is it hard to tile walls?

Question

I want to tile my bathroom wall. Is it a job I can do myself or should I employ someone to do it?

Answer 1

You have to be very accurate and measuring and cutting is also involved. I'd say get someone in to do a proper Job!!

Good Luck !!!

Answer 2

Do research first. Rushing into this job with no prior experience and without making sure what you are doing will very likely not work. There is no way that you can start tonight, and be done tomorrow, and have a job which will last for more than a couple of days. Check out books from library, or buy books about tiling. Do lots of research online. Make sure what you will need to have done to the wall before tiling, so that the tile will adhere properly, and water will not leak through into damaging places. Tiling is really not very hard, and is certainly doable as a DIY project, but don't try to rush the job.

Answer 3

No its easy, most tile adhesives will stop the tiles from moving so once they are on the wall, they will stick.
Use spacers to get a uniformed look.
Measure the wall and start in the middle and work outwards, Use battoning where necsessary
All cut tiles should be on the outside of the walls where edging will hide the cuts.
Buy / hire a tile cutter which makes the job a lot lot easier.

Ps Make sure that the walls are level before you start.

Answer 4

OK I think I shall start to answer this question sensibly then maybe ramble for a bit later. Found a few sites for you to look at that are quite help full on the whole doing up the bathroom thing.

H2G2
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A472727

Hints and things
http://www.hintsandthings.co.uk/bathroom/bathroom-tiling.htm

There is loads of info on those two sites, the second one being slightly more help full, the first being slightly more strange.

I reckon you should have a go doing it your self, It's not to difficult. Ive done it myself and I'm not normally allowed to do things like that, in fact I'm not allowed out in public without a responsible adult and a riot control team. I found the most enjoyable part to be smashing the previous tiles with a large hammer and the least enjoyable part filling up the huge hammer holes in the wall.

Also a quick design suggestion. I think in the middle of this new tiled bathroom wall you should have a mosaic celebrating gemma the amassing cod dancer. It seems only fitting now we have all lost her to the east.

Have fun with the tiling!

Answer 5

it's a bit difficult to do it right... even by those who usually do it...
It also depends on the tiles you are going to use. Are they big ones or small? Smaller makes it easier.

Is it the main bath room? is it not? Does the job have to be 100% error free?

Do you consider yourself a fairly skilled person when doing manual work?

Remember, sometimes you want to save some money but in the end the money you actually saved did not compensate all the trouble you went through. I can tell (hahaha).

On the other hand, if you want to do it for the fun of doing something different, well you go ahead. After all in the end when you use it you'll just remind the funny time spent doing that job.

Do your judgment and decide!

V.

Answer 6

I am a self-employed tiler and I can tell you that it is possible for you to tile your bathroom walls yourself but there are many things you need to watch out for. You need to measure up properly so that you end up with the minimum number of cuts and tiling looking even. You need to prepare your walls properly - if they are painted go over them with a piece of sandpaper to provide a key for the adhesive, if they've been papered then you will need to use sugar soap to clean the walls (wallpaper paste only needs moisture to re-activate it even if it's very old). Both Tiling and Grouting are relatively easy to do but they can look appalling if care is not taken. Remember it's more expensive to get a wall re-tiled if you mess up - the choice is yours.
Feel up to it - good luck.

Answer 7

You can do it yourself, the trick is to wait for the glue to get tacky enough so that tiles stay in place and don't slide down wall. Use spacers, snap chalk lines or use laser level to make sure tiles are aligned properly. Especially if you are creating a pattern dry fit to see where you need to cut tiles, you can rent a tile cutter for this. You may need a ceramic blade to cut notches or irregular shapes. For light switches you need to shim the switch or outlet so it is level with the tile. Wait a day for glue to set, pull out the spacers and remove excess glue from between tiles. When applying the grout make sure you fill all the holes. Wipe tiles clean of grout wait another day for grout to set and then apply sealer. You want to use gloves for grout and maybe even for laying the tile. I had skin peeling off my hands after I did grouting.

Answer 8

Doing the tiling yourself means that you have to be very accurate and patient. You will also need to cut tiles so you will have to buy or borrow equipment to do this. Do a list of all the things you will need and come up with a cost. Add to that the time you will need to do it. Compare that with any prices you can find out there. I bet it will be cheaper to do it yourself but still you have to be pretty sure you'll do it the right way. If in doubt practise first on a piece of wood.

Answer 9

you can start by tearing the old crap out yourself and putting in new plumbing and hanging the cement boards and sheetrock

i did my entire bathroom everything except the tile. i found an italian he charged me 800$ cash for 3 days to set the floor tile, wall tile, and also wired me a circuit for the bathroom fan.

i think between the materials and his labour, i spent not more than 3000$ and i have a whole new bathroom plus all new drains and plumbing i did all myself.

Answer 10

You can do it yourself, just educate yourself well first. The grouting in the hardest part - make sure you wear gloves cause it will tear up your skin. Also invest in a good tile cutter (or rent one). Cheapy ones really can make it a much harder job. Also, for the bathroom you may want to invest in a mold free backer board and make sure you really seal the tile.

Answer 11

it's not easy but totally possible,.. i managed to tile my bathroom, 7 months pregnant and with tiles that were nearly a centimetre thick so bloody hard to cut! plus my house was really old so none of the walls were straight! but tilers can charge a fortune so as well as saving myself a packet, i am very proud of my acheivement everytime i go into my bathroom!