Hi all,

Would really like some advice from the professionals on tiling.

I am attempting to improve my bathroom as whilst we have lived in the house (nearly 2 years) we have never used it as it does not have a shower.

Basically, i have taken the existing tiles off and will be installing a shower over the bath.

Can anyone offer advice on what type of tile I should be looking for?

Its only a smallish bathroom - about 1.85m x 2.3m.

Can anyone offer their opinion on the size of tile and material? Dont want to spend a fortune but dont mind spending a bit more for a better tile thats worth the money.

Should I thinking of doing the walls and floors in the same tile, and where is the best place to buy tiles from?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
Simon

Welcome along to the forum Simon, can you tell us what you will be tiling onto please ie wooden/concrete floor, plaster/plasterboard wall, this will help us give you accurate advice.

Thanks for the reply.

At the minute, the walls sround the bath are just board with a plaster skim that have been painted. I proposed to sand down the walls well and apply a weber tanking solution to waterproof the walls. Then I was going to tile onto this?

For the floor its is a chipboard floor and assumed I would tile straight onto this?

Any advice is appreciated.

Thank you
Simon

You are right to sand the walls and tank. For the floor I would advise over boarding the chipboard with hardie backer 250 (plenty of info about them if you do a forum search) to give a more suitable surface to tile to as chipboard isn't an advisable substrate to tile directly to. Also be careful of the weight of your tiles on skimmed plasterboard as the recommended weight limit is 20kg per m2 including adhesive and grout.

Thanks Brian for the advice. Reassuring to know I have the walls planned correct. I am only going full height to the celing around the bath area (one long side and two ends). I am going to tile up to window sill height on the remaining walls. Would it be ok not to apply the waterproofing here as I wouldnt expect these areas to be showered on so to speak?

Also, where would you advice to go for tiles? would it be a topps tiles? Also, should i choose porcelain over ceramics?

Sorry for all the questions.

Thanks again.

Spot on with the tanking, it's only necessary in wet areas, so in your case, the bath area. I'd go for a porcelain tile given the choice, Topps is a little bit on the expensive side, if you have a Tile Giant or even a smaller independent tile shop near you I would try there first. Be wary of cheap polished porcelain (B&Q springs to mind!) as it is notorious for being problematic. Ask as many questions as you like, that's what we're here for and if we're honest we all love sharing the knowledge!

HardieBacker... this is a bit of info on hardie cement boards if you fancy a read.

Originally Posted by Bri

Spot on with the tanking, it's only necessary in wet areas, so in your case, the bath area. I'd go for a porcelain tile given the choice, Topps is a little bit on the expensive side, if you have a Tile Giant or even a smaller independent tile shop near you I would try there first. Be wary of cheap polished porcelain (B&Q springs to mind!) as it is notorious for being problematic. Ask as many questions as you like, that's what we're here for and if we're honest we all love sharing the knowledge!

pushing it on the weight limits though Bri, with the skimmed walls.

Have just had a search and found this - would you go with this and therefore I can only really go for a ceramic tile.

Any advice on ceramic tiles or are they all the same? And what adhesive thickness should i go for?

Thanks again

Weight of Different Tile and Adhesive Types and Depths

14.26 Kg/m2	18.46 Kg/m2
17.62 Kg/m2	21.82 Kg/m2
20.97 Kg/m2	25.17 Kg/m2
24.32 Kg/m2	28.52 Kg/m2
26.4 Kg/m2	30.06 Kg/m2
23.88 Kg/m2	28.09 Kg/m2
27.82 Kg/m2	32 Kg/m2
31.1 Kg/m2	35.3 Kg/m2
36.48 Kg/m2	40.68 Kg/m2
58 Kg/m2	62.2 Kg/m2

Note. This information is for guidance only and may vary depending on the type of adhesive and density of the tile being used. Always check the manufacturers guidelines, prior to fixing.

Planning & Preparation heres the link as it hasnt displayed very well above