Tiling DIY - Tiling around a pipe

In a bid to save some money on my latest project, I am tackling the tiling myself, I have learnt a lot over the last few days and I thought I would share some of what I have learnt incase you are going to give tiling a go.

I have 3 rooms to tile, bathroom (onto existing walls), shower room (onto new plasterboard) and kitchen splash backs (onto fresh plaster).

You notice I included the surfaces that the tiles are going on to......I previously didn't really think this was important. After 2 days of trying to level tiles around lumps and bumps, I can say it is important.

Tip 1:  Preparation is key - trying to make tiles look level and straight while negotiating bumps that turn tiles into seesaws is not fun....and ultimately doesn't look good.  Sand or scrape away any imperfections or previous tile adhesive.  Check the walls are level - mine weren't.  You might have to compensate for walls that aren't square and this is easier to do if you can anticipate it.

Tip 2:  Mark out the tile positions before you start.  There are hundreds of tutorials about different ways to set out tiles around windows, showers, etc so I'm not going into that here.  What I found helpful (although a little time consuming) was a pencil in on the walls the first row or section of tiles to check that there weren't any odd shaped end tiles, it also gave me a good grasp on how many full tiles I could do in a run before stopping to cut a tile.  As a non-professional, I am not quick enough to cut a tile while there is adhesive on the wall without it drying out.  Also I was able to make some complicated cuts easier by where in the tile they landed - see below!

Tip 3:  Use fresh adhesive.  This one sounds a bit funny, but I chose to use ready mixed adhesive (because life is complicated enough already) and I had a tub left over from a previous job.  My money saving instinct kicked in and used that up first.  It wasn't until I finished that and opened a fresh tub that I realised how much easier to use the new one was.  Yes it's obvious now but I thought I could save some £££'s.

Tip 4:  Find a friend.  Unless you are a pro, I really don't think this is a one man/woman job,  we got into a rhythm of one putting on the adhesive while the other cuts and sticks on tiles.  It worked really well, although typically areas to be tiled are quite small, so make sure its a good friend!!

Tip 5:  Electric (wet) cutter AND manual cutter:  In the DIY store the assistant tried to talk me into just buying the electric cutter and saving money by not using a manual one.  I ignored the advice and I'm so glad I did.  I find the electric one terrifying (I value all of my fingers) and maybe its just me but I also find it quite slow.  The manual cutter is a cut and crack (probably not the technical terms) and ready to go.  The electric one also has it's place.  There are cuts you just can't make manually, unless you have some super skills I'm not aware of.

Which brings me to cutting tiles to fit round a pipe.

In the bathroom I was tackling today I had 2 pipes to contend with, toilet and sink.

The sink luckily fell into place on a join and as it will be forever hidden behind the sink, I just cut a square which I will seal with silicone.  The toilet, well the toilet tested every last ounce of patience I had - fortunately I had planned it to land in the centre of 2 tiles so it was 2 semi circles and not 1 circle. (see tip 2!)

Not only is it a super awkward place to get to (assuming the toilet pan is connected) but it's a circle, in tiles that like to break in straight lines. 

This is my step by step of how I did it - which may not be 'textbook' but it worked.

Step 1: Mark the circle.  This involved some close contact with the toilet pan so you might want to make sure its very clean.  I put tile tile up against the pipe and marked the top and bottom positions, then using a pipe of the same diameter (or you can use a compass - the one with a pencil for drawing circles - not the direction one) scribed the edge to weaken the tile.  I then used a pencil to draw in the line for my own benefit.

Step 2: Cutting it out:  Use the wet cutter to make lots of small straight cuts to the edge of the curve.  Not going to lie, this is quite difficult, as the water makes it difficult to see exactly where the curve is and where to stop.  Slow and steady is key.

Step 3: Break away the unwanted pieces.  Once you have all the little lines, use nippers or nibblers (depending where you are from) to literally snap out the sections.  As long as you are gentle they come away without breaking any further and leave you with a round curve which can be filed to a more precise shape. 

Once I had done one, I was able to use it as a template for the second, which made it much easier.

And ready to attach, 2 semi circles to fit around the pipe.  I can't get a photo of it in situ because of the angle, but I'm pleased with it anyway!!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Summer Terrace - Days 13-21 - big change

In my last post I talked about the dark corridor and opening it up to let more light in.  I still wasn't completely happy with it.  I also wasn't happy with the bedroom next to the corridor, it was ok, but it was an odd shape and meant that furniture wouldn't really fit.
As you can see on the picture below, the top (as you look at the diagram) bedroom isn't furniture friendly.  The bed in the diagram is up against the window and radiator - not ideal - and it doesn't fit anywhere else.

To solve both problems, I decided to move the bedroom door - it's pretty drastic but it will make the house so much more user friendly.  In the picture below, you can see the other problem with moving the door, the stairs are in the way.  So in a major change, having taken the wall down to open up the stairs, I changed the layout of the bottom of the stairs and the moved the door to the bedroom.

So...the changes....

The new stair layout.

Look how much space it saves!  They are still really big steps, I was worried but I've run up and down them many times and not missed the turn at all.

The result - extra light and a better layout. I'm really pleased.

before plaster

I've lost track of days now, I'm not completely sure what day of the week it is, but here is that same view after plastering and a first coat of paint.  It will have spotlights when it's done to add even more light when required - previously there were only 2 wall lights for this whole corridor area.  It feels much wider now.

Look at all that light!

looking up to the top floor (the loft floor)

looking down from the top floor 

I can't find a 'before' for this angle, but believe me, it was very dark with the solid wall and very little natural light coming in.


The bedroom which had the door moved has completely changed too, but that room is currently full of bathroom furniture and tiles so I'll have to wait to add photos of that change.