Wall tiling in kitchen

beachlou

Evening,


We would like to tile a part of our kitchen (splashback and surrounding area) and ideally do it ourselves. Any tips on how to get a professional finish? Or would it be better to get someone in?

wallbash

DIY

So you get a less than a perfect result, you will get better next time.
Check out youtube, a video is better than a book/forum

I have been tiling in a DIY fashion for over 50 years. Circumstances started me when I was .....eleven.

The hardest tile is the very first. Get that right and it becomes much easier.

Don't use expensive tiles at first, good choice of a cheaper sort, no one will know. I started off with a tile scorer and two matches ( those were the days) Now a wet wheel is cheap and very effective.

NICHOLAS_2

Depends, if your kitchen is dated and looks like it's due to be renewed then you may as well have a crack, even a professional tile job can't bring a dead kitchen back to life.

On the other hand, if your kitchen units are quite new i'd pay someone. It isn't as easy as it looks and it's even harder if your walls are all over the place.

Considering you are doing such a small area, by the sounds of it, it shouldnt cost that much.

I think the going rate is about £40 per square meter for tiling.

wallbash

i'd pay someone. It isn't as easy as it looks

And thats why the art of DIY is a dying art.
People giving up before they start.

We have youngsters who cant even wire a plug.

I think the going rate is about £40 per square meter for tiling.

eye watering,

Suggest we get MSE to change the title of this section to .....don't DIY

ps Sorry NICHOLAS this is not an attack on your post, you are just summing up, what I see is slide of many people to walk away from DIY

benson1980

Use the right tile spacers. Use decent adhesive and grout. Get a tile cutter (i used a mates cheap diamond disc cutter and happened to have a rubi tile cutter for the straight lines but latter isn't necessary as these are quite expensive). The hardest bits are working around sockets, corners etc, so just try and measure it out as best you can to try and not get any awkward cuts or tiny slithers of tiles at the ends. Grout and then it's just decent sponge and water.

I never tiled before when I did my kitchen spashback. Looked better than the effort the professional tiler had made with the floor because he just rushed it to get the job done in the allotted time. It's pretty easy really- as with most things it's just time consuming to do a proper job the first time around

molerat

^^^^^^^^^
Tiling is not a magic art. When we altered our kitchen I had to extend the tiled area, had enough tiles left over from the original job. You can see where I tiled as opposed to the pro job - mine is perfect ! If you are going to do a few then a diamond cutter will pay for itself in a couple of jobs - need 1mm off a tile then no problem with a perfect edge, cutting lumps for sockets then again piece of cake.

EssexExile

We paid a lot of money to have a kitchen professionally fitted as I can't do all that physical stuff any more. It was fine, I just wish I'd done the tiling & the plumbing myself. If you're of a practical bent tiling is quite straightforward, just take your time. It's easier than wallpapering or painting.

beachlou

Thank you for all the replies. My husband & I have decided to make a go of it ourselves. We would like to learn how to do it. The tiles are arriving on Monday. First thing we need to figure out is how to remove the current stainless steel splash back off the wall.

Owain_Moneysaver

if there are no visible fixings it's probably stuck on with silicone. Get a filling knife or similar under one corner and try levering it off. Don't be surprised if a large chunk of wall comes away too.

beachlou

:eek: Oh gosh, I hope not! There are, what looks like, covers for screws so hopefully it'll come away nicely.

whoschuffed

I've just paid £150 to have my kitchen tiled as a splashback all the way around and up to the extractor unit. Job was approx 4sqm so not a great deal but there were loads of cuts as we've got quite a few different sockets and switches around the worktop.

I provided the metro tiles and adhesive and he provided the grout, trims and spacers. Worth it imo as he has done a quality job and whilst as a DIY'er I probably would have been able to do it myself given the time it would have taken me a damn sight longer and I'd prefer to have just had it boxed off in a day!