First floor

[Eddie]

OK. I finished my course in June. have done two full kitchens, but no floors. now i've got 16m2 of floor, and im sh*!^ing myself, i really feel im out of my depth. im told floors are easier but im not so sure! I only laid 4 floor tiles on my course, could have done with more time on this i think. Does everyone feel like this at the start,has anyone had any real disasters. :sad_smile: :icon9:

 

[Dan]

I think everybody does feel like they're out of their depth when they do their first floor or bathroom or whatever.

Take your time.... something you've probably heard enough of but it really does help if you can use smal amounts of adhesive and fix few tiles at a time so you're not rushing anything.

Don't start fixing tiles until you know your set out it spot on and your cuts around the room are looking neat and as uniform as possible.

Use straight edges to keep your set-out when you're tiling and tile in meter runs or similar and don't try and go off in ever direction.

Double check your adhesive is the right one to use and make sure you're preparing the floor as best you can too.

Without knowing what the sub-floor and tiles are like I can't really comment on the job but again don't start until you know your cuts! And you shouldn't be able to go wrong really.
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What course did you do by the way?

 

[howard]

hi ed dont worry about the floor you will find it a peice of cake they are so easy to do i did a course in march and only laid about 10 tiles i was the same as you scared of my first job i now wish every job was a floor job its easy money and a lot quicker to do than walls
good luck

 

[Fekin]

Yep, flooring is in my view far easier than wall tiling, and as Dan said, take your time, know where your cuts are going to be, and have a good rubber mallet, helps getting them all nice and level, where as with wall tiles you can apply pressure to sit them correctly, it's harder on a floor, so a good rubber mallet comes in handy to sit them just right.

Also, floor tiles can't "fall off", so thats always a bonus, lol

 

[Home Tiler]

I'm going to price a floor up tonight ..and to be honest i feel like you Eddie
..didn't get much experience on the course floor tiling my self so i'm abit worried about the level of the floor and if i can keep the tiles all level with no lips ect ..it's a new build and the guy has left it to me to sort out what tiles i should put out...very small floor by the sounds of it and he wants a modern look....
gunna take a pic of it tonight.. so i'm hoping i might get some ideas of some lads in here .....if not ..then i might go for slate....
he yas he won't be moving so i'm gunna have to make sure the look won't go out of date ....eeeeeee some customers eh....lol
steve

 

[versatilene]

Don't worry Eddie my very first paid job was a 19sq M floor and I was bricking it. Turns out theyr'e easier than walls, give me floors every time.
'Feal the fear and do it anyway'

 

[enduro]

my first tiling job when i finished my course was 95 sqm un-calibrated slate, for a builder mate of mine, he said he would give me a go, if i wasnt any good he wouldnt use me again, that was three years ago and im getting around £10,000 worth of work a year from him now, i just took my time setting out and took my time laying.. good luck mate

 

[Home Tiler]

approx 2m x 3m
Not come across the blue coating before so i'm gunna prime it with apd..floor has approx 5 to 7mm high point in middle of floor..so i'm gunna back butter tile and addy the floor at low points and at high point just addy the floor....which i reckon should be enough to make flat....
So i'm gunna start tiling right through the middle seeing the high points are there....
customer now wants a dark brown tile to suit cabinets ..also the skirting needs to be sawn so i can fit tiles underneath..
was thinking of using rapid set seeing it's only a very small area ...
priced up for day and a half but reckon i should easy do it in a day...lol
any tips you think i might need let me know....lol
"should be an easy job this"
:whatchutalkingabout

 

[Fred]

Also remember to work out of at least 3 boxes of tiles at the same time, so if there is rouge sized tile, it won't look so bad. I use a half moon 10mm trowel most of the time.

And if useing rapid set addy, wash trowel every time you've finished that amount of addy. Nothing breaks my heart more than chucking away a 20 pound trowel.

 

[Eddie]

thanks lads, you have bucked me up a bit. i'm supposed to start the job next week when the joiner finishes, but i think i'll try to put it off till the folowing week when the lady is away on holiday, then i'll feel better about taking my time with it. Is it ok to use a mallet on tiles? sounds a bit dodgy to me. it's a new concrete floor, and either slate or granit tiles, i dont think the customer has made up her mind yet. i will try to take some pics of the concrete floor to see if you all think it will be ok to tile onto. So would you dry lay tiles first and make the edge cuts before you start putting addy down?

thanks again eddie
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Oh yes, it was the NETT course i was on

 

[Home Tiler]

ok ..cheers fred... will bare that one in mind deffo!!