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Hello everyone.
I am in the process of completely modernising my bathroom. The floor has been tiled and now it's the time for the walls. They are not snooker table flat , I didn't expect them to be.
I have my batten fixed and will work from the centre out because of dimensions.
My dilemma is this:- what if the first tile I fix is further out into the room than the rest, or not flat compared with the tiles at each side?
With this in mind, I thought about fixing some small pieces of tile, in a bit say a foot or so, from the four corners of the wall, a when fixing the tiles use an alloy straight edge from my "guide tiles" to make sure the overall wall is flat. These guide bits can just be removed when the time comes.
The wall is not far out (difficult to see with the naked eye) and the tiles are 25cm x 33cm and will be fixed vertically.
Anyone please

you could put a straight edge against the wall to see if the wall is out anywhere

Hi katbloke.
Thanks for the reply.
I have tried that and the wall is slightly out and hence my post.
Maybe I didn't make my post clear. If a wall is "out" then it has either depressions or humps (for want of a better word), or both. If you follow the rules of tiling you have to start in a certain place. The dilemma for me is "what if the starting tile is in a depression or on a bump - how can the overall wall be flat?
I am only talking mm's here not a lunar surface
What I am seeking is advice on how to get the first tile correct in order for the rest to follow and end up with a flat surface.
Maybe I am worrying unduly but I feel that if the first tile isn't correct in relation to the rest of the wall, I may end up putting more and more adhesive or removing more and more plaster in order to achieve flatness.
Hope this is clearer

yeh i probarbly wasnt that descriptive if you were to pinpoint the low areas you could adjust your bed of adhesive accordingly ie thicker in the lows and thinner in the highs so when you put your first tile on youll know wether or not its on a high or low spot then as you put your tiles up use a straight edge over their face to make sure theyre flush with each other.

Hopefully a pro will try and put into words what im struggling to say

Katbloke's right

Unless you are tiling to a flat wall then run the biggest level you can get your hands on over the wall, pinpoint the highs & lows & work from that. Mark the wall with a pencil & this will give you a good indication about your starting point, the level along it will tell you if you need more or less adhesive.

If your looking at a wall where some tiles are going to have hardly any adhesive on & some are going to be caked in it then you need a plasterer before commencing! The aim is to get a full equal coverage of adhesive to bed the tiles on.

If its only a 2 or 3mm then I wouldn't worry about it too much, keep your level flat aginst the tiles & wall as you go. Depending on the type of tile you are fixing, you should be using a trowel to suit, eg: small ceramics=6mm notched, large format porcelain=12mm notched etc If the wall is out by a little then you should be able to lose it within the adhesive bed.

OK guys, thanks for that
It's not a no glue/loadsa glue wall but for some reason I have no problem doing floors but doing my first wall is giving me the shivers - just need a bit of confidence I suppose
I expect my wife will notice where it's not quite right

Good luck wotbus

Just remember once your first one is on, then the next two, one of either side of first one, keep using your level against these to check & so on & so on...nothing to be afraid of....saying that I don't know your wife

Thanks for the encouragement.
It's just that when you do a floor, on goes the spirit level the 4 points of the compass - press a bit and that's it.
My probably un-justified aprehension is how to deal with the vertical tiles. Up down now problem, just follow the bubble, but how do you get "side to side" right? Obviously it's after you have a couple or three on as I now know
Maybe I am seeing problems which arn't there really - just got to get on with it. I have been delayed as I have since discovered with the tile cement I am using it is recommended I seal the plaster wall behind the shower tiles with some waterproof stuff, trademark Weber but not sure if you have it in UK.
I retract the comment I made about my wife which was unjustified - she's aces (no - she's not stood behind me ) but I do use her for quality control...

If its a shower I'd BAL WP1 it & prime any bare plaster walls with BAL APD before starting tiling. We use BAL a lot & can recommend it. Not used Weber enough to know how it works but I know some lads who swear by it so should be ok.