Hi

I have a really big job coming up in which i am having to tile approx
30sqm of wall.

I have some questions mind you!!!!

When tiling around a socket how do you get the pro look?? Do you
unscrew the socket, tile behind it then rescrew it?? or do you cut
around the socket and grout around it??

Also which do you prefer.

1. Making the seal beneath worktop and tile using two strips of masking
tape, smoothing with your finger and then removing the tape when the
sealant has gone tacky

2. sealing between the worktop and tile and just smoothing with your
finger??

3. When tiling onto boxing, do you treat the wood first to aid
adhesive?? Boxing is 6mm marine ply.

Col

Col wrote:
When tiling around a socket how do you get the pro look?? Do you
unscrew the socket, tile behind it then rescrew it?? or do you cut
around the socket and grout around it??

You tile behind the socket.


Also which do you prefer.

1. Making the seal beneath worktop and tile using two strips of masking
tape, smoothing with your finger and then removing the tape when the
sealant has gone tacky

2. sealing between the worktop and tile and just smoothing with your
finger??

Neither. Use a packing piece such as a strip of "cushionfloor" to
keep the tiles off the worktop, and grout down to it. Remove the
packing piece to leave a long slot. Apply masking tape along the
bottom of the tiles, and along the worktop. Fill slot with silicone
sealer. Finish with an appropriately shaped tool, such as a piece
of electrical flex cut off cleanly. Remove tape, pulling away from
the sealer to keep the finish good.


3. When tiling onto boxing, do you treat the wood first to aid
adhesive?? Boxing is 6mm marine ply.

Apply a coat or two of 3:1 water:PVA, apply tile adhesive immediately.

SO when tiling behind the socket do you grout around the socket or
silicone it?

Working from the middle of the wall would you place your batten 1 tile
up off the worktop? Bearing in mind the its only covering half the wall
so would probably have to have either half tiles at the top of the
tiling section or at the bottom (Worktop)

When it comes to outward corners would you tile into the eye or out to
the eye??

col

Col wrote:
SO when tiling behind the socket do you grout around the socket or
silicone it?

I just leave it as it is!


Working from the middle of the wall would you place your batten 1 tile
up off the worktop? Bearing in mind the its only covering half the wall
so would probably have to have either half tiles at the top of the
tiling section or at the bottom (Worktop)

If the worktop is straight and level, as it should be, I'd tile
straight off it (with spacers), and continue the line of the worktop
with a batten. You don't really want to cut tiles on the worktop edge,
put the half tiles at the top, or consider moving wall units so you
can work whole tiles, or (better) use whole tiles, and hang the wall
units over them (no fiddly cutting to do).


When it comes to outward corners would you tile into the eye or out to
the eye??

Not sure. Use RE if poss., or corner trim.

I have a really big job coming up in which i am having to tile approx
30sqm of wall.

I have some questions mind you!!!!

When tiling around a socket how do you get the pro look?? Do you
unscrew the socket, tile behind it then rescrew it??

definitely

or do you cut
around the socket and grout around it??

looks awful IMO. Not that you can't tile round it neatly with a bit of
effort but sunken sockets just look naff. If you're lucky, the bottom of
the
sockets will be exactly 6" above the worktop and, assuming your tiles are
6"
I would jack the units up to this level if you're close. Then you only
have
to lay the tiles out so that none of the L shaped tiles for the row
containing the sockets is too small to be self supporting. It's worth
spending time marking all this out because, once the first tile is laid,
there's no going back.

Also which do you prefer.

1. Making the seal beneath worktop and tile using two strips of masking
tape, smoothing with your finger and then removing the tape when the
sealant has gone tacky

2. sealing between the worktop and tile and just smoothing with your
finger??

I prefer to tile straight on to the worktop, then use method 1 above to
get
a small triangular seal.

3. When tiling onto boxing, do you treat the wood first to aid
adhesive?? Boxing is 6mm marine ply.

Ideally, yes, but the adhesive that comes in tubs sticks pretty well to
ply/mdf/chip
One tip. If the 30 sqm isn't pretty flat, I'd do some plastering first to
level it up . Tile adhesive is a very expensive way to level a wall!


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Well lets just say that i have 2 kitchens 2 bathrooms, one shower room
and a lobby to half tile and paper!!!

Im lucky in a sense that 1 kitchen, 1 bathroom, 1 shower room and the
lobby are all plum stright walls but the other 2 rooms are a nightmare.

The plasterer came to do the bathroom, he was as much use as a 10 week
old bag of cement that has been left out in the rain. he tickled the
walls and did nothing so i threw him out and did the job myself!!!!

For an easy solution the plaster in the bathroom has rotted so im just
boarding over it and creating a shelf as well, other than that the
adehsive will just slide past the dips.

Oh and im not paying for the materials so im not fussed!! And if those
sockets in the kitchen are 6" above top then i will be a monkeys uncle.
Like most things in this house straight means wonky, uneven, falling
off!!!

IVE NICKNAMED IT THE "MONEY PIT" Much to the annoyance of its owner!!!!

