OK kitchen is getting retiled in the autumn as its hideous (previous owner) so where is best to get tiles from at reasonable price.

Also once old tiles are off how do i get the wall flatish again to put the new ones on??, chisel ?, sand ?

Cliff

No advice on where to get tiles from, sorry!

As to making good the wall - it's not as important as if you were painting. You want to make sure there isn't too much of a height(depth? :confused:) differential. Getting the old grout off isn't to easy - I mainly used a chisel or scraper. Then you want to re-plaster and holes, but don't worry too much about the finish. :)

Iain

Please note - all of the above is based on my huge experience.....of one room....which I've yet to re-tile! :D I've only done the destruction so far! ;)

well after seeing next doors flat which is rented the tiles and kitchen is the original which is 20yrs old now and very dated. My gf hates the current tiles with a passion. So as soon as the bedroom is finished i am gonna rip the tiles off.

Thing is I dont want to crack any tiles coz of an uneven surface and i want it too look neat too.

So you reckon just use a scraper. What about an orbital sander ?

I am not looking forward to the kitchen as its the one room that needs to be used throughout the day (apart from the bathroom that is). Me bashing off tile is gonna make mess.

Might try one of those tile places like tiles R us as B&Q don't have much range and seem a touch expensive

Cheers

Cliff

Well, one thing is certain - you are sure to make a mess getting tiles off! :D I used a hammer and chisel to get the tiles off, and a combination of chisel/scraper/sander on the worst of the lumps and bumps.

And remember folks - those shards are sharp!!

:D

thats the bit i hate about DIY, the mess, still can't be avoided

Cliff - are you sure you need to take the old tiles off?

Brother of a guy I used to work with was a tiler and he said in a lot of cases the easiest way to put new tiles up was to tile over the existing ones.

Two caveats though:

1) The old surface had to be reasonably level with no loose tiles.

2) Make sure you deglaze the old tiles to give a good key for the new grout. He used a powered sander (and a good mask as the glaze dust can be nasty if inhaled - it's glass basically!)

The other good bit was seeing him grout afterwards. Never bothered with a mini-trowel or anything like that, just a handful of grout smeared over, rubbed well in, then the excess wiped off with a damp sponge - took no time.

As I said, he was doing this for a living so it might be different for those of us less skilled/confident.

Cheers,
Steve

yeah i have heard of that before, leaving the old tiles on. That could be a possibility.

cheers

Cliff

I hate tile-on-tile finishes: the edges look clumsy and too thick to my eyes.

Good advice already on here. Chip the buggers off, then just make the surface flat enough for tiling on. You're not looking for a smooth finish, just something that's level enough to take tiles and a decent wedge of tile adhesive.

Ok yeah sounds the best bet. The tiles really have to go they are horrible. probably won't get round to it now till october/november as got the bedroom to finish. Its never ending and everything takes 5000 times longer than expected even for simple stuff.

My dad has done tiling before so hopefully i can drag him down to help.

CLiff