DIY tiling - work in progress

This is the bathroom bit of the 'the reno I didn't want to start'.
I've never done much tiling, but I don't mind it - it's a bit meditative.

This is a bathroom/laundry out in the backyard, so I wanted it to be a pretty utilitarian space i.e. a hose-out room.

The shower area steps down an inch and I'll just be using a shower curtain. I used stainless angle for the step down.

Floor tiles are 50 x 50 limestone in a sheet. How good is that job around the floor drain? I'm pretty pleased with that.

The wall tiles are gloss Subway tiles. Cheap ($24 per sqm) and easy to cut and lay.

I had a bit of a dilemma with the tile arrangement on the wall where it steps down into the shower. Ideally, I would have had a tile join there, but it would have made for an awkward sliver of tile at the right hand wall junction and that wall isn't 100% straight. I'll tidy up the bottom on one of the tiles and when it's all grouted it will look fine.

I'll probably get a tiler to do some of the walls because I'm a bit slow, but I wanted to do the first wall with all the plumbing so I could give him a standard to work to.
 

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Looks good Scot.

If you had tiled the walls before you tiled the walls you avoid those little mismatches like the wall tile at the step down.

As you say once you grout all those little issues will disappear.

Cheers

PS I do hope that you waterproofed. Can't see any on the wall to the right.
 
Problem is, handyandy, the whole room isn't square. I opted to do the floor first because I figured it would be easier to cut the wall tiles than the floor tiles.
Yep that whole room has been thoroughly waterproofed. Boy, I have slopped a lot of that blue stuff around that room. If it didn't have a door, I reckon I could fill it up with water.
That patch on the right wall is where I had to take a low spot out of the wall. It's tile glue over layers of waterproofing.

Dave, you'd be able to do those splashbacks. You'd enjoy it.
 
Very very nice!

Are you doing grey grout on the subway tiles? Very 'in' and much easier to keep clean.

That cutting work on the drain is AMAZING. I would have gone a square drain myself to make it easier.
 
Floor tiles are Pietra Grey. I would know - I have 19 tonnes of it in my house (about 650m2 of tiling all up).

Very tidy job on the floor drain, in fact all of it.

In the shower (but usually a whole bathroom anyway), best to do the floors first. That way the walls are covering the outside cut of the floor tile, and the water drains away nicely instead of sitting in any dodgy little areas had it been tiled the opposite way.

Nice job.


pinkboy
 
Are you doing grey grout on the subway tiles? Very 'in' and much easier to keep clean.

Yep. Same grey as the floor grout.

That cutting work on the drain is AMAZING. I would have gone a square drain myself to make it easier.

I like a challenge. I was surprised at how well it turned out, though.

Did you have to waterproof the floors?

It's a bathroom. Lots of waterproofing in that room - more than was necessary (especially given it's not an indoor bathroom). Waterproofing is relatively cheap. There is no reason to not go overboard with it.
 
In the shower (but usually a whole bathroom anyway), best to do the floors first. That way the walls are covering the outside cut of the floor tile, and the water drains away nicely instead of sitting in any dodgy little areas had it been tiled the opposite way.

Yes, Pinkboy, pietra grey. Looks like a pretty serviceable tile and reasonably cheap. Glad it was less than 650sqm, though.
That room isn't square, which is why I opted to tile the floor first - I was more confident about cutting those wall tiles than the floor tiles.
 
Yes, Pinkboy, pietra grey. Looks like a pretty serviceable tile and reasonably cheap. Glad it was less than 650sqm, though.
That room isn't square, which is why I opted to tile the floor first - I was more confident about cutting those wall tiles than the floor tiles.

Try polished and 450 x 450mm. Exy! :D


pinkboy
 
The wall tiles are gloss Subway tiles. Cheap ($24 per sqm) and easy to cut and lay.

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Good job. Are those wall tiles 100 x 200? I've used similar on walls in the past but laid them vertically and didn't stagger them.

I'm o'seas now and trying to manage a reno in Melbourne by email/Whatsapp. The handyman guy just sent me these pics to show the floor's in good condition.

I have to decide what wall tiles to use so any help with the latest style would be great. I was thinking 200 x 200 white glossy but I think the rectangular look more modern? Sorry I don't mean to hijack this thread with my ugly bathroom :D

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I've also installed the same tiles in a apartment bathroom and kitchen splash back.. I'm really happy with the look using light grey grout.. I'm now wishing I used dark grey in the bathroom. That would have looked even smarter and easier to clean.

Scott what was your tool of choice for cutting the floor waste tiles??
 
whats the process to do as good a job as you did around the drain?

I've also installed the same tiles in a apartment bathroom and kitchen splash back.. I'm really happy with the look using light grey grout.. I'm now wishing I used dark grey in the bathroom. That would have looked even smarter and easier to clean.

Scott what was your tool of choice for cutting the floor waste tiles??

4" diamond wheel on the grinder (with no guard on). Use a felt pen to mark your waste on the tile/s. Sit tile on a bucket and use the blade's round profile to gently cut the glaze from the tile, following the mark. Work your way entirely around the drain hole (I like to walk around the bucket instead of flipping the tile - sometimes they break and you have to start again). Now you have a neat circle on the glaze of your tile where the waste needs to go. Next just cut across in hatches to get the bulk of the unwanted tile from the centre of the circle - careful not to nick the perfect formation you did earlier. Then its just a case of cutting through from the back side to get the rest of the cut out.

Make sure you put excess glue here as it will be 'weaker' due to the cut.


pinkboy
 
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