Why don't the tiles and floor get done first?

aliasojo

I've been watching a lot of home progs lately and a lot of the American ones have the bathrooms tiled from top to bottom first before the bath, basin and wc go in. Especially on some of the remodel jobs they do.

That's not what's usually done here though, we usually tile round things after they've been installed. Surely tiling first would be easier? Once the pipework has been run and it's just the pipes sticking out, wouldn't it be a simpler, neater job to only have to cut a few pipe holes in the tiles and then install the fixtures on top?

Is there a particular reason why we don't do it the American way? Is it cost related or something else I'm not seeing?

delain

we british are quite clumsy... I would probably end up smashing all the tiles and having to start again

andyhop

We set the pipe run first

Baton the walls so we have full/part tile at bottom

Tile the walls above baton, Tile floor, Then remove baton and piece in bottom

Suite is then fitted

Tiling around WC fittings is not a good idea and the finish will never be good

ormus

the yanks do a lot of things different to us in the uk. ie they rarely use bricks.
most houses there are timber framed and covered. made in a factory. the whole house is delivered on a lorry and typically erected in 4 days. very efficient way of building.

the whole method of buying/building a new house is very different to the UK.
you buy a plot and order a house from a catalogue! hence an estate will have many different designs.

they rarely use wet trades like we do. ie they use dry lining extensively.
decorating too. they use rollers on sticks and spray guns a lot! until fairly recently you never saw a painter in the UK using a stick roller.
UK builders are very conservative, they take decades (centuries) to make any changes to work practices.

aliasojo

That sounds similar to the tv progs then andy.

One thing though....if the walls are tiled before bath installation, does that make it harder to achieve a good seal at the edge of the bath? The bath would be against the tile rather than the tile coming down onto the bath as it would if the bath was installed first.

TomsMom

aliasojo wrote: »

Surely tiling first would be easier? Once the pipework has been run and it's just the pipes sticking out, wouldn't it be a simpler, neater job to only have to cut a few pipe holes in the tiles and then install the fixtures on top?

This is what we had done when we had our house renovated recently, in the bathroom, ensuite and downstairs WC.

All the pipework was done first and then the rooms fully tiled. Nice neat round holes were drilled out of the tiles to allow them to be slipped over the pipework for the taps/waste etc. The downstairs WC has a tiled floor and this was done before the toilet was installed. [The bathroom and ensuite have sheet vinyl. The ensuite vinyl was fitted before the sanitary ware but the bathroom sanitary ware had to be put in first due to the builders needed to get on and we couldn't get the fitter! However, the fitter was an expert with vinyl and made such a good job you wouldn't know it was done after the sanitary ware was fitted.]

It's going to cost a bit more to have tiles where they're not seen (under the bath) but probably not that much in the grand scheme of things. As long as the tiler is competent and has the right tools there shouldn't be any wastage from broken tiles attempting to cut the holes. AFAIK none of ours were broken.

Maybe I'm a neat freak but I like the fact that our rooms were fully tiled before the sanitary ware was installed.

aliasojo

ormus wrote: »

the yanks do a lot of things different to us in the uk. ie they rarely use bricks.
most houses there are timber framed and covered. made in a factory. the whole house is delivered on a lorry and typically erected in 4 days. very efficient way of building.

the whole method of buying/building a new house is very different to the UK.
you buy a plot and order a house from a catalogue! hence an estate will have many different designs.

they rarely use wet trades like we do. ie they use dry lining extensively.
decorating too. they use rollers on sticks and spray guns a lot! until fairly recently you never saw a painter in the UK using a stick roller.
UK builders are very conservative, they take decades (centuries) to make any changes to work practices.

Just watched an old Grand Designs prog on tv last night. The couple ordered in a frame kit from the US and the American team came over to erect it. They were surprised to find out the Uk team drove the nails in by hand instead of using air tools etc. It took them longer than it would have had they erected it back home.

aliasojo

TomsMom wrote: »

[The bathroom and ensuite have sheet vinyl. The ensuite vinyl was fitted before the sanitary ware but the bathroom sanitary ware had to be put in first due to the builders needed to get on and we couldn't get the fitter.

Do you have vinyl on the floor and tiles on the wall? If so, what do you have where they meet? Skirting or just tile to floor?

Inactive

ormus wrote: »

the yanks do a lot of things different to us in the uk. ie they rarely use bricks.
most houses there are timber framed and covered. made in a factory. the whole house is delivered on a lorry and typically erected in 4 days. very efficient way of building.

They do and then at the first whif of a hurricane they all blow away, they then replace them with more matchstick houses of similar design.


I prefer good old fashioned bricks.;)

TomsMom

aliasojo wrote: »

Do you have vinyl on the floor and tiles on the wall? If so, what do you have where they meet? Skirting or just tile to floor?

Yes, vinyl floor and tiled walls (sorry, should have made that clear, I was thinking it in my head but it didn't transfer to the keyboard :rotfl: ).

The wall tiles come down to the floor (we didn't want skirting board, we had it in the last house and think tiles to the floor look better) and where the vinyl floor meets the wall tiles there is a thin bead of clear silicone, very nice and neat. The clear silicone is in the main bathroom and was suggested by the carpet fitter as being a better finish than white silicone (which the builders put in the ensuite without asking us and really doesn't look as good as the clear).

Canucklehead

aliasojo wrote: »

Surely tiling first would be easier? Once the pipework has been run and it's just the pipes sticking out, wouldn't it be a simpler, neater job to only have to cut a few pipe holes in the tiles and then install the fixtures on top

Good morning: It is;) If you're interested in North American building practices try this forum....might help dispel the myths that often abound on here.

Canucklehead