Bathroom Floor Tiling

[mike2016]

Hi folks,

Tiling a bathroom basics! I'm looking at the 1st floor bathroom floor as my next project. It's currently laid with old vinyl tiles and experienced a flood in the last year so it knobbly and uneven. I've been checking youtube videos and wanted to see how much work I'm letting myself in for and how long the bathroom would be out of action for. It's not a big space - 1.7m x 2.3m in total (including the bath). My main questions are as follows:

 

• Will I have to remove the toilet and wash basin? Or can I cut tiles around them? 
• What should I place on top of the timber floor and beneath the tiles - plywood? One big strip or layers? Anything else? 
• Should I just do the floor or go further? The box behind the toilet got wet when the cistern flooded the room....not sure if I want to open that up....
• Is it ok to tile up to the existing skirting and finish with silicone? Should I remove or trim the skirting to get tiles underneath? 
• Porcelain, textured tiles I hear are best to provide some grip on a wet surface? Any tile recommendations?
• Is silicone against the plastic bath siding ok or should I tile that area to? A friend suggested using magnets to create a removeable siding feature there. The Bath does flex however which pushes down on the plastic panel.... 

I think that's it - this will give me an idea of what I'm taking on or if I need to grow more hair first....!! 

Thanks. 

 

 

[jamiehamy]

3 minutes ago, mike2016 said:

Hi folks,

Tiling a bathroom basics! I'm looking at the 1st floor bathroom floor as my next project. It's currently laid with old vinyl tiles and experienced a flood in the last year so it knobbly and uneven. I've been checking youtube videos and wanted to see how much work I'm letting myself in for and how long the bathroom would be out of action for. It's not a big space - 1.7m x 2.3m in total (including the bath). My main questions are as follows:

 

• Will I have to remove the toilet and wash basin? Or can I cut tiles around them? - Remove and replace. 
• What should I place on top of the timber floor and beneath the tiles - plywood? One big strip or layers? Anything else?  I would do ply, once piece of practical glued and screwed. 
• Should I just do the floor or go further? The box behind the toilet got wet when the cistern flooded the room....not sure if I want to open that up....Personally, why do half a job and end up with a lovely new tiled floor and walls and furniture that are out of step? You can get decent 3 piece suites in B&Q for a great prices which would really smarten everything up. WHich means you should tile the walls too....
• Is it ok to tile up to the existing skirting and finish with silicone? Should I remove or trim the skirting to get tiles underneath? Remove skirting. 
• Porcelain, textured tiles I hear are best to provide some grip on a wet surface? Any tile recommendations? 
• Is silicone against the plastic bath siding ok or should I tile that area to? A friend suggested using magnets to create a removable siding feature there. The Bath does flex however which pushes down on the plastic panel.... I'll leave that to @Nickfromwales

 

 

 

 

My thoughts - others will be along shortly!

[Onoff]

If you've got an alternative shower room etc you can gut the bathroom completely and take YEARS doing it really nicely....

 

[Nickfromwales]

@mike2016

How long is a piece of string? ?......

Look at the job like an onion, from which you are about to start peeling off layers. What you do will be affected by what water damage or wear and tear the room has suffered since being put in. You lift the flooring and take the skirting off, the boxing in is shot so that's got to come off, sink and WC must come off / out to do this work properly , then the wall tiles come loose and on it goes. 

Thats a pessimistic view, but often the case I'm afraid. I've been doing these type of jobs for around 23 years so now know not to even start one like yours when the customer says "I just want to do the floor, and NOTHING else", ( as that's when to run away ). 

You may be lucky and it goes much smoother, but when you mention things have had a drink or two the alarm bells start ringing. 

 

From the pics it looks like your skirting is over the flooring, so take that off first and see if that's gone incident free. Use a multi-tool too cheap to struggle on without one, don't forget to buy spare blades to cut it into small sections so it comes off easier and then plan the new skirting so the cut / joint lands behind the WC and out of sight. 

Youll need plywood, a min of 9mm over floorboards or 6mm over Weyrock. Either deck will need to be screwed down tight prior to overlaying the plywood, so brings a new nightmare of what are you about to screw through. 

 

If if I were you, I'd look at some of the really nice new vinyl click flooring that's available as it's a much easier route to an equally nice job, plus the tiles will be much colder underfoot. You apply a bit of clear silicone to the joints as you lay to waterproof them so the floor doesn't suffer the same fate.

If you definitely want tiles, get the sink and toilet out and lift the existing flooring and let's see what's underneath and we can advise from there.

Have you done tiling before? 

Is this your only bathroom?

[bassanclan]

I would reconsider the tiles.

To get a good job will be a lot of work and then you'll wish you had put in undertile heating, then you'll want the suite replaced!

I would seriously look into a good quality tile effect floor, which will look just as good and be many times quicker to lay.

[mike2016]

Thanks - not sure how much of a can of worms I want to open here yet so I'll check out the vinyl click flooring for sure and try to avoid drilling through any pipes!! Cheers.