On 27 May 2005 06:44:40 -0700, "Col"
wrote:

Hi

I have a really big job coming up in which i am having to tile approx
30sqm of wall.

I have some questions mind you!!!!

When tiling around a socket how do you get the pro look?? Do you
unscrew the socket, tile behind it then rescrew it?? or do you cut
around the socket and grout around it??
I have just put in a length of worktop and tiled above it with 2 new
sockets .I used drywall boxes and tiled on top then fitted the socket
faces .That is by far the neatest way to do it .The tiles fit flat on
to the tiles .If not using drywall boxes then sink the boxes flush to
the wall first then tile then fit the socket faces .You might need
longer screws for this .



Also which do you prefer.

1. Making the seal beneath worktop and tile using two strips of masking
tape, smoothing with your finger and then removing the tape when the
sealant has gone tacky

2. sealing between the worktop and tile and just smoothing with your
finger??

I tiled above the ( level ) worktop leaving a space by using a tile
spacer .Then used masking tape at the foot of the tiles and along the
worktop and applied the sealant to the space and smoothed it over
using a suitable implement .
Stuart









Shift THELEVER to reply.

I think all your questions have been answered so the best bit of advise I
can give you is Buy an electric tile cutter, it doesn't have to be a posh
one, I think mine is a b&q own brand about £25, don't even think about
using anything else

Regards Jeff

On Sat, 28 May 2005 11:22:28 +0100, "Jeff" wrote:

I think all your questions have been answered so the best bit of advise I
can give you is Buy an electric tile cutter, it doesn't have to be a posh
one, I think mine is a b&q own brand about £25, don't even think about
using anything else

Regards Jeff


I'll second that .Whether it is for straight cuts or odd shapes .They
are the bees knees. Can be a bit messsy,especially if you keep the
guard up to see what you are doing and doing that uses up more water
out of the reservoir as well.
Stuart






Shift THELEVER to reply.

Col wrote:
Hi

I have a really big job coming up in which i am having to tile approx
30sqm of wall.

I have some questions mind you!!!!

When tiling around a socket how do you get the pro look?? Do you
unscrew the socket, tile behind it then rescrew it?? or do you cut
around the socket and grout around it??

I'm surprised nobodies thought of a tiling range, with integrated socket
tiles.

"Stuart" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 28 May 2005 11:22:28 +0100, "Jeff" wrote:

I think all your questions have been answered so the best bit of advise
I
can give you is Buy an electric tile cutter, it doesn't have to be a
posh
one, I think mine is a b&q own brand about £25,

don't even think about
using anything else

You are joking of course. On straight cuts they take forever compared to
the
score and snap type. The time it would add to a whole room doesn't bear
thinking about, not to mention the mess. I don't think you'll see pros
using
saws for anything other than the odd difficult cut. Even on L shapes you
only need saw the short side.

However, you do need the type where the snap is done without having to
re-position the tile (Rubi and similar). They are an absolute doddle to
use
and will snap cleanly down to half an inch. The early Plasplugs type where
you had to accurately place the tile in the jaws after scoring were a pain
and, unfortunately, turned people off snappers altogether.


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Stuart Noble wrote:

"Stuart" wrote in message
...

On Sat, 28 May 2005 11:22:28 +0100, "Jeff" wrote:


I think all your questions have been answered so the best bit of advise

I

can give you is Buy an electric tile cutter, it doesn't have to be a

posh

one, I think mine is a b&q own brand about £25,


don't even think about
using anything else


You are joking of course. On straight cuts they take forever compared to
the
score and snap type. The time it would add to a whole room doesn't bear
thinking about, not to mention the mess. I don't think you'll see pros
using
saws for anything other than the odd difficult cut. Even on L shapes you
only need saw the short side.

However, you do need the type where the snap is done without having to
re-position the tile (Rubi and similar). They are an absolute doddle to
use
and will snap cleanly down to half an inch. The early Plasplugs type where
you had to accurately place the tile in the jaws after scoring were a pain
and, unfortunately, turned people off snappers altogether.



Although I accept that for professional tiles doing large areas score
and snap will work, and is faster...

(i) it leaves a sharp edge wich I always sand off anyway.
(ii) It can't do corner cuts, and nibbling always breaks more tiles than
the tile saw.
(iii) it can't do curves, whereas with ingenuity, a tile saw can produce
remarkably goood curves to fit round pipes etc.
(iv) currently a tile saw is as cheap as a decent score and snap system,
and will actually last LONGER than a cheap one.
(v) Score and snap will not reliably prooduce tile sections less than
about 30mm wide.
(vi) For an amateur, a tiles saw will probabkly result in less wastage
of expensive tiles.



For those reasons I would unhesitatingly recommend tile saws to every
single D-I-Yer in preference to a score and snap system.


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"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
Although I accept that for professional tiles doing large areas score
and
snap will work, and is faster...

(i) it leaves a sharp edge wich I always sand off anyway.

