Setting Out Tiling planning advice

[DazJWood]

All,

I have been planning out my tiling using a batten marked with the tile length and height (plus 3mm grout) and walking it up the wall to check positioning.

I have the usual various (annoyingly in the way) features around the room such as bath, shower tray and window ledges to take into consideration as well as a two recess built into a stud wall (above bath and in shower).

I have worked out that if I fix full tiles around the bath then everything else works around the room but I will have a strip of around 35-50mm of tile at the top (near ceiling). I don't think this would look to odd being at ceiling height. Anyone think different? If I do go with this plan I guess I could even put a border that could be larger than the 35-50mm and then I would absorb this small strip.

Now I've also worked out that I could cut a tile to 160mm and place this above the bath, which would give me a bigger tile at ceiling height and would still match the other features around the room. This would mean more cuts over all and mean battening the wall above the bath to start with whole tiles.

As for the positioning horizontally I am fine with that as by coincidence most walls sizes allow for almost whole tiles to fit with minimal cutting at each corner / end.

I would appreciate any advice,

Thanks,

Daz

[Dave Ramsden]

Which option gives you big cut to lower features and small to top? Dont forget to check above door and window and if you start full till off the bath, check for leval and straight as some dip slightly in the center

[david campbell]

why not baton below the bath on the other walls and by the time you reach the bath height you will have a datum already set and all you will need to do is the cuts and tie it all in!
what size are the tiles?

[DazJWood]

I'm not at home at the moment but off the top of my head they are around 400 by 200. The tiles are travertine.

[Alan.P]

I would go option b and have decent cuts to the bath and ceiling / floor, other than that your other idea of a border would, a) look great and b) take up the slither of a cut to the ceiling, which never look nice in my opinion. Let us know which way you go, and we luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuv pictures

[Bartlett]

Agree with David and Alan; a full tile above bath is never ideal as baths are almost never level horizontally, so plan the size of this tile to make other cuts around the room fit better, ie, at ceiling height and around windows, basin, etc etc.... Try to avoid any cut tile being less than 20% of its original size.
Good advice I learned at the beginning; 'don't stick your first tile until you've planned where the final one is going'
Prep and planning is everything.

[doug boardley]

yep, I'd put cuts on bath too and leave a healthy size cut into the ceiling

[DazJWood]

Thanks all!

I shall probably go down the cuts above bath route. Just need to do a bit more measuring!

Incidentally, when there are cuts above bath and also above my shower tray., what is the best way to fix the tiles on these walls. I think the most typical way is to batten the wall, fix the tiles upward, then, (obviously when dry), fix the cut tiles below down to the bath / shower tray. Now if the area is tanked and there is no easy way to fix a batten (without screwing through the tanking!) what is the best method to obtain the level for the initial whole tiles? Hmm hope I have explained that ok.

Thanks,

Daz

[DazJWood]

Anyone any advice?

[united]

I normally just tile up from the bath/tray using spaces or wedges to keep a space for silicone between bath/tray and tile

[doug boardley]

same as United, altho' to be honest it's very rare I use battens at all these days

[Alan.P]

Same as United and Doug, draw your datum where you cut tile finishes above the bath, cut and fix your tiles using wedges or spacers to maintain levels and silicone gap and tile up from there, that's how I do it anyways, I haven't used battens on a 'normal' job in years.

[trevortine]

same as United, altho' to be honest it's very rare I use battens at all these days

lol doug, for years i ditched the battens and now i find im using them all the time, i just put it down to the cider mate!!!