Best buy basic tools for starting out - Tile Advice

[JJS1410]

As a newcomer to the industry I am putting together my tool kit. I need to add my adhesive trowels and grout floats and was after some recommendations please!

Whilst I do prefer quality tools, I am restricted by budget and am looking at the "budget" end of the market (with the aim of replacing with quality tools once I am established and earning!!).

Any recommendations for the best budget brand would be welcome.
Thanks

 

[Ian]

You can get a decent trowel for less than 15 quid, my advice would be get 2 rubi trowels in a 6 & 10mm square notch. Get the soft grip handles NOT the wooden handled ones (the handles come loose very quickly). There is no point getting cheap floats either, it's false economy, and grouting is one of most important parts of a tiling job, it can be the difference between an excellent job and an average job. Have a look on tradetiler, here's a link Trowels great value and top quality from Tradetiler

 

[Peter]

Some basics would be:

Trowels which cost about a tenner are usually reasonable. 6,8,10 & 12mm should cover most bases.
If you need nippers, get blue handled ones rather than red handled ones as they seem to be stronger. Should be less than £15
The yellow Vitrex style grout floats are one of the best for clean grouting, and a hydro type sponge for washing off.

Cheap trowels and floats will fall apart after a few jobs and then you'll spend extra replacing them early, so pays to spend a few quid more the first time. I use Marshalltown trowels but regrind them so a top quality trowel can last for years. :lol:

 

[bugs183]

You'll get virtually all your tools off Tradetiler:

Tradetiler Home page

Everything he sells is good value and quality, being a tiler he really knows his stuff!!

 

[smidy69]

stay away from the RST trowels, they bend very easy and dont last.