Bathroom floor already tiled - want to tile the walls but has skirting??

Discussion in 'Tilers' Talk' started by mds1256, Aug 28, 2015.

  1. mds1256

    mds1256 Member

    We live in a new build house and the bathroom floor is tiled but the walls are just plasterboard with paint.

    We are wanting to tile the whole bathroom but from what I have seen is when tiling bathroom walls there is no skirting board. We obviously have skirting and would like to take it off so the wall tiles meet the floor tiles. The skirting looks roughly 10mm (could be wrong as I haven't measured it) so the floor tiles would have roughly have a 11mm gap around the walls. The wall tile would take up some of that space but would it be the case of trying to loose the extra gap as you go up the wall to reduce the distance of the tile off the wall?

    Not sure if I have explained that correctly?
     
  2. seen it all before

    seen it all before Active Member

    I would have thought the skirting would be at least 15mm thick, (most new builds use 15mm mdf skirting these days).
    Depending on what size thickness tile you use, most are around the 8mm thickness but that said you can easily get thicker tiles.
    Anyway yes you could pack out slightly the bottom tiles then slope back in gradually over the bottom 3 tiles as you work upwards, as to wether or not you could pack out to meet the floor tiles completely you would have to try a couple and see how it looks to the eye when looking at it.
    If you can't quite full the whole gap you could always fill it with the same colured floor grout which is already down.
     
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  3. mds1256

    mds1256 Member

    Thanks for that, it probably is 15mm. That's good, still feel like I should get a pro in to do it, not massively confident on doing it but would like to try tiling.
     
    seen it all before likes this.
  4. seen it all before

    seen it all before Active Member

    Good luck with whatever you decide, I have done it myself a few times for clients and it's possible to achieve a good finish without it looking like it kicks out too much at the bottom, just a bit of patience and time.
     
  5. Mr. Handyandy

    Mr. Handyandy Screwfix Select

    Hmmm. I would get the skirting off first all round. You might find gaps go up to 20mm in places. See what you got then decide what to do.

    Mr. HandyAndy - Really
     
  6. Mr. Handyandy

    Mr. Handyandy Screwfix Select

    One option would be dot&dab another layer of plasterboard.

    Mr. HandyAndy - Really
     
  7. seen it all before

    seen it all before Active Member

    What about the door frame and architrave etc??? Dot and dab will bring him out at least 20-25mm.
     
  8. Mr. Handyandy

    Mr. Handyandy Screwfix Select


    Good point. Typing before thinking!

    Mr. HandyAndy - Really
     
    seen it all before likes this.
  9. Frank W

    Frank W New Member

    I would have expected the floor tiles to have gone in before the skirting, therefore they will go under the skirting.

    You would need to remove the skirting to see how much of a gap has been left between the floor tiles and the wall before deciding on how to tile the wall.

    One solution, if there's space would be to use a wall tile with a curved edge on the bottom row to meet the edge of the floor tile. Don't forget to seal the wall before fixing the tiles, same goes for the bottom row edge to the floor tiles.
     
  10. MDS, tiling is a nice - tho' challenging - project for a newbie like yourself.

    For beginner success you really need flat level walls, square corners, and a bit of planning.

    What you don't need is to try and build in a slight taper using a thicker bed of adhesive towards the bottom. I'll almost guarantee that will go pear - or some other related - shape. But certainly not smoothly.

    It's been said above - remove the skirting and see what you have to deal with. Fingers crossed it's as Frank says.

    If it isn't like that, then you have a few ways around it - again all outlined above; screw another sheet of p'board or tiling board to your walls (and, yes, you'll need to work around the architrave, mostly likely removing it and refitting over an extra bead of timber), or tile away and add a decorative bead along the wall/floor join, or try and get away with an extra-wide bead of coloured grout - perhaps even a contrasting colour - but I suspect the floor tile edges might not be even...

    A separate moulding or a tile that has a raised edge would be the easiest, I guess.
     
  11. Frank W

    Frank W New Member

    Problem solved.... Take the wife tile shopping with you when choosing the wall tiles, you will then end up with getting new floor tiles to match the new wall tiles... :D

    You can now rip out the old floor tiles and can then fit all the tiles in neatly...
     
  12. mds1256

    mds1256 Member

    Thanks for all the replies, some useful tips.

    However next problem, the tiling only goes up to the skirting and not under it! there is grout between the tiles and the skirting. Looks like tiles were retrofitted and skirtings were left on when they put the tiles down....

    Umm may need to think about this one in order to get a good finish.....
     
  13. Mr. Handyandy

    Mr. Handyandy Screwfix Select

    It's not a problem. You have the new floor tiles. You wanted no skirting.

    That's it.

    Mr. HandyAndy - Really
     
  14. Frank W

    Frank W New Member

    Wonder whats below the floor tiles? Lino maybe??? :D

    Just joking... Some 'inside' corner pieces may well fit in the gap left by the skirting thereby allowing a smooth transition from the floor tiles to the vertical.
     

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