M
mav101
Hi, I've been reading posts in this forum for a long time trying to get as much knowledge and tips as I can before starting to do the tiling part of my house renovation, and I must say the advice given here is extremely helpful. I'm doing all the tiling in the house myself, mainly due to financial reasons. The work I'm planning is: 1. lay new kitchen-floor ceramic tiles; 2. tile kitchen backsplash; 3. lay porcelain tiles in hall; 3. new ceramic tiles on downstairs toilet floor; 4. new ceramic wall and floor tiles in en-suite (including new shower, etc); 5. new crema marfil marble wall and floor tiles in bathroom.
So far I've stripped the ensuite and bathroom walls of the old tiles and old plasterboard. I've also pulled out the toilets, bath, sinks, shower etc out of both rooms, so both rooms were completely bare down to the studs in the walls. In the ensuite I had to adjust the plumbing slightly to account for the new position of a vanity unit basin, and a larger shower tray (so hole in new position). I also increased the waste pipes coming from the shower waste from 32mm to 40mm as I've a power shower going in. I then replaced the floor boards with WBP ply of the same thickness (18mm). I also added extra noggins in the stud wall to allow for the extra weight of the tiles. Next I fixed thick plastic sheeting (DPM) to the walls and floors with galvanised staples, with the floor sheet overlapping the wall well above the floor (water-proofing). I then fixed Hardibacker 500 cement board over the floor and aligned the hole for the shower tray. That's as far as I've got with the ensuite at the moment. Next I'll be fixing the shower tray and fixing Marmox boards around the shower surround and green (WR) plasterboard around the rest of the room.
In the kitchen I'm just finishing laying the floor tiles (24 sq. metres) (which bar 2 tiles have gone down great!). I used the appropriate Mapei adhesive following recommendations from this forum, and have also purchased BAL wide joint grout for them, also from reading reports on this forum. I had to level a few areas of the floor before I started, both with a standard single part SLC and a Mapei deep levelling compound, both of which worked great. One starting snag I had with the kitchen floor tiles was I think I used the wrong trowel. I started with a u-notched trowel but even at a good angle it was leaving way too much addy on the surface, with the result that the addy was oozing up between the joints and I couldn't get them to sit properly. So before it was too late, I took the 9 tiles back up again, scraped off the adhesive, and switched to a 6mm square notched trowel, which worked way better and has been a success for the rest of the floor. Now to get back to it and finish laying the edge cut tiles!...
Good to meet you all. By the way I'm outside Dublin in Ireland.
So far I've stripped the ensuite and bathroom walls of the old tiles and old plasterboard. I've also pulled out the toilets, bath, sinks, shower etc out of both rooms, so both rooms were completely bare down to the studs in the walls. In the ensuite I had to adjust the plumbing slightly to account for the new position of a vanity unit basin, and a larger shower tray (so hole in new position). I also increased the waste pipes coming from the shower waste from 32mm to 40mm as I've a power shower going in. I then replaced the floor boards with WBP ply of the same thickness (18mm). I also added extra noggins in the stud wall to allow for the extra weight of the tiles. Next I fixed thick plastic sheeting (DPM) to the walls and floors with galvanised staples, with the floor sheet overlapping the wall well above the floor (water-proofing). I then fixed Hardibacker 500 cement board over the floor and aligned the hole for the shower tray. That's as far as I've got with the ensuite at the moment. Next I'll be fixing the shower tray and fixing Marmox boards around the shower surround and green (WR) plasterboard around the rest of the room.
In the kitchen I'm just finishing laying the floor tiles (24 sq. metres) (which bar 2 tiles have gone down great!). I used the appropriate Mapei adhesive following recommendations from this forum, and have also purchased BAL wide joint grout for them, also from reading reports on this forum. I had to level a few areas of the floor before I started, both with a standard single part SLC and a Mapei deep levelling compound, both of which worked great. One starting snag I had with the kitchen floor tiles was I think I used the wrong trowel. I started with a u-notched trowel but even at a good angle it was leaving way too much addy on the surface, with the result that the addy was oozing up between the joints and I couldn't get them to sit properly. So before it was too late, I took the 9 tiles back up again, scraped off the adhesive, and switched to a 6mm square notched trowel, which worked way better and has been a success for the rest of the floor. Now to get back to it and finish laying the edge cut tiles!...
Good to meet you all. By the way I'm outside Dublin in Ireland.
