Expansion gaps - TilersForums.co.uk | Tile Forums

NW tiler · 24-02-2008

I've got a couple of floors to do over the next few weeks. The first is a straight forward bathroom, tile upto the wall, leave an expansion gap and tile the wall down to the floor. Half tile under the bath.

The second is a small entrance hall (2m square). Got to tile into the cupboard so I will leave a gap against the wall. Will also leave a gap into the living room, covered by a gripper board(is that the name?). The other two walls are the front door and back wall, do I leave a gap here as it would look a bit odd. Or leave a gap and grout?

The third floor is a large kitchen and utility room, approx 20m square. Longest run is about 8m. The customer wants it tiling up to the kicker boards and not under.
Question again is where do I put the expansion gaps?

Thanks in advance.

GazTech · 24-02-2008

[quote=NW tiler;58063]I've got a couple of floors to do over the next few weeks. The first is a straight forward bathroom, tile upto the wall, leave an expansion gap and tile the wall down to the floor. Half tile under the bath.

The second is a small entrance hall (2m square). Got to tile into the cupboard so I will leave a gap against the wall. Will also leave a gap into the living room, covered by a gripper board(is that the name?). The other two walls are the front door and back wall, do I leave a gap here as it would look a bit odd. Or leave a gap and grout?

The third floor is a large kitchen and utility room, approx 20m square. Longest run is about 8m. The customer wants it tiling up to the kicker boards and not under.
Question again is where do I put the expansion gaps? :huh2:

Thanks in advance.[/quote]Hi NWT, your smaller areas need no expansion gaps if running under bath and in cupboards. The larger room, however leave 4mm gap against plinth face, and before grouting fill with silicone, this will aid expansion and stop the grout against plinth cracking when kicked. Be careful to leave silicone below surface of tile by about 3mm, then you will get nice neat finish when grout is applied....hope this helps.....Gaz :yes:

NW tiler · 24-02-2008

Cheers Gaz, sounds very messy with the silicone.

Thanks for the advice.

**Big-Smudge** · 24-02-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW tiler

Cheers Gaz, sounds very messy with the silicone.

Thanks for the advice.

Hi NW

I'm not sure if 'CornerTape' can help with the silicone bit, but have a look at the video on www.cornertape.co.uk the 4 mm tape might be useful if leaving a gap up to boards.

Andy