Nickfromwales

The tanking can stop pretty much after the defined wet area. If water's going to get that far then you have issues elsewhere. where is the uth going? Both rooms? Expensive ornament alert!

This is a former I'd just laid. The corners made up in sand and cement where an old pipe went through. The light grey stuff is the tanking primer which I cut in prior to fixing the tray into position. That just gave me a nice clean surface to bond the tray to. This shot shows the stud wall in place, blame the bathroom showroom for not having the tray the full width, and with the first coat of tanking applied. After the first coat was tacky, I then applied the 4" strip ( as seen with Roman written on it ) into a layer of wet tanking. That then gets brushed quite firmly to remove excess tanking from behind the strip to ensure it's as flush and flat as possible so as not to hinder tiling. The strips run between the former and the insulation backer boards on the floor ( insulation boards as this had undertile heating on a ground floor ( concrete )), in all the internal angles both horizontal and vertical, and around the turn of the boxing in eg the external also. Leftover strip used around the shower valve. Belt and braces, aka OCD. Finished article prior to grouting. Note the shower valve is dead centre of the border tile ribbon, and also there are two same size tiles either side equally intersecting the shower valve. That's gives the same size cut of tile around the entire valve plate. Aka OCD All of the above can also be observed when fitting a shower tray, just the only difference being that you can't use the strip between the shower tray and the wall. As the tile will only cover 12-14mm of the edge of the tray, you can't have the strip showing so another change of discipline is needed. The next one is a one piece shower tray, so basically you just tank the walls prior to the tray being fitted, which gives an excellent surface for the adhesive ( mastic type ) to adhere to when bonding the tray into its final position. What the picture doesn't show is the masking tape that I put onto the tray to allow me to get a neat edge to the sealant where it sits on the tray edge. That junction is quite important as it's the last line of defence against any water getting behind the tiles. What I do I these circumstances is to pump a load of mastic ( sikaflex for these is best as it's non silicone based and also doubles up as a sealant as well as an adhesive ) between the tray and the wall and then push the tray against the walls thus displacing any excess above the tray edge. This is when you'll be glad you masked it up first . Get a plastic spatula and then spread the excess sealant, whilst still wet, against the vertical wall face. Do this so you get an up-stand of sealant forming a 'skirting board' which is continuous between the tray, the wall, and vertical face of the wall, preferably all in one application. I set the masking tape around 5-6mm in from the edge of the tray so I know I'll get a straight line, and also a bead of sealant that's has a decent purchase on the tray, which then transfers to the wall. The action of tooling the sealant with the spatula pushes it against the tray itself thus forming a good / strong bond to both. After the horizontal sealant has cured, next run a bead up the internal angle for at least 600-900mm up the corner. With the fundamental sealing done, in goes the 45'd shower valve & pipework frame sections which them get plasterboarded and sealed, plus tanked prior to tiling. Roberts your mothers brother The end.

I'm glad you recognised my proper title. Still laughing at my original avatar Ian, class mate. Class.

No flowers and chocolates then

Busy isn't the word. It's manic at the moment. Self employment is very much like a roller coaster. You're either on it doing 125 mph, or you're on the side watching it go by. Right now, however, I'm sat in front of my nice warm chimnea, bud in hand, slowly turning the spicy pork and Spanish chorizo sausages on the BBQ. 25 to 10 at night is my tea time, and it's magic. Picked up two one-tonne bags of white wood off site today ( thanks to the roof being just over 2.4 and the timbers having been ordered at 3m so plenty of just the right size off cuts ) and the first couple are crackling away as I type. Tres, bien. I've put 20 chipolatas on too for the kids' brekky. They love cold BBQ sausages in the morning. 4 kids vs 20 of them = no waste. If any of you have cordless power tools, then this is a good one..... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-Charger-Adaptor-For-Makita-Battery-Pack-/231881828093?hash=item35fd3be6fd:g:hxQAAOSwmmxW4Eip my ipad is currently topping up off one of those right now, from a 4.0ah makita 18v battery. Handiest thing I ever bought, ( beside the 500 other handy things I bought of course ) and charges 2x small devices or 1 tablet with ease. Great if you're on site and your mobile needs a charge, with no scrabbling around for a plug point and the phone can stay with you where you're working ( so no legging it or jumping off ladders to answer the call ). Knowledge is power......and you're all now 2% more powerful people. When you get to 80% I'll start to harvest the energy to heat my hot water

Cool ya heels. Wheres the fire?

That picture makes it a lot clearer. I think you should use push fit tap connectors on the taps, then use 22mm x 3m ( straight ) lengths of push it pipe to go between the taps and the isolations. A quick question. Are you proposing the removable tile JUST for access to the bath isolations?

Get on your hands and knees and run a 3 foot long piece of 3x2 along the floor. You'll soon see the 'spikes' ( aggregate stood up in the surface of the concrete) and you just chip then off with a hammer if the brick won't do it. A days prep in there will save you £'s on self leveller and the labour of it being laid, but be ready for the bill for the extra adhesive as you'll likely use over double the rated amount ( coverage vs M2 vs thickness of bed ) when levelling and laying with adhesive.

