How to Tile a Bathroom Wall

Below is a step-by-step guide on laying bathroom wall tile.  If you have any questions, or think we should add something, feel free to post your comments below.

Kit:

1. Tiles
2. Plastic Spacers
3. Pencil
4. Straight length of wood
5. Chalk
6. Tape Measure (Laser Measure)
7. Spirit Level
8. Small Nails
9. Hammer
10. Battens
11. Grout Mixture
12. Mastic trowel
13. Dowel
14. Damp Sponge
15. Crowbar
16. Grout Sealant
17. Wet Tile Saw 
18. Tile Cutter

I. Find a starting point to tile the bathroom Wall

1.  Lay a row of tiles ahttp://constructioncomplete.com/Catalog/Tile-Cuttersnd insert plastic spacers.
2. Mark the tile spacing on a wooden stick of about 6 ft. This will act as a gauge rod to help you set out your wall. Next, hold this against the wall to see how the tiles will appear.

II. Set out the tiles on the wall of the bathroom.

1. Measure the wall from top to bottom for the vertical center and left to right for the horizontal center. 
2. Draw a chalk line across the horizontal and vertical lines. The point where both lines meet is the wall center.
3. Position the tip of the gauge rod against the vertical center point and mark the tile spacing on the wall from top to bottom.
4. repeat these steps for the horizontal center point and mark the tile spacing on the wall from left to right.
5. Use the gauge rod to find the best tile arrangement.

III.  Pin horizontal and vertical battens.

1.  Leave a gap of about half a tile's width from the floor.
2. Next, mark a horizontal line starting at the bottom of the wall. Use a laser level to check if the line is straight. 
3. Mark a vertical line from the left hand side of the wall.  Again, leave a gap of about half a tile's width from the left-hand side.  Check with a laser level to make sure the line is straight.
4. Use the gauge rod to check for the position of the vertical and horizontal lines: you'll be fixing battens on these lines.  This step ensures that your tiling arrangement will appear correctly on the wall.
5. Position and nail the battens on these lines, use small nails to fix them.  These battens will be used as guides for putting your tiles up and can be removed when you're finished tiling.

IV.  Fix Tiles on the wall.

1.  Now that your battens are in place, spread the tile adhesive evenly with a tile trowel.  It should be enough to cover an area of about 10 square feet.
2. Hold a plastic spreader at a right angle to create ridges with its teeth on the tile adhesive. The ridges will make it easier for the tiles to adhere to the wall.
3. Bed and press the first tile at the corner of the horizontal and vertical battens.
4. Insert a tile spacer to leave some space from the next tile.
5. Fit the next tile and insert another tile spacer.
6. With a laser level, check that the row is level.
7. Continue laying the tiles in the same way until you've covered the whole wall.
8. Let the adhesive harden for 24  hours and pry off the battens with a crowbar.
9. Next cut and fit the border tiles. Helpful Tip: To ensure that the border tiles fit correctly, place a whole tile on top of the last whole tile in the row.  Place another tile on top of this with one edge touching the skirting board, and mark a line on the middle tile against the outside edge of the top tile. The exposed part of the middle tile will then fit the gap.
10. Apply tile adhesive into the gaps between the tiles.
11. Press the border tiles and insert tile spacers.
12. Wait for another 24 hours for the adhesive to harden and remove the tile spacers.
13. Spread the grout mixture with a trowel and push it into the gaps between the tiles.  Make sure that all gaps are filled.
14. Run a piece of dowel along the grout line to smooth the grouting and give a professional finish.
15. Wait for about 30 minutes before you use a damp sponge to wipe excess grout mixture from the tiles.  For easier cleanup of grout and sponges, use a Grout Sponge bucket.
16. Repeat the cleaning process using a damp sponge.
17. Apply a grout sealant.

Let's Blog Construction would like to thank www.ratedpeople.com for their article contribution.  For more 'How-to guides' or advice on home improvements, visit them here.

Comments

[Construction Director CV]

The tricks on how to cut tiles are excellent and will be very helpful for us.