Planning your Tiling Project

"How hard can it be to stick a few tiles on a wall?" Many first-time D-I-Y tilers are tempted to start at a corner and work their way along. An experienced tiler with pride in his work will plan the job better for a professional finish.

As you can see from the mis-aligned tiles, this job wasn't properly planned!

A few points to consider:

• Don't assume that any wall, floor or ceiling is perfectly straight, vertical, horizontal or flat. 
• Don't assume that a measurement across one area (e.g. left to right at skirting level) will be the same at another level (e.g. worktop height).
• Work out how many spaced tiles (i.e. allowing for grout) will fit across a space, both left to right and top to bottom. To avoid awkward cuts, determine whether it will be better for the centre of the visible area to be the centre of a tile of where the tiles meet.
• Using a spirit level (and, where necessary, a plumb line) mark straight lines on the wall/floor as guides to keep your tile lines consistent as you work.
• Use sufficient adhesive. If there are significant gaps, this can result in tiles cracking under pressure. It is especially important on floors.

Note that, sometimes, you will have to plan for pleasant sightlines when you prepare your project. for example, if wall tiles are at eye-level or above a work top, pay more attention to this area than where they meet the floor or ceiling.

An example of a well planned tiling project.
Note the half-tiles are cut to meet the floor.

One final thing - just because someone says he or she is an experienced, professional tiler does not mean that they are! Ask to see examples of their work and check their proposal for your tiling project before you say yes. If possible, when they start tiling, offer to bring them cups of tea so that you can check their work :)

Best of luck! Feel free to post comments and provide photographs of your projects, good or bad!

Re-grouting Tiles

Quick Fixes

Tiling around wash hand basins may have discoloured grouting in places, from various hand soaps. Floor tiles bedded on non-concrete or screeded floors may have moved very slightly during fluctuations in humidity or heavy treading over the years, and some of the grout may have chipped, dried or otherwise broken loose.

Whether it's for guests who are coming to stay at Christmas or a 'spring' clean at any time, the grout between tiles may be looking a little tired. What are the ways to give it a makeover?

Wall Tile Grouting

The simplest options are to clean the grouting with some whitening toothpaste, cream cleanser or sugar soap, depending on the type of stain (e.g. colour dye, oil, etc.) but always with an old toothbrush. When done, wipe with a clean, damp cloth.

If there are gaps where small pieces of grout are missing and you want a quick fix, these can easily be filled in with 'fix & grout' or general purpose 'polyfilla' from a local DIY or hardware store for £3ish to £7ish. A longer lasting job would involve removing existing grout and replacing all with new - much harder than you'd think.

Before the new grout hardens, smooth it very gently with your finger (in a damp cloth, if preferred). Wipe the whole surface a little later, once the grout has set. 

If the grouting is especially prone water damage, such as around a wash hand basin, an alternative is to use a waterproof mastic to protect the area. This is not an easy task if you haven't tried it before so it would be a good idea to practice first. Trim off unwanted bits of dried mastic with a sharp blade, otherwise it may cause a ripple effect, when pulled, and remove a significant amount.

Floor Tile Grouting

Often, for practical reasons, the grout between floor tiles is cement and, often, it is a grey colour rather than white.

Sometimes, bathroom floor tiles have white grouting and can take a temporary fix with filler, as above. However, in many cases, repairing floor tile problems requires a professional. A variety of tools may be used, from electric-powered to metal scrapers or just white vinegar. Never use metal abrasives on the tile surfaces, as many tiles are sensitive and will permanently mark (especially porcelain).

If you are constantly having problems with losing grout between floor tiles, it may be that insufficient adhesive was used to bed them down. This can be checked by gently tapping areas of the floor to see if a significant number of patches sound hollow.

Please feel free to leave a genuine comment!