Tiling

One thing mentioned is it may be hard laylarge tiles to lay on out of level concrete, the solution is this is to use a self levelling compound by Ardex.

If you have dips, crowns and hollowed it'll be hard to do.

Perhaps buy, borrow a long straight edge (~2m) put alevel on top and have a good look at your floor. You cant 'work' it too much more than the thickness of the glue bed itself ~2-3mm over say 1-2 tiles. You'll edge up with tiles edges sticking up and/or very drummy tiles if you have dips or crowns more than this.

In which case you'll need a self levelling screed, which is made up up from cement base, but has more water for less viscosity, so it runs & spreads like cream. Really pretty easy to use, but you'll need to create a dam/weir at the edges or it runs everywhere and won't self level.

I'd check the levels before you lay anything down, 'cause once you start your committed.

Clive

Just done the bathroom, walls & floor, and the kitchen bench tops. (yes, in tile)

Also laid tiles with the FIL.

It's a lot like laying pavers. And the rules are basically the same.

The larger the tile, the harder it is going to be to lay.

IF your floor is nice & level, then you should be good with the big tiles you have your eye on. If its not, then either use a self leveling compound, or go for a smaller tile.

Laying the tiles is the easy bit. The grouting is the hardest bit for me. I was so annoyed with the way the bathroom walls came up, that I spent a day ripping out all the grout, just to re-do it the next.

What I tend to do, is to mix up the glue in a normal bucket. Buy a stack of them from Bunnings, and throw them out at the end of the day. Its just not worth washing them.

And remember, dont spread so much glue on the floor that you cant reach over it to lay the tiles. Chalk that one up to experience....:cool:

Well, I got the tiles for a steal, and have found a tiler through my neighbour the plumber.

He sounds like a good bloke, and is happy to knock some dollars off if I do the grunt work :D :eek: He's also interested in buying the excess tiles from me (I had to buy ~50m2, of which I only need about 20. This should keep costs down, and give me confidence that it all won't go pear-shaped.

Thanks for all the replies and offers of help ;)

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Originally Posted by Mr Whippy

I have done two floors. I did a lot of research on the net. I am not real good at cutting tiles, so I purchased a diamond cutter from Bunnings like mentioned in the above post.

It was a wet grinder and I found that I got very wet, so I got a large garbage bag and cut a head and arm holes and wore that when cutting.

You will also need a notched trowel, probably with 10mm notches

Grouting is the easy bit. Purchase a rubber grout trowel and you spread the grout like buttering bread.

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/2507/img8032p.jpg

My first floor job. I have done a few walls previously.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/6871/img8030g.jpg

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That gold stuff is for cleaning up and not for lubricating the tiler :D.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by clubagreenie

Bunning have cheap bench saw cutters, about $70

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Hi,
These will do the job nicely, get a spare blade while you can. Before you use the measuring guide on each end, check the alignment. Mine is out of square and will push the tile against the side of the blade if the rulers are relied on.
I suspect the motor is mounted out of square with the table.

I found I kept losing my cutting line on the tile with the water being thrown around and ended up doing all my cutting lines with masking tape. That worked a treat.

If you are going to use the Mrs' kitchen scales to weigh your mixtures, put a plastic bag over them to keep them clean.

Have fun, don't rush it, measure twice - cut once.

cheers