DIY tiling?

[YellowStickies]

Has anyone tiled a bathroom by themselves? Floors and walls? How was it? I want to do my (very small) bathroom myself because I couldn't afford it otherwise, surely it can't be that hard? Everyone I discus it with thinks I'm mad

We have done all the tiling in our house. It's bloomin time consuming and makes a hell of a mess. We recently put a new small shower room in and I made my DH tile it (he always moaned about my tiling!) Anyway it took all summer. A pain in the area. However...saved us so much money! It's not perfect but I think it's definitely acceptable given what we saved. If you do it, make sure you tank behind (we used the Mapei stuff from Screwfix) and installed a big flexi seal around the walls where they hit the shower tray. So if the tiling isn't 100% water tight, there's an extra layer behind. I spent a lot of time on tiling forums this year! More useful than MN!

I really enjoy tiling and have done loads. If you've never done it before then do your homework (you tube videos, tiling forums for advice) and if possible rope in someone who's done it before to help.

Buy good quality adhesive and grout and mix it yourself, not the ready made stuff.

Take time to plan out the layout so you don't end up with odd sizes in the corners.

If you have some awkward shapes to cut then invest in a proper electric tile cutter. I think you can hire them too.

Give yourself time to get it right. Ask advice in tile shops, especially about which tiles will be easy to cut. Real stone tiles are much harder and heavier than porcelain, so harder to work with.

If you've got some practical skills and patience then give it a go!

Having said all that, if your bathroom is small then vinyl for the floor will be quicker, probably cheaper, and warmer

I can tile neatly but I'm slow. Its the cutting slows it down. I'd hire a proper rotary tile cutter it will be well worth it. Still get plenty of spare tiles as you often get waste around edges. Also get the best professional grout and adhesive then they will go on beautifully, remember your spacers too.

Shower: silicone all the edges before you tile, then use waterproof adhesive, then silicone again neatly after tiling.

I've done all the tiling in our house, as pp have said do your research and take your time.
I found it surprisingly easy once I got into it

Just taken off the kitchen tiles because we are remodelling the kitchen I tiled it 31 years ago. I also did the bathroom but that job wasn’t as good due to the unevenness and odd shaped walls. It didn’t really matter too much but annoyed me. Eventually changed bathroom and let them do the tiling. It looked better because they used large tiles but they are starting to come off a few years done the line.
I’d say if you walls are straight go for it. Use the best grout. Windows are tricky.

The biggest pain is planning, depending on tile size, walls, windows etc so take your time with this bit. The bigger the tile the more likely you will have problems with cutting notches and tiles rocking - where the wall isn't completely flat.

For a beginner I would put adhesive on the back of the tile rather than the wall. Wear disposable gloves because it is messy and clean your tools as adhesive is incredibly difficult to remove from the teeth of the trowel. Also this allows you to dry fit a tile after a cut to make sure it fits.

Use a specific grout sponge, they are much better than an ordinary sponge.

Use ready-mixed adhesive/grout to make life easier. When the tiles are on the wall if any adhesive squeezes out through the gaps, use something plastic (so you don't scratch the tile) to remove the adhesive. Always have some kitchen towel handy to wipe stuff down.

Usually if you tank a room then you have to use an adhesive that you mix yourself, or at least I did with Mapei stuff.

I have tiled kitchens, bathrooms, floors. But floor tiling can be hard as the room is rarely square and you have to line the grout line up with a wall or fixture.

Why don't you lay loose lay vinyl plank? Dead easy, no adhesive, clicks together, cuts easily.

Watch lots of YouTube videos and good luck.

Wow, thank you so much for he responses! So many good tips and much to think about. I would say patience isn't my strong point but the current bathroom is so grim that I have to do something. I have a week off over Christmas to plan to blast it out then (is a week long enough?!) so I need to get organised now to have everything in place for then. Looks like I'll be glued to YouTube and forums over the next few weeks!

Yes it's doable and quite fun but rotary tile cutters are noisy, wet and very messy. We spent a lot of time trailing down the stairs and out to the garden between upstairs bathroom and tile cutter. With heavy floor tiles it's a bit of a PITA.

It's very satisfying when you grout and see how that improves the finish no end. White tiles with white grout are most forgiving of all on the wall.

I agree with the PP on vinyl flooring. There are some lovely ones these days and they are so much nicer under the feet. We will go back to sheet vinyl for our next bathroom.

This is reassuring. We had to have a new bath fitted as the old one developed a crack, however to fit it the Plummer has to remove approx 5 tiles. After been quoted around £80 to fit new tiles dh has decided to do it himself.

I'm crap at DIY but have done loads of wall and floor tiling. It is very easy if you take your time and hire or buy the right equipment.

My husband tiled are kitchen floor and is in the middle of doing the bathroom he done a really good job for him doing a total different job by trade and he only has weekends to do them as he works during the week. So I would say a week and you will have it done x