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How difficult is tiling?


PaulT
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Renovation of the bathroom which is now combined with the WC. The floor of the bathroom was all over the place, sloping this way and that so a lot of remedial work.

Plus the other problem - the only bathroom and WC so need to keep it in use.

So decided that for the floor I would use the quick setting tile adhesive. Went well until I ran out. Went to another DIY place for some more, more expensive but thought let's go with it so as to get on with the work.

Knocked up the new lot and it was very runny, even reducing the water they said to add. Then tried tiling - you could not trowel it, it just returned to a liquid. The process required a great deal of usage of Anglo Saxon and the word RUBBISH being expressed a number of times.

I then checked the bag - and it is self levelling compound. Well, I got three tiles down before checking just hoping they are OK.

So if you like making things hard for yourself then I recommend using floor levelling compound for tiling.

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Well the idea of self levelling compound is to let it dry first before you put tiles down.We always used slc on jobs first where the level was suspect and the end results were always first class. Tiling like any job comes with years of practice and doing it correctly from the outset i.e. starting in the centre of the floor and not the edge and using spacers which should not be removed for at least 24hrsmin
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Yes Val, I know that slc should go down before tiles - that is if you realise you have bought slc.It was not my intention of using slc, I dug up parts partially to run pipes and partially to correct the unevenness. And yes, I have started from the centre of the room and the floor is a great deal better than the 'professional who laid the previous tiles.
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  • 1 month later...
"Ragréage" they call it, self leveling compound.....laying this product and then tiling are not amateur skills, ive been building in france for 10 yrs and still do tiling with a trusted professional tiler....its not a job you can improvise and if you botch it, it looks terrible. Self leveling compound usually can level up to 20mm, sometimes 30mm with two coats. The support should be clean and slightly damp so that the compound does not crack when you pour it. You must let the product dry completely before tiling...
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I am really good at tiling - its just....obvious...I seem to have a knack for it. Another wasted career opportunity, I suspect.

My one tip - think carefully about the layout before you start, especially if doing a whole room, or at least a few walls. I see many tiling jobs where the laying is fine, but they have had to use small slices or a really thick grout bead to make up gaps at corners etc that could have just been planned better.
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Funnily enough I am floor tiling again tomorrow, the first time in 6 years, I spent this evening doing exactly what Dave suggested, well worth it in the long run.

This time I am doing a proper matwell, last time i just finished the tiles against a temporary batten, its held up but one day the edges will get broken, tomorrow job is the communal stairwell so it has to be as strong as can be.

Yeah I like tiling too [;-)]

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