can I tile before fitting a bath and basin??

Taffoire

Hiya all

I've had a search and I'm still feeling stoopid here

we're in the process of buying a house off my dad and it needs LOADS doing to it (full rewiring,DPC, no kitchen there etc).

Basically, we need a new bathroom suite and are going for a white cheap and cheerful option, but I'm confuddled about tiling.

My DH is going to be attempting the tiling himself, but is unsure if he can tile before the suite is fitted or after. The tiles will be up to the ceiling around 2 sides of the bath, and floor to ceiling arorund the basin which is next to the bath (if that makes sense at all :rolleyes: ).

Thanking you muchly

Lou x

plumb1_2

Yes can tile all the walls, but leave a couple of rows of tiles off to where you are going to fit the bath. Once bath fitted then tile down to top of bath.

coolagarry

When I first read the post I was going to advise 'No' because it is important to tile down to the top of the bath to make it as waterproof as possible but Plumb 1's idea is much better.
You can get at the wall more easily without the bath but can tile down to the bath as well after it's fitted. The mistake most first time diy tilers make is to be frightened of cutting tiles so they tend to start their tiling in corners, at skirting boards etc. The chances are that they are not plumb and the who job will be skewy. Start with a straight line. (better still screw a straight piece of wood to the wall and tile off that). Cutting tiles for corners etc is dead easy.

Doozergirl

We've tiled walls before any fittings have gone in and it looks fabulous because it so clean when you have no cuts at all. We've done the entire room, floors and ceilings though so there's little likelyhood of water escaping anywhere.

Bungarm2001

(CEILINGS Doozergirl??? burger me...! You guys are keen....! :rotfl: )

We (I should say OH) always tile floor to ceiling, but he always fits the bath first for several reasons, the main one being, the walls are rarely truly square, particularly in older houses. If you are fitting a bath into a corner, it's a lot easier to square in into the walls first. For instance, you might have to chip a bit of plaster out here and there to make sure there won't be any huge gaps between bath and wall.

Second reason is squareness again; with the bath perfectly levelled, you can work from this level up to the ceiling knowing that the tiles will all be level too. (Any difference between the levels can be lost at floor level and at the ceiling level...bit hard to describe, but you'll probably get what I mean. I hope) Nothing looks worse than tiles that are inline with the floor and/or ceiling, but not inline with the top of the bath, particularly if you are using the big ones.

Another reason for using the top of the bath as a starting line, particularly for someone who is not an experienced tiler is if you don't get the layout right, and you are using huge tiles or you want a bit of a pattern, the top of the bath could end up being mid tile or pattern and could look a bit 'off' if you see what I mean.

Have a go at it...remember like all things DIY it's the planning that takes time and worth it to get a good job done, particularly true with tiling..!

aliasojo

Embarrassing question from me now, lol. If the whole bathroom floor is tiled before the bath is installed.....does that not cause any issues for the feet of the bath? I'm thinking smooth tile surface & metal legs might not be as firm a surface as just the bathroom floor iyswim and might not be as secure & steady?

Also if bathroom furniture is being used, is it daft or better to tile everywhere first?

Doozergirl

Bungarm2001 wrote: »

(CEILINGS Doozergirl??? burger me...! You guys are keen....! :rotfl: )

I don't think I meant that! :doh:

I meant floors to ceiling. Even I'm not that crazy!

wallbash

I was thinking Mirror tiles for your ceiling :rotfl:

andrew-b

aliasojo wrote: »

Embarrassing question from me now, lol. If the whole bathroom floor is tiled before the bath is installed.....does that not cause any issues for the feet of the bath? I'm thinking smooth tile surface & metal legs might not be as firm a surface as just the bathroom floor iyswim and might not be as secure & steady?

Also if bathroom furniture is being used, is it daft or better to tile everywhere first?

Could you not tile the floor just upto near the edge of the bath and finish off to under the bath panels once the bath is fitted. Often technical diagrams of baths show the positions of the legs so you might have at least a rough idea of where not to tile. So long as you do the sealing round the bath properly afterwards and seal round the bath panel water shouldn't get underneath. Unless it's a freestanding bath it seems daft to me tiling under it when your unlikely to ever see it.

If it is likely that you may want to have the area under the bath tiled at a later date (perhaps if you change the room layout) then just leave a box of tiles underneath. Usually you'll end up with spares anyway that can also be stashed under there.

Andy

Bungarm2001

andrew-b wrote: »

Could you not tile the floor just upto near the edge of the bath and finish off to under the bath panels once the bath is fitted. Often technical diagrams of baths show the positions of the legs so you might have at least a rough idea of where not to tile. So long as you do the sealing round the bath properly afterwards and seal round the bath panel water shouldn't get underneath. Unless it's a freestanding bath it seems daft to me tiling under it when your unlikely to ever see it.

If it is likely that you may want to have the area under the bath tiled at a later date (perhaps if you change the room layout) then just leave a box of tiles underneath. Usually you'll end up with spares anyway that can also be stashed under there.

Andy

Yep...another good reason for fitting the bath first. No point in tiling under a bath IMHO unless of course it's a frestanding one.

Another thing to bear in mind is fill the bath first before doing any final grouting and/or silicon sealing. You'll be amazed how much lower a bath will go when filled with water, let alone when someone is in it! Doing this will prevent the sealant from splitting and letting water in when it is first used.