Help!: Advice needed please (1st ever set-out at 45)

[gravy]

Been to do a job today using riven porcelain tiles set out at 45 degrees (kitchen splash back). This is my first attempt at both using porcelain and setting out at 45 degrees. Its taken me all day to do < 5 metres, could anyone give me any tips to speed me up.

Regards Dave.

[garretridge]

a 5 mitre porcelain spashback in a day on the diagonal is good going it wouldnt on a floor but splashbacks are more time consumming. Dont worry about speed you will develop speed with experiance i know experienced tilers that take 2 days for a 5 mtr splashback keep up the good work!

[gravy]

Thanks for that (made me feel a lot more positive).

Can i ask you how you would set out a kitchen?

I have started at one wall and tried to make the corners look like the tile follows through (if you get what i mean) is this right? I was going to centre the walls but thought that would look odd in the corners?

The main problem i face is i have two nibs to tile and the cuts would be a real pain in the backside (little tiny pieces < 10mm) would it look ok to cente the tiles on the nib rather than try and run the tile through.

Regards Dave

[garretridge]

yes if the setting out works out then i would try and run the tiles into the corners and make the tile follow round the next wall its just like doing the brick effect but as you know its not always possible just play around and see whats best for you. The customer wont question it just tell them it was the only way to set it out!

[Phil Hobson]

I tend to centre above Hob / extractor, and follow corners onto next wall. Remember to deduct thickness of tile when marking return cut. Hope this makes sense

[gravy]

Hi all,
Finished the job- Finally (it took 5 days in total - 3 rooms) and here are the results : lots of lessons learnt on this job! Thanks for everyones input

[david campbell]

very nice mate!

whats that last room?
you couldn't swing a cat in there.................lol

[gravy]

Its a storage cupboard (off from the utility room) was a pain to skim as i put both walls on at the same time

[david campbell]

i'll bet it was a pain,the splashy looks great in the 3 colours,the only way it could have been more difficult is if they had asked for random

[gravy]

It was definitely a job i was tempted to decline (seriously out of my comfort zone on this one) but i am glad i stuck at it and it has spurred me on for more tiling work.

[nybor62]

nice job pal ,well done

[Alan.P]

Nice looking job, well done and keep 'em coming

[lcjohno]

looks good mate. love the splashback!

[united]

Nice looking work mate, very clean and neat. I would be very proud

[jay]

looks good well done

[fitzer]

Hi gravy
Just had a look at your splashback - they are very good - have done alot of diamond splashbacks at customers request in Ireland, normally the 1st thing I do is to do all my base cuts - ie half diamonds - because you will have to start off on a half cut with this format - so I precut a fair number - where it gets a bit trickier doing this when you are using a combination of colours - basically dry lay out the bottom row after cutting so many - one of the most important parts of this layout is if there is a window involved - then i would definately start in the centre of the window and work towards the corners and other walls - a good tip on tiling splashbacks is to look at the focal points on a visual sense ie cookers and windows - it looks more impressive if you go up the sides of a window with the same size cuts - another danger point of these is the sockets if you dry lay out the bottom part you should be able to see where the tile layout should roughly fall as regards these - when i think more of the way i layout will let you know but dry laying out first will speed up the process

[suave]

looks good mate

[easyt]

I hope that the customer was well p[leased. Looks like excellent work. If you were out of your comfort zone then the photos don't show that. Looks nice clean job.

[Phil Hobson]

Nice looking job mate, well done

[whitebeam]

I like the work mate, thoughs splashbacks look great

[Scott]

Good work there

I dont normally add or like to critisise work but you see the small cuts under the window cill? I like to pack the cill up a bit with plasterboard to make it a little bit bigger as long as there is room on the window frame