will be some curved cuts to do for the wall hung toilet, around shower valve and two shower out lets.
I was looking at that Rubi tile cutter but it does say that its not for porcelain tiles or can you buy different wheels for them to cut different materials? I was thinking about buying a wet cutter but was unsure how good the cheaper ones were although I guess most of that comes down to the blade your going to use in it. I really did not want to go out and spend loads of money on expensive tools that I will be using for this project and the main bathroom for them to then just sit on a shelf to not be used again.
When you say multi sized trowels I guess you mean trowels with different size notches along different edges? I was looking at buying two different trowels one for the 6x6mm and one for the 10x10mm but if I can get away with using 6x6mm on walls and floor ill just stick to that size.

[MisterProzilla]

I've just finished my first tiling job (wall only) in our bathroom, took my time and made a decent job of it. I borrowed a table wet cutter from a friend and I'm so glad I did; it was an old one without a guide so I needed a steady hand, but even so I can't imagine having had to do it without one. For cuts that won't be visible, in corners etc, you can get away with a manual tile cutter or angle grinder, but for any edges that will be visible you'll never get a perfect straight edge by snapping with a manual cutter.
For larger curved cuts/around bigger pipes like toilet waste I found a good tutorial on Youtube on doing it with an angle grinder - if you've got a steady hand you can get it perfect. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc-aP2C8MIM
For smaller curves (eg shower feeds outlets) you can use the same technique with a dremel/stone cutting blade if you have one - I got away without having to buy any expensive diamond holesaws. I had bought a tilesaw but with these cutting tools I ended up never needing it, but something like a tile file/rasp will be handy.
For straight corner cuts I carefully used the wet saw (about 1cm from the corner - just far enough that the curve of the blade underneath doesn't go too far under the corner) snapped out the excess then tidied up with the dremel or a file.

I used 6mm trowel for the wall, I think 10mm is recommended for floors but not 100% sure, just make sure the surface you're tiling on is as level as possible and check it's suitable for the weight of your tiles. I used HardieBacker boards and didn't need any tile levelling (just use tile spacers, a spirit level and straight-edge to make sure everything's level) but the backer boards are expensive so you may get away without them depending on your walls.

One bit of advice I learned the hard way - it's unlikely that your room's corners will be perfectly level, so if you're cutting a run of tiles for the edge of a wall don't just measure one and assume the rest will be the same. I cut a whole run the same width, then realised the opposite wall was slightly off-level, so had a gap in the corner that gradually increased to about 2cm at the top and had to bin them and re-cut.