Hi Guys,
New here and new to tiling. Only past experience was a small(ish) tiling project in my kitchen.
I am in the process of doing my bathroom out and have got the the point where I'm seriously thinking about the best way to tile it, and have come up with a few queries.

I've got the tiles 325x450mm ceramic, and will be tiling around bath and a "pipe box" which runs the whole height of the room with 2 external corners.
The Internal corners I'm happy enough with doing, as I understand it; I leave a gap and silicone the gap, what size gap is recommended between the edge of the tile and face of the other tile?

My more pressing concern is how to finish the external corners. If I go for a corner piece is it just a simple matter of putting it in while I tile, and no need to seal it at all with silicone?

Since I am not tiling my floor, I'm going to be using some form of "clip together" flooring, do I tile the walls first or lay the floor first?
I know that most of the walls in my flat aren't level/flat obviously there is little I can do about this short of ripping them down, is it safe to use a couple extra mm of adhesive to "pad" the wall out?

I did have a builder/tiler come to give me a quote and one thing he said was that he would double seal the bath - Does this mean sealing the bath to the wall before tiling, then again sealing the tiles to the bath after tiling?


I know some of these are no-brainers but any help is most appreciated )
Paul

Internal corners should be as close as possible no more than a 2mm gap you will need to keep the gaps the same all the way up as it will show when the silicone is applied...i.e unstraight silicone. with the external corners i would use a profile edging strip ensuring that you create a level and square edge on one side so that your profile sits square. the other side can be built out to fit...but check how much this will be by the time you reach the top cuts. What adhesive are you planning to use?
personally i would tile the walls first then lay the floor finishing the edges with grout colour matching silicone to create a good water barrier...others may do this the other way round. as too double sealing the bath yes it does mean that you fit the bath then seal down the gap between bath and wall...then tile leaving a 2mm gap above the bath and then seal the gap.......Remember to fill the bath with water before sealing.
hope this helps
chris

Thanks for quick reply.

That seems to sound sensible re gaps and tiling first then flooring, I have sandstone coloured tiles so I doubt white grout would look acceptable so will need to find some grout which match, along with silicone.

I have no plans on what adhesive to use. What should I use?

Slightly off topic, but should I tank the walls? The walls are all plasterboard. I have a pumped showed over the bath (so no shower tray) meaning the only water is likely to be slashes from using the shower, rather than any direct jets. I'm more concerned about doing this properly than cutting corners, although money isn't unlimited hence why I am doing this my self! but for the £50 or so it seems to cost for a tanking kit, it isn't something I'd want to miss out doing if it was the preferred way, and save me long term hassle.

Thanks
Paul

Originally Posted by gibsop1

Thanks for quick reply.

That seems to sound sensible re gaps and tiling first then flooring, I have sandstone coloured tiles so I doubt white grout would look acceptable so will need to find some grout which match, along with silicone. if you use mapei grout you can get a mapei matching silicone too.

I have no plans on what adhesive to use. What should I use? What substrate are you tiling onto? But go for a powder adhesive that you mix yourself.

Slightly off topic, but should I tank the walls? The walls are all plasterboard. I have a pumped showed over the bath (so no shower tray) meaning the only water is likely to be slashes from using the shower, rather than any direct jets. I'm more concerned about doing this properly than cutting corners, although money isn't unlimited hence why I am doing this my self! but for the £50 or so it seems to cost for a tanking kit, it isn't something I'd want to miss out doing if it was the preferred way, and save me long term hassle. I would tank the walls and as you are tiling onto plasterboard I would use a single part flexible adhesive.

Thanks
Paul

Hope this helps any further questions please ask.

the same as the above 2 answers
sound advice

Brilliant Guys, thanks for the responses.

You say a "single part flexible adhesive" can you recommend any suitable for tiling onto plasterboard?

RE the tanking, I don't fully understand how it actually works, I've read some websites but still confused. I gather it basically waterproofs the wall, but if the water gets that far, and then makes it way down behind the tiles, where does the water end up, my logic tells me on the floor under the bath, but I assume this is not the case. I see something about using the "tape" at the bottom of the tiles as well as at the seems of the plasterboard, where it meets the bath, but how does the water get back to the bath?

Again sorry for the basic questions but I am wanting to do the best I can.

Thanks Paul

sorry for the late reply paul.....i answered your post and then had to go out.
the tanking system creates a waterproof barrier to your plasterboard. the main reason for water ingression is the miniscule micro pores in the grout....grout is water resistant not water proof this will allow small amounts of water to pass thru. in an un tanked area such as a shower the water will then seep into the plasterboard and over a relatively quick period of time (the plasterboard is also breathing moisture from the other side ) this will soak the plasterboard and create problems. the tanking system therefore expels the water back out. this is how the tanking/waterproofing system was explained to me. as to which adhesive to use if you tell us which tile suppliers are in your area we can advise better.
chris

Hmm seems my earlier post didn't make it!

I live in central Bristol so hopefully got a good selection of places. I see a local place has a range of BAL products, is adhesive really that expensive - £60 for 12.5kg bag which does 4.3sqM? What is the purpose of using a flexible adhesive - I see CTF3 or goldstar is significantly cheaper....

Thanks
Paul