Tiling Around All 4 Walls and Keeping Things Level

[Weebisto]

Hey guys, being relatively new to tiling professionally and having taken on a job that was honestly a step too far too soon, I have been concentrating on floors and single walls and have built up my confidence again. I am gonna practice at home doing four walls in small wc. My question to you seasoned pros is if - as is likely - the four walls are not exactly level and exactly square, although I have developed my technique for getting my starting square point on one wall and working from there, what is the trick for extending that around the other three walls so that all the grout lines meet?
May sound basic but is pretty fundamental. Thanks

 

[Qwerty]

Establish your datum starting point and then either use a level or laser (or both) and work to this to ensure consistent levels. If required, use a batten to tile from.

What did you do previously with regards to levels?

 

[Wes]

Hi weebisto use a couple of different size of levels 4ft,6ft,2ft whichever fits in room transfer level line from one wall continue round room or use laser if you have one. Take a couple of courses round at a time so that your confident that everything's lining up nicely.double check level on tiles every now and again. Hope it goes well keep us posted. Hope this helps.

 

[Wes]

I'm still a bit slow on this think I just mirrored what geoff said.

 

[Chris N]

Check to find the lowest point in the floor before setting battens around the room.

Also, dont take it for granted that your battens although may be 'level' might not be perfectly straight, so after laying your first row, put a level across the top of the tiles to check overall level, but also use as a straight edge to check the tiles meet the straight edge. I've been using mini tile wedges recently to shim and make small adjustments. Over the course of several rows, little discrepancies can cause larger errors.

 

[Flintstone]

Level is level regardless of what shape your walls are in, your tiles must always be level

 

[Dumbo]

I'm going to go a bit @timeless john on you and suggest you go on a tiling course because the sort of questions you are asking on this forum would suggest you don' have the basic fundamentals of tiling and you are trying to pass yourself of as a professional . Sorry to be negative but it's how I see it .

 

[Just Rizzle]

the first thing i always do is set a datum line around the room usually a meter from the lowest point in the floor from this you can work all your levels the second is to centre your walls this will allow u to work out your cuts top bottom left and right. these are lines to measure from not always to start from.
also get good levels and of various sizes

 

[Porcelainwood]

This reminds me of when working in a tile shop many moons ago
When a customer asked our advice about his problem
It seems he just started at one point and just tiled around till he met the starting point
Seemed he did not put a datum around the room so when he got back to the starting point the tiles and border tiles were about 20mm above where he started

 

[Chris N]

This reminds me of when working in a tile shop many moons ago
When a customer asked our advice about his problem
It seems he just started at one point and just tiled around till he met the starting point
Seemed he did not put a datum around the room so when he got back to the starting point the tiles and border tiles were about 20mm above where he started

That's the classic. Seen plenty of pics of similar scenario with picture rails etc

 

[TheAofT]

I'm going to go a bit @timeless john on you and suggest you go on a tiling course because the sort of questions you are asking on this forum would suggest you don' have the basic fundamentals of tiling and you are trying to pass yourself of as a professional . Sorry to be negative but it's how I see it .

Totally agree with you

 

[Unused Account 1]

Set the main wall out ,batten up,leave a gap either end of the battens so you can come of the tile that you have fitted onto the next wall and so on

 

[Time's Ran Out]

@jcrtiling - I agree with your comment about unskilled people charging for a professional job, but I’ve never recommended anyone go on a course to learn my trade!
In this instance @Weebisto is practicing on his own property so fair play to learn, but better if put in the DIY section.
Thanks for the mention though as I was feeling a bit lonely sitting eating my mince pie and coffee.

 

[Weebisto]

I'm going to go a bit @timeless john on you and suggest you go on a tiling course because the sort of questions you are asking on this forum would suggest you don' have the basic fundamentals of tiling and you are trying to pass yourself of as a professional . Sorry to be negative but it's how I see it .

