Irene

[Irene]

I am building 2 houses. I am trying to figure out bathroom tile layouts and
also floors tile layouts. All the tiles I am using are stone. Travertine mainly. 12cm thick. Different sizes, mainly 61 x40.6 on floors, 45.7 x 30.5 on walls and some floors and some mosaics in shower areas.
I need to know what size spacers I should use for all of these so I can make
some guide rods. I have a main contractor who will be laying but I need to figure it out so that I can decide on size of steps, alcoves etc and where to place baths, sinks etc.
Also what sort of price is the going rate to lay?
Hope someone can help
Would be very grateful.
Many thanks
Irene

[grumpygrouter]

Hi Irene, welcome to the forums. Could you please introduce yourself in the "new Members" section and tell us a bit about yourself. Thanks.

Lots of questions there to respond to. Firstly if you are putting stone onto the walls you will need to make sure the wall is strong enough to support it. A Block and Plaster wall will only support (safely) 20kg/m2 including adhesive and grout, Plaster board 32kg, and plugged and screwed backerboard, up to 50kg. This is the first thing to consider.

The spacer issue is purely a customer choice thing. There are minimum recommendations in British Standards but really it is your choice as to how big/small you want the grout line. Your tiling contractor should be able to give guidance on this.

I am not really sure why you would need to know these details though to enable you to figure out where to put your bath and sinks. This will be again a personal choice and is really more relevant to the plumbing and electrics than the tiling. We tilers fit tiles to where they need to go. Are you having Under Floor Heating fitted? Also what is the floor made of?

The going rate for tiling is area dependant, who does it for you and to what standard you are prepared to accept. Top class tilers with big reputation will obviously cost you more than a person new to the trade.

I know that has probably not been a huge help but maybe a few things to think about.


Grumpy

[Irene]

Many thanks Grumpy
Certainly things to think about.
My contractor seems to think it is a big deal about tile sizes and their layout.
I see where he is coming from. If I am having steps and alcoves and incut shelves
in studwork I don't want to end up with 12 x 18in tiles cut and having to end up with small fillets. At this stage of the build I can work out what the size of the steps etc could be to take a full tile and maybe a half tile height etc. Stuff like that. I guess I am trying to fit the build round the tiles to a certain extent to make sure it doesn't end up with lots of odd bits of tiles. He wants to know the layouts for the plumbing etc and the studwork and I am not sure without working out the tile layout exactly where that should be. Hence I was going to make some guide rods to include size of tiles and spaces, then stick my thinking cap on and try and come up with something. I guess I need to get a tiler on site and stick to the theory that 2 brains are better than one, especially if the other one knows what he's doing.
Many thanks for your help
Irene

[Turkish]

Blimey that`s in-depth. I`m not a professional Irene but would say you`ll be there forever trying to fit building rooms round the size of tiles. There is a fair bit of flexibility in laying tiles e.g. tile size, size of grout lines, trims etc and i`m sure any professional tiler would fit your tiles into whatever size room you create and make it look superb.

Just my thought

Turkish

[TilingLogistics]

Irene,

It sounds to me that you are slightly over complicating things and worrying about too many variables. I would let the plumber install all the pipework and then let a professional tiler come in to discuss with you the tile layout. Most professional tilers will make a Tile staff/Guage if necessary to show both you and him/herself where the tiles will be exactly and where the cuts and problems are likely to be and what alternatives or solutions can be offered.

Kev

[devonmark]

ouch....got a headache just reading the post...lol, welcome to the forum Irene, good luck with your build..Mark.

[Dave]

hi Irene. i know exactly where you are coming from on this one....
Joint size, well not really on issue to much...
It would be much neater to have the alcoves work tiles or equal cuts and the same with the steps...get a tiler on board A.S.A.P and go through what you want before you start erecting stud work etc.....you only want to build it once.....

good luck and let us know how you get on.........

[Grace'sDad]

I've been to centre parcs recently and stayed in the new accomodation. It's obvious that more builders are giving thought to the layout of a room and it's features with consideration to the tiling. The bathroom I had, would have been a breeze to tile.

I think we should applaud any builders who are prepared to go to these lengths! (makes our lives MUCH easier)

[Irene]

Wow, thanks everyone for your input.
My sensible side says this is not rocket science, but my learning side says
there's a point there somewhere.
I guess I am just trying to get it right without too much agro for the contractor.
Also keeping in the budget.
I reckon the best course is to get the tiler on site and work it out between us.
I am on a learning curve, these two houses are my first big build, its fascinating, I love it, but you are all right, why over-complicate things.
Thank you all for putting my brain into gear.
I will let you know how it all pans out.
Once again
Many thanks
Irene