Hi All

I can't stand the carpet in my bathroom any longer so it has to go. The floor area is very small 2m x 2m or so. I fancy some nice slate or dark grey tiles as I think this would go well with the light grey suite.

I've never done any tiling before so have no idea what I'm taking on. The floor is concrete and nice and level. The main problem I forsee is cutting the tiles to fit around the base of the toilet and the basin. Lifting these up to sit on top of the new tiles would be ideal, but not possible without a lot of faff with the tiles on the wall. How much of a nightmare would it be to cut ceramic or slate tiles to fit? What gear would I need to buy/hire?

The other option I can think of is vinyl tiles, are they reasonable or would it just look naff? Any good suppliers? I had a quick look in B&Q yesterday but couldnt find any.

TIA

Ben :)

The other option I can think of is vinyl tiles, are they reasonable or would it just look naff? Any good suppliers? I had a quick look in B&Q yesterday but couldnt find any.


You can get vinyl "slate" tiles in our local B&Q Warehouse - not too bad looking at all. Haven't used them though.

It would be worth paying someone to take out the wc and basin while you tile the floor as the finished effect will be far better and also if you ever have to replace either you won't be left with a hole in the floor which doesn't match the footprint of the new piece of sanitaryware.

Mog

Ben,

I tiled my bathroom floor (and halfway up the wall) with slate floor tiles. The tiling was easy but cutting them around the toilet and basin was difficult because the tiles were so thick! (Bear in mind that I had never done anything like this before!) Nomal tile cutters will not work, and I had to buy an electronic tile cutter to do the job (£30 in B&Q). Even then, this only cuts in straight lines, so I had to cut lots of small pieces out at odd angles to generate something approaching a curve, and then use a special heavy duty file to smooth this out (£5). It took about an hour to cut each tile (only two tiles were needed as they were 31cm square) but the end result was well worth it. I also used charcoal coloured grout as this looks much better with grey tiles.

Cut a piece of stiff card to fit around the pedestal first, when you are happy with it, then transfer the shape to your tile.

I've used the vinyl floor tiles in our bathroom and after 2 years down they seem to still be OK. Don't use the DIY store's own make though, the adhesive is sh!te, mine were made by a company called Westco. I also put down a sheet of 3mm ply first, to prevent the gaps in the boards coming through in time.

Take Mog's advice. I didn't and ended up cutting a bazilion mosaic tiles :(

I have just done this to mine using slate quary tiles. first work out all the full tile spaces then make templates with card for the other bits. for cutting I used an angle grinder with a diamond disc, making shapes was quite easy. It was my first time and turned out really well.

ps: when cutting dont do it inside, we were still cleaning the dust up a week later ;)

Thanks for the replies guys :). I think I'm going to try the vinyl route and see how I get on. I'm only likely to stay there another two or three years so hopefully they'd still be looking good for that long. Taking the wc and basin out isn't really an option as they'd be raised up 5mm or whatever when the tiles were down, thus they wouldn't fit back into the untiled spaces on the wall. I don't really have the funds or the inclination to go to that much faff with it at the moment, so it's something I want to avoid.
Putting some ply down first sounds like a good plan, my floor is concrete but I can't imagine the tile adhesive sticking to the dusty surface too well.

Cheers,

Ben :)

Thanks for the replies guys :).Putting some ply down first sounds like a good plan, my floor is concrete but I can't imagine the tile adhesive sticking to the dusty surface too well.

Cheers,

Ben :)

But you still have to fix the ply to the "dusty surface".

Mog

do as ole crispyduck says its the best way
make yerself a template

Lift the thing out temporarily and tile underneath it. Definitely the way to go IMHO.

you have to take the loo out. unless you plan to move in the next 4 weeks then do it proper!

otherewise its like sweeping crap under the bed.

sweeping crap under the bed is that wot you need to do while the toilet is unplugged? http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/contrib/blackeye/lol.gif lol
Si

But you still have to fix the ply to the "dusty surface".

Mog

http://www.hasha.co.uk/sc/images/nails.jpeg

I think they might be a tad excessive!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mog

But you still have to fix the ply to the "dusty surface".

Mog

That's why nail guns were invented :D

You don't have to remove the toilet or sink, just slightly uplift them and slip your tiles underneath :)

Lol - I still haven't got around to this. I have at least got around to buying the tiles and some levelling compound so will try to have a crack this weekend.

I can't tile under the basin and WC as it will raise them up by a few mm. They've been tiled around (rather than behind) on the wall, so they wouldn't fit back into place. Much as I'd like to re-tile the wall too, this isn't an option at the moment.

Nothing can be worse than the manky carpet in there at the moment so I'll be pleased however it looks ;).

Cheers,

Ben :)