With just a light score you get a perfect edge, which is of course sharp.
Normally hidden by grout anyway.

(ii) It can't do corner cuts, and nibbling always breaks more tiles than
the tile saw.
(iii) it can't do curves, whereas with ingenuity, a tile saw can produce
remarkably goood curves to fit round pipes etc.
(iv) currently a tile saw is as cheap as a decent score and snap system,
and will actually last LONGER than a cheap one.

(v) Score and snap will not reliably prooduce tile sections less than
about 30mm wide
..
If you're on your last box of tiles, this is true. If you've got loads
left
over, it'll snap off 15mm :-)

(vi) For an amateur, a tiles saw will probabkly result in less wastage
of
expensive tiles.

Can't disagree with the above, but the proportion of difficult cuts to
straight is pretty small. One course of tiles round a bathroom could
easily
mean 70-80 straight cuts. You really need both tools


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"Stuart Noble" wrote in message
...

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
Although I accept that for professional tiles doing large areas score
and
snap will work, and is faster...

(i) it leaves a sharp edge wich I always sand off anyway.

With just a light score you get a perfect edge, which is of course sharp.
Normally hidden by grout anyway.

(ii) It can't do corner cuts, and nibbling always breaks more tiles than
the tile saw.
(iii) it can't do curves, whereas with ingenuity, a tile saw can produce
remarkably goood curves to fit round pipes etc.
(iv) currently a tile saw is as cheap as a decent score and snap system,
and will actually last LONGER than a cheap one.

(v) Score and snap will not reliably prooduce tile sections less than
about 30mm wide
.
If you're on your last box of tiles, this is true. If you've got loads
left
over, it'll snap off 15mm :-)

(vi) For an amateur, a tiles saw will probabkly result in less wastage
of
expensive tiles.

Can't disagree with the above, but the proportion of difficult cuts to
straight is pretty small. One course of tiles round a bathroom could
easily
mean 70-80 straight cuts. You really need both tools

In the context of a professional tiler you are correct (time is money) but
for diy you cant beat electric (i have 2 or 3 snappers up in the loft that
will never be used again)

Regards Jeff

Stuart Noble wrote:



Can't disagree with the above, but the proportion of difficult cuts to
straight is pretty small. One course of tiles round a bathroom could
easily
mean 70-80 straight cuts. You really need both tools


Mmm. I never tile all round bathrooms - or in fact all round anywhere..

I certaubly find that cutting for electric sockets in kitchens waste
pipes in bathrooms, and door frames on floor tiles is by far and awy teh
miost time consuming bit of the job.

It only takes about 20 seconds a tile to slice them up on the saw..so
less than an hour of cutting to do your 70-80 tiles.

Not much fo an amatuer compared with fgoing down to the tile shop and
ordering ten more top replace the ones that didn't snap right anyway.


I stand by my claim that you can do everything with the saw, and its
cheap, and nothing else is as versatile or necessary.....

In article ,
"Stuart Noble" writes:
Can't disagree with the above, but the proportion of difficult cuts to
straight is pretty small. One course of tiles round a bathroom could
easily
mean 70-80 straight cuts. You really need both tools

I did kitchen and bathroom ceramic floor tiles including half-
tile skirting boards, and bathroom wall tiles around bath/shower
including window enclosure with a cheap (£10 IIRC) scratch
and snap tile cutter. It was not actually capable of snapping
the ceramic floor tiles though, so having scratched them, I
would clamp them in the workmake along the score, and thump
the top with a fist, which produced perfect breaks nearly
always. For complex shapes, I used an angle gringer to cut in
to the tile. The worse one was cutting two ceramic tiles to
go round the loo wastepipe. For this, I bought a packet of 5
tile cutting jigsaw blades from B&Q, and it took all 5 to make
the cut (they were really intended for wall tiles).

--
Andrew Gabriel

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
.. .
In article ,
"Stuart Noble" writes:
Can't disagree with the above, but the proportion of difficult cuts to
straight is pretty small. One course of tiles round a bathroom could
easily
mean 70-80 straight cuts. You really need both tools

I did kitchen and bathroom ceramic floor tiles including half-
tile skirting boards, and bathroom wall tiles around bath/shower
including window enclosure with a cheap (£10 IIRC) scratch
and snap tile cutter.
This is most people's idea of what a snapper is. Once you've used a decent
one (actually not that expensive these days) I don't think you you would
naturally turn to the saw for straight cuts.
It was not actually capable of snapping
the ceramic floor tiles though, so having scratched them, I
would clamp them in the workmake along the score, and thump
the top with a fist, which produced perfect breaks nearly
always.
Great fun!
For complex shapes, I used an angle gringer to cut in
to the tile.
That's a bit stressful too.
The worse one was cutting two ceramic tiles to
go round the loo wastepipe. For this, I bought a packet of 5
tile cutting jigsaw blades from B&Q, and it took all 5 to make
the cut (they were really intended for wall tiles).
I've had the wc and the waste right next to each other on the floor before
now. 4 curved cuts. Now that is a job for a tile saw.


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