The Low Budget DIY Bathroom Refurb

[DoubleSix]

Bit of help please if anyone is still following.

I'm playing with tile layouts. It's obvious I'm going to need a cut to manage width as space is about 7.5 tile wide, so would you have the half tile on the bath side as in the pic below or half tile against the wall by shifting it all to the left?

[DoubleSix]

Hmmm i'm torn.

It's the wall side you see as you walk the corridor. And, considering they have a faux wood finish then it would be normal for floorboards to 'disappear' under a bath but not through a wall, if you see what I mean.

[DoubleSix]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Two 3/4 tile rather than the half down one side? Interesting. Seriously though, is that the right move, your winking smilie has me doubting and it's a lot mor work!

[DoubleSix]

That makes a whole load of sense actually, thank you chaps.

I've applied the same method to the length of the room as well which gives me this, look ok?

[DoubleSix]

bomma220 said:

Looks good to me mate, it's the way I'd have done it. As the other chaps said, equal cuts either side.

Thanks!

[DoubleSix]

shtu said:

There's nothing wrong with it as is, but personally I would stagger the joint in a more random way - that diagonal "flight of stairs" stepping of the joints catches my eye.

Whilst I know what you mean these longer tiles are meant to be laid third bond to avoid lippage.

[DoubleSix]

No, ceramic tiles! All the rage I'm told.

[DoubleSix]

KTF said:

DoubleSix said:

No, ceramic tiles! All the rage I'm told.

Where are they from?

Just a Topps tile...

http://m.toppstiles.co.uk/tprod45479/tabula-ice-ti...

They do a nice matching skirt tile that shall also attempt to fit.

[DoubleSix]

Saleen836 said:

I have just completed my bathrom refurb and not wanting to have a normal basin/pedastool set up and only having a small bathroom (1.7m x 1.7m) I wen for the following in solid oak.....

I've toyed with something similar but in the end decided it would create small, hard to clean spaces, between bath/sink unit/toilet.

[DoubleSix]

All that jazz said:

I hope your floor is ultra flat and well supported underneath with no allowance for flexing otherwise those fancy ceramic tiles will soon crack across the middle.

erm thanks!, subfloor is fully prepped to spec ta

[DoubleSix]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Hi TN,

Yeah I pondered it but decided against for reasons I won't bore you with

I also reached the same conclusion as you RE architrave. I hate losing anything original from an old house but it was the only way.

[DoubleSix]

The Don of Croy said:

Fab project - hope you're getting the necessary brownie points safely banked...

How are you cutting the tiles? I've done a bit of bathrooming, but cutting those maxi tiles would fill me with dread!

Thanks mate,

Since you ask a pal dropped this beast in this morning...

[DoubleSix]

It's been a long day....

But feeling chuffed to have done all my cuts without any disasters. I altered the bond slightly to avoid the ladder effect highlighted by a previous poster.

Edited by DoubleSix on Thursday 10th March 19:51

[DoubleSix]

Thanks guys, I know it's not much by some standards but for a desk jockey like me it's a departure from my comfort zone. My old man (lost him when I was a lad) was an architect and I pretty much watched him build the family home from scratch, feels good to be doing something in the same vein albeit not on the same scale...

I had to buy a tile saw today so costs now:

£200 plastering
£500 floor and wall tiles
£50 tanking kit
£150 miscellaneous tools and materials
£90 tile saw
Total: £990

Edited by DoubleSix on Thursday 10th March 20:32

[DoubleSix]

bomma220 said:

Did you need to put much packing under that spirit level?

Seriously, top job there DS. Looks the mutt's nuts.

Cheers Bomma!

No packing I promise, don't know is you spotted it but I put down a self leveling compound and its all absolutely bob on, just hope I can say that after I do the adhesive tomorrow.

[DoubleSix]

jas xjr said:

What's the tile saw like? Me and a mate , mostly him, laid 40sq mtrs of quartz tile ,they were 9 mm thick. Whilst I have several tile cutters my friend preferred a small angle grinder. I was very impressed at how straight and accurate the cuts were.

I got an erbauer one from Screwfix, hardly top spec but it has a metal surface area and the ability to do 45degree mitres - so far pretty neat.

I tried using a small grinder first but the tile failed.


I have an issue I need a bit of help with chaps...

My skirt tiles are far slimmer than my wall tiles :/



How would you deal with this? Should I take the wall tiles to the floor and bond the skirt tile onto the face or will that look rubbish??

[DoubleSix]

This one jas xjr:

http://m.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-erb337tcb-750w-til...

[DoubleSix]

Dr Imran T said:

Great thread....

Thanks

Just gonna stick with a mixer tap in keeping with objective to see what can be achieved with minimum financial outlay.

Link for tool?

One of the first things I did when we moved in was have proper inline extractors fitted in loft space above, so should be ok.

I've been warned off bathroom paint and am just risking it with Dulux matt immulsion, hope I dont regret it...

Edited by DoubleSix on Thursday 10th March 21:43

[DoubleSix]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

But I want a matt finish!

The three walls around the bath, sink and toilet are all going to be tiled to 3/4 height anyway. Its only the one wall, ceiling and top 1/4 that will receive paint - I dislike sheen in a paint so going to risk it.

[DoubleSix]

shtu said:

Floor tiling looks much better with that layout, far more natural.

Tile skirting - I'd tile to floor, then put skirting on, with a trim to the top edge of the skirting if need be (if they're specific skirting tiles, they probably have a nice finished edge already.)

Thanks, it's still geometric but perhaps less jarring.

Think I'll do just that with the skirts, they do indeed have a nice finished edge as I wish to avoid trims.