Kitchen Tiling

db

We're extending our kitchen at the moment so we need to rip what's there out and start from scratch. We're trying to decide whether to tile before installing the kitchen or tile afterwards. I think it would be best to tile first and then there's no grout between the floor & units and we can remove the plinths later if we need access to beneath the units. Mrs db wants to put the kitchen in first so nothing can get in under the units.

Any advice on which is the best way to go ?

CJhaughey

Apart from losing floor height and having a lower bench, I think that tiling the whole floor is a much better job.
You can run into problems with appliances if you have a step down under the units.
for example if the tiles were 15mm in thickness + grout you are looking at a big gap if you slid a dishwasher