Absolute novice to tiling is attempting shower room, where to start ??

[Warleyboy71]

Hi all,

Having my first attempt at tiling the shower room.
As you can see from the pics, ive boarded it throughout and a mate has skimmed it for me.
Got my level for first tiles and have battoned out.
But where do i start, ive checked lots of sites and watched loadsa videos, with lots of different opinions.
As my shower going in corner, do i put full tiles from right and work left or find centre of wall and have small cuts either side.
How do i work around the rest of the walls making it look easy on the eye.All of shower enclosure to be tiled with rest of room going 5 tiles up to just where paint begins
Any advice would be really appreciated.
.

 

[Bradma9]

When u say boarded did you plasterboard the lot and then get it skimmed?

 

[Warleyboy71]

Yea, boarded it all, with the exception of shower which I used cement board, and had it skimmed.

 

[CJ]

Fit shower tray, and silicon it in first.

 

[The D]

Yea, boarded it all, with the exception of shower which I used cement board, and had it skimmed.

skimmed cement board????

 

[The D]

is that paint on the bottom of the wall??

 

[Bradma9]

Why did u skim over the board, waste of money and effects the weight limit .

 

[Warleyboy71]

Was told to get tiles on wall, and fit tray afterwards.
Got him to skim cement board cos plasterboard had bee skimmed and wanted a level finish.
painted the whole room once it was plastered with a cheap white emulsion, I have also applied adhesive ready for tiling

 

[judge]

Will the skim adehere to the cement board ?

 

[IHB]

Will the skim adehere to the cement board ?

Extremely poorly. Don't ask how I know Weight limit will be sod all. On the good side though it will all come off very easily with trowel behind it.

 

[Warleyboy71]

Yep, very fine skim, plasterer done it before..
guys any input on where to start placing tiles, I would just like to know where would be an ideal starting point, and how to tile to make it look gooood. Cheers

 

[White Room]

Was told to get tiles on wall, and fit tray afterwards.
Got him to skim cement board cos plasterboard had bee skimmed and wanted a level finish.
painted the whole room once it was plastered with a cheap white emulsion, I have also applied adhesive ready for tiling

How long are you leaving the adhesive before tiling...is it powdered or tubbed gear.

 

[The D]

save yourself some time and just put it all in the skip that is where it will all end up lol

 

[Mr Tiler]

where in Redditch are ya from?

 

[padtheplumber]

Sounds like you prep work might be a bit off, tbh
I'm based in Redditch, if you want some advice let me know I might be able to pop out to you

Cheers
Martin
GC Plumbing

 

[steve187]

are you tiling the floor?
painted walls, plastered cement board = NO

you should of asked for advice before starting, most plasterers know nothing about tiling. take the advice at post #15

 

[Stef]

Yep, very fine skim, plasterer done it before..
guys any input on where to start placing tiles, I would just like to know where would be an ideal starting point, and how to tile to make it look gooood. Cheers

I would start placing tiles on your kitchen walls or floor as that shower room ain't fit to accept any tiles yet.
Start again & spend a little money just now on prep or its going to cost a lot more if you start fixing tiles.

 

[Warleyboy71]

Ok, what are you all goin on about.
All I've done is paint the plastered walls with emulsion.
Ive added an acrylic bonding agent for tiling area.
why on earth are the tiles going to come off.
i have tubbed adhesive for tiles.
the acqua board which has been skimmed 4 weeks is absolutely fine, with no plaster even showing any signs of cracking or blemish.
why have I not prepped correctly, are you telling me tiles will not go onto a painted wall ?..

I have just asked for a little advice, no sarcasm please, it don't help me in completing my project.

 

[J Sid]

Its not the 1st of April already is it?

 

[The D]

My comment was a tad sarcastic and I will try and refrain from being obtuse but you have had bad advice with regards to your preparation and I do not feel it would be conducive to a good outcome to offer any advice on how to proceed with the installation until the preparation errors have been rectified.

 

[thompsonbrown]

Hi all,

Having my first attempt at tiling the shower room.
As you can see from the pics, ive boarded it throughout and a mate has skimmed it for me.
Got my level for first tiles and have battoned out.
But where do i start, ive checked lots of sites and watched loadsa videos, with lots of different opinions.
As my shower going in corner, do i put full tiles from right and work left or find centre of wall and have small cuts either side.
How do i work around the rest of the walls making it look easy on the eye.All of shower enclosure to be tiled with rest of room going 5 tiles up to just where paint begins
Any advice would be really appreciated.
. View attachment 55589 View attachment 55590 View attachment 55588 View attachment 55591

When setting out your wall tiles, treat each wall as an individual wall, find centre and draw a line top to bottom left to right.
Each wall will now have cross drawn on them.
Using your wall tile hold it on the verticle line measure out how many full tiles you can fit into the corner of the wall left to right.
If you find holding your tile upto the line leaves a small slither of tile in the corners, then find centre of the tile make a pencil mark and place this on the vertical line. do the same top to bottom. Splitting each wall into 4 will give you a better understanding on where to start. and after this is worked out run a battern round the room for the second tile up remove battern then cut your bottom tile in.
You can tile the room out first if you leave bottom row of tiles out before fitting tray.
All I am doing is trying to give advice on the questions you asked. The other guys do have valid points you should consider before tiling.

 

[Gazzer]

Tiling onto "cheap emulsion " ?? take a sponge to it and wash it off.....dont believe me ? Here was one I did last year when client painted the walls ?? Can you understand now why you shouldnt hang tiles on a painted wall now ?

 

[beanz]

Ok, what are you all goin on about.
All I've done is paint the plastered walls with emulsion.
Ive added an acrylic bonding agent for tiling area.
why on earth are the tiles going to come off.
i have tubbed adhesive for tiles.
the acqua board which has been skimmed 4 weeks is absolutely fine, with no plaster even showing any signs of cracking or blemish.
why have I not prepped correctly, are you telling me tiles will not go onto a painted wall ?..

I have just asked for a little advice, no sarcasm please, it don't help me in completing my project.

You're being given LOTS of very good advice, and choosing to ignore it. The whole point of using cement boards, is that they don't deteriorate when wet. So if water gets behind the tiles, the instillation won't fail! The plaster has completely negated that. It's also not a suitable substrate for plastering, as already said... There was no need to skim the walls to begin with!?! Plasterboard is a good surface to tile onto (unless the boards were all over the place, and needed bonding out first?)...

Paint.... Shouldn't be tiled on, because the only thing taking the weight, is now a thin layer of paint, rather than the plaster.

Good luck with it anyway

 

[Bathfix Bob]

You have made every mistake there is to make and a tile hasn't even been laid yet, which donkey told you the tray goes in after tiling?

The same one who recommends that tile adhesive sticks better to paint or skim?

 

[Gazzer]

And why you should fit the tray 1st ?
Fit tray and silicone the area where tray meets wall...SEALED !, Tank the wall, slightly overlaping tray. Extra insurance against water damage !. Tile walls with Cement based adhesive and then seal the gap between tile and tray again. Sorted.
Why not to use tubbed adhesive ?