I've seen that clip system used a few times. It basically squeezes the top and the bottom of the tile together so you don't get any 'kickers' ( corner or edge of one tile not completely flush with the next and much worse at corners where 4 tiles meet / intersect ). You usually fit these at the corners and use quite a sloppy mix. It's also quite a task to do with rapid set, but again it's easier if you do this for a living i personally would go with just running a carborundum block over the spikes, to knock them flat, and then levelling and laying with adhesive as you go. Self levelling can be a double edged sword, as I find if I'm not laying it, it just makes the high points higher therefore only part filling the valleys ( or holes as we call them ). I can't speak for your tiler but I'd definitely not go down the self level route if the tolerance is +\- 6-8mm. Any idea what the tolerance is?

The 900mm one or the 600mm one AFTER it ( not the 600mm one before it as that's a POS ) seem good cutters and the 900 is £36 a week. Go get that and crack on. Take a tile or two with you when you go pick it up and ask them to demo it. The secret is to lightly score the tile but the most important thing is to make sure you score 100% of the tile face, eg don't start 3-5mm in and go light at the very end or you'll end up with carpet knife shaped cuts ( straight all the way and a swerve at the very end ). Youll do yourself a favour if you have a small grinder with a non grooved ( continuous surfaced ) diamond disc in it to clean off any snots. Safety specs is absolute critical as porcelain shards are quite painfully in the eye, I sh1t you not. Mid the cutter has a locking mechanism to keep the tile at 90o to the cut then don't assume it's spot on. Put the tip of the cutter on the tile and mark where it lands. Rotate the tile and do the same again. Then use a known square to check that it's cutting at 90o, as you may be doing PARALLEL cuts but the perps won't be parallel if not and you'll see that if you've a 2-3mm grout line.

Yes.....not too shabby at all

Hi, and welcome 'back'

Hi and welcome Feel free to start asking questions when you're ready.

Crazy busy at the mo ! I'll update ASAP.

Happy days welcome 'back'

How do! welcome 'back'.

I'll update later. Got a conservatory to grout now. Yay, I love grouting.

DO NOT PAINT WHERE YOU ARE TILING OR TANKING. !!!!

A bit late to say don't bother skimming the plasterboards

Hi Ferdinand PM admin and blog away ! Good to see the flock coming back together.

The wetroom formers have to be in first, so they both agree there. A good tanking kit will have a rubberised strip ( like a 4" wide fabric plaster ) that joins the horizontal surface to the verticals, so water can't get past that ( after its run down the tanked wall ) as that's the bottom of the watertight seal formed BY tanking. That strip needs to be on top of the former and over coated with tanking solution to be a complete system. Any water that gets to the tanked layer needs to drain freely so must be able to fall south until it can get to a drain / waste. 1) tanking has to be the FINAL waterproof layer. It has to be built up in layers, with subsequent drying times observed between coats, so you'd not want to be applying layers first then fitting the former and strips ( which have to be bedded into wet tanking solution btw ) and then having to repeat the whole process again. 2) tanking below former is just a waste of time as water should never get that far, ( unless your the cock that fitted the one I'm currently ripping out as part of a big insurance claim ). Shower trays have a different discipline as you cannot use the strip. So given that I'd say your tiler is making the right sounds, and the plumber is,.........a plumber. I'll chuck some pics on later when I get back on the iPad ( as kids have commandeered it again ) and show you a couple of examples. Fwiw, I'd pay the tiler to tank. It's not as straight-forward as your making it sound. The strips have to be bed in etc and if it's left too thick in places it really knackers the tiler up. That's one job to just stump up for and let the tiler do imho.

Hire a good quality Sigma or Rubi clinker ( scribe and snap ) cutter and they'll cut in seconds. Nice and straight too. Use a trim on top to cover the fact that it's a cut edge and get more cuts per tile. A cheap cutter will just give curved ( concave / convex ) cuts so don't bother with those. For lots of complex cuts or finished stuff that's on show ( big floors etc ) I take a pallet to my local water jet ( engineering ) shop and they cut them better than the factory does. You shouldn't need more accuracy than the clinker cutter tbh Dai. Oh, and welcome back

It came close

Before considering which kitchen to fit, get a good, reputable kitchen firm or free-lance fitter to come and measure up. This will give you an idea for a basic layout, based on the size of your room, and your requirements / needs. That'll help you to stay focused when visiting the various showrooms, and ensure that you get the most out of your chosen kitchen supplier and chosen range of units etc. Ask your questions here, for impartial, free advice to help you make your decisions.

This section is dedicated to all aspects of tiling. Whether it be wall, or floor, bathroom or kitchen, whole of floor, or other, you'll find all you need to know here. From which adhesives to use and why, through to how to grout, finish and seal ready for use. Just post a new thread here and we'll advise you to the best of our knowledge and help you get the job done right, first time. From this To this