Tiling...many questions

[newhome]

3 minutes ago, Onoff said:

I'm still thinking I could have got away with the 4 tiles to the right of the window being one piece.

 

 

Nope cos the top one would look odd. 

 

[Onoff]

Bit more done. Think I'm getting better!

 

 

& making the best of an earlier crap area:

 

 

[Declan52]

I think your being very harsh on yourself. Have seen tiles done a lot worse by so called professionals.

[Onoff]

40 minutes ago, Declan52 said:

I think your being very harsh on yourself. Have seen tiles done a lot worse by so called professionals.

 

Ta. Getting a little better at it. If I'd have started out as "good" as I am now I'd have been quite happy. Pity nobody makes a tile adhesive with a day or two's set time! 

[Onoff]

What's the score where the wall tiles meet the floor? Do I have a grout line or do the wall tiles just butt up to the floor?

 

Do I leave a nominal gap and CT1 etc?

 

Cheers

[Nickfromwales]

8 hours ago, Onoff said:

What's the score where the wall tiles meet the floor? Do I have a grout line or do the wall tiles just butt up to the floor?

 

Do I leave a nominal gap and CT1 etc?

 

Cheers

Leave a gap about a credit card thickness or so, eg just enough to get some grout rammed under. The CT1 goes over the grout  

[Onoff]

38 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

Leave a gap about a credit card thickness or so, eg just enough to get some grout rammed under. The CT1 goes over the grout  

 

Cheers. Isn't there a trick to marking this bottom tile as in where to cut it? Something to do with placing it upside down against the wall?

[Ed Davies]

Blutack or whatever the tile you're going to cut against the one above then use another tile (of the same size ?) to mark points along it the right distance from the floor.

[Nickfromwales]

21 minutes ago, Ed Davies said:

Blutack or whatever the tile you're going to cut against the one above then use another tile (of the same size ?) to mark points along it the right distance from the floor.

There is an easier way ( imo ).

 

1 hour ago, Onoff said:

 

Cheers. Isn't there a trick to marking this bottom tile as in where to cut it? Something to do with placing it upside down against the wall?

You just said it. Sit it on the floor facing the wall eg face edge not showing, then mark the top either side ( less the thickness of a grout line ), cut and try it in place.  

[Ed Davies]

That's fine if the tiles and floor are reasonably parallel which we'd hope they are here, but in general it's not very accurate if they're not because the tile will be sitting at an angle to where it eventually winds up.

 

E.g., bathroom in my old house where I got to choose whether to make the cork tiles parallel to the bath and door “cill” (what's the word?) or to the opposite walls. I chose the bath and door. Also, the one-tile-back-and-measure-tile-width approach works when the cut isn't straight, like round the edge of the door here.

Edited October 12, 2018 by Ed Davies

[Nickfromwales]

Nope. 

The fact that it’s upside down and wrong way round marks the scribe perfectly

Even if the floor was at 45o to the wall tile the markings would cut for that scribe. 

Been doing it that way for over a decade after watching an ‘old legend’ do it that way  

These days I bang my £370 Bosch laser up and cut the bottom course of tiles in first. Same principal, turn the tile upside down and back to front and then mark the laser datum line onto the tile. 

Cut and flip over and hey presto. “Roberts ya muvva’s bruvva guvenor”. ?

[Onoff]

1 hour ago, Nickfromwales said:

There is an easier way ( imo ).

 

You just said it. Sit it on the floor facing the wall eg face edge not showing, then mark the top either side ( less the thickness of a grout line ), cut and try it in place.  

 

Tried it with scraps of paper and yes it works. I'll be marking the cut line on the reverse of the ceramic tile though. If I cut (or score'n snap) rough side up I'll likely break out through the glaze. Maybe best to transfer the cut line to the front?

[Onoff]

1 hour ago, Nickfromwales said:

Nope. 

The fact that it’s upside down and wrong way round marks the scribe perfectly

Even if the floor was at 45o to the wall tile the markings would cut for that scribe. 

Been doing it that way for over a decade after watching an ‘old legend’ do it that way  

These days I bang my £370 Bosch laser up and cut the bottom course of tiles in first. Same principal, turn the tile upside down and back to front and then mark the laser datum line onto the tile. 

Cut and flip over and hey presto. “Roberts ya muvva’s bruvva guvenor”. ?

 

Nothing my end of line Cotech (£35?) laser won't handle I'm sure!

 

2 hours ago, Ed Davies said:

That's fine if the tiles and floor are reasonably parallel which we'd hope they are here, but in general it's not very accurate if they're not because the tile will be sitting at an angle to where it eventually winds up.

 

E.g., bathroom in my old house where I got to choose whether to make the cork tiles parallel to the bath and door “cill” (what's the word?) or to the opposite walls. I chose the bath and door. Also, the one-tile-back-and-measure-tile-width approach works when the cut isn't straight, like round the edge of the door here.

 

Nice bit 'o cork...Mike Harding?

[Nickfromwales]

7 hours ago, Onoff said:

 

Tried it with scraps of paper and yes it works. I'll be marking the cut line on the reverse of the ceramic tile though. If I cut (or score'n snap) rough side up I'll likely break out through the glaze. Maybe best to transfer the cut line to the front?

Yup   

[Construction Channel]

13 hours ago, Ed Davies said:

door “cill” (what's the word?)