Hi all thanks for your comments. All really helpful. @timeless john I totally take on board your suggestions about going on a tiling course as it seems like I don't have a grasp of the fundamentals. I've been on a course and for the last few months I've been restricting myself to splash backs, single walls and floors. My pricing has reflected my level of experience and I've been open with people I've done work for. I took on a bigger job - full bathroom - and nothing was level or square and, as I alluded to, it didn't end well as it was a step too far too soon. I'll openly admit that and it cost me money to get it put right. In terms of my grasp of fundamentals, if I didn't have a grasp of the whole thing I wouldn't have been able to do what I've done already but it's absolutely fair to say I clearly didn't have a grasp of going around the four walls which is why I've asked the question here. If I can get a steer from you guys and practice that at home to get my confidence up it will be a huge steps forward. I have also arranged to do a couple of weeks free labour with a local experienced tiler early in new year to get hands on training in the fields I agree that it's wrong to try to pass yourself off as an experienced professional but everyone has to start somewhere.

 

[Weebisto]

That method works well btw.

Apologies, original post came from @jcrtiling

 

[Time's Ran Out]

You see I get credit when it’s not due!
Must be an age thing - got to look after the pensioners.

 

[Weebisto]

Lol sorry again John....in my defence trying to place my datum line had distracted me

 

[Tommcd]

Invest in a cheap laser level and tripod. Can also be useful for setting out floors and no end of diy applications. Stanley cubix is adequate for tiling

 

[J K Tiling Cornwall]

Check, check and check again. the level of the floors, ceilings, baths and shower trays. Never assume anything is level. Take into account anything that runs out when setting out the layout. I very rarely use batten now ( I measure and cut the bottom row from a level line and 'fine tune' with the small plastic wedges). But 'battening off' around the room will help the horizontal grout joints to marry up. Just keep checking with a level as you go and watch out for pipes and wire's when fixing batten, you can get tile tracker systems that don't require mechanical fixings but have personally never used them. Good luck in the new year and hopfully the tiler you work for can explain anything you may not be fully confident with and show you the ropes a little.

 

[Handyeire]

Check, check and check again. the level of the floors, ceilings, baths and shower trays. Never assume anything is level. Take into account anything that runs out when setting out the layout. I very rarely use batten now ( I measure and cut the bottom row from a level line and 'fine tune' with the small plastic wedges). But 'battening off' around the room will help the horizontal grout joints to marry up. Just keep checking with a level as you go and watch out for pipes and wire's when fixing batten, you can get tile tracker systems that don't require mechanical fixings but have personally never used them. Good luck in the new year and hopfully the tiler you work for can explain anything you may not be fully confident with and show you the ropes a little.

Ive never started from the bottom. Reason being, i always want the wall tile to be ontop of the floor tile. If start on bottom, this is not achievable! I would use battens or a tile tracker thou sometimes the tile tracker can be a pain in the arse with all them fiddly bits. Also have the rubi level system but again, bit fiddly

 

[Dan]

I'm going to go a bit @timeless john on you and suggest you go on a tiling course because the sort of questions you are asking on this forum would suggest you don' have the basic fundamentals of tiling and you are trying to pass yourself of as a professional . Sorry to be negative but it's how I see it .

Totally agree with you

@jcrtiling - I agree with your comment about unskilled people charging for a professional job, but I’ve never recommended anyone go on a course to learn my trade!
In this instance @Weebisto is practicing on his own property so fair play to learn, but better if put in the DIY section.
Thanks for the mention though as I was feeling a bit lonely sitting eating my mince pie and coffee.

Totally agree. And I know Uncle John wouldn't recommend somebody go on a course to learn is trade and all that. But I know what you mean when you used the term 'going all john here'.

The very first thing you need to learn is your datums. Whether floors or walls being square and setting out is paramount.

I don't think I'd pick up more tiles without going to learn that, however it may be.



Just my 2p.