 

I’m fairly sure it’s Threshold 

[Onoff]

6 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

Yup   

 

Ref the "credit card" thickness gap between wall tile & floor: Was thinking maybe a couple of 1mm packs on the floor first before I mark the tile. That'd be 2mm as 1mm seems too thin. The blues shown here are 3mm...the same as the tile spacers...so why not stick with 3mm?

 

 

[bassanclan]

1/2/3 mm doesn't make a massive difference if you are going to run a bead of coloured silicone/ct1 all around at that level. 

Personally I always put 3mm gap (or whatever spacers im using) and miss the grout from that junction with the floor then silicone it over.

[Onoff]

2 hours ago, bassanclan said:

1/2/3 mm doesn't make a massive difference if you are going to run a bead of coloured silicone/ct1 all around at that level. 

Personally I always put 3mm gap (or whatever spacers im using) and miss the grout from that junction with the floor then silicone it over.

 

The grout to be used is white. I think though at the wall / floor junction any imperfection in that joint will stand out like a sore thumb. I like the idea tbh of no joint there at all...

 

I'm planning too to wet cut these bottom tiles as I think it'll make for a sharper, cleaner edge (if not straighter) than scoring and snapping.

Edited October 13, 2018 by Onoff

[Nickfromwales]

2 hours ago, Onoff said:

 

The grout to be used is white. I think though at the wall / floor junction any imperfection in that joint will stand out like a sore thumb. I like the idea tbh of no joint there at all...

Hence the smallest gap possible. You really need to be grouting that joint, as I do for eg, by ramming the side loaded grout float against that gap and forcing the ground in and under / behind as much as possible. Thats where water will be sitting and actively seeking to get behind the tiles, so not a good idea IMO to be just relying on the silicone / other to seal there.

My practice is to use the grout, then to scrape back the gout with a plastic item that has a perfect 90o corner on it so zero grout is proud, and rely on that as the main water barrier. The coloured silicone then goes atop as the primary water 'deflector' and that can then be easily and quickly removed and re-applied when it gets tired and grotty. If the silicone is under the tiles and in the grout lines / gaps then good luck getting that out afterwards.

@Onoff I think you'd be better off there doing the grout and scraping back as per the above and leave it to dry. Clean off any residue etc and get it spotless, and then apply a thin bead of grey silicone to best match the tile. Not grey CT1 btw. Treat that as a 5 year solution where it may need redoing, but tbh my bath was sealed with a cream silicone, against a travertine tile, and is still holding up like day 1. It gets the black dots of mould on it under the shower wall caddy where soap tends to not get washed away thoroughly, but a squirt of bleach cleaner gets it back to immaculate every time. Regular light cleaning / rinsing down is your friend. 

[Pocster]

1 hour ago, Nickfromwales said:

Hence the smallest gap possible. You really need to be grouting that joint, as I do for eg, by ramming the side loaded grout float against that gap and forcing the ground in and under / behind as much as possible. Thats where water will be sitting and actively seeking to get behind the tiles, so not a good idea IMO to be just relying on the silicone / other to seal there.

My practice is to use the grout, then to scrape back the gout with a plastic item that has a perfect 90o corner on it so zero grout is proud, and rely on that as the main water barrier. The coloured silicone then goes atop as the primary water 'deflector' and that can then be easily and quickly removed and re-applied when it gets tired and grotty. If the silicone is under the tiles and in the grout lines / gaps then good luck getting that out afterwards.

@Onoff I think you'd be better off there doing the grout and scraping back as per the above and leave it to dry. Clean off any residue etc and get it spotless, and then apply a thin bead of grey silicone to best match the tile. Not grey CT1 btw. Treat that as a 5 year solution where it may need redoing, but tbh my bath was sealed with a cream silicone, against a travertine tile, and is still holding up like day 1. It gets the black dots of mould on it under the shower wall caddy where soap tends to not get washed away thoroughly, but a squirt of bleach cleaner gets it back to immaculate every time. Regular light cleaning / rinsing down is your friend. 

Why not clear ct1 over the grout line where floor meets wall

Isnt that better ? ( no colour match required )

[Nickfromwales]

18 minutes ago, pocster said:

Why not clear ct1 over the grout line where floor meets wall

Isnt that better ? ( no colour match required )

It'll shine, and make the grout look dark / wet in some instances. You could try a section and see by all means, and my reply was more specific to @Onoff's situation where the white grout line may have an adverse appearance vs grey ( colour matched ) silicone. 

[Pocster]

12 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

It'll shine, and make the grout look dark / wet in some instances. You could try a section and see by all means, and my reply was more specific to @Onoff's situation where the white grout line may have an adverse appearance vs grey ( colour matched ) silicone. 

Ah ! Didn’t realise clear ct1 would shine . No worries @Nickfromwales

[Onoff]

I think my TileTracker type attempt with the angle iron was a failure overall! 

 

It leaves big snots of adhesive:

 

 

In getting them off I've damaged the tanking.

 

 

 

& in some cases the Aqua Panel itself.

 

 

Of course I'll re-tank it but be left wondering about that line!

[CC45]

Few repairs and plenty of tanking and I rekon it will be ok.

 

 

[Nickfromwales]

Brush a bit more tanking on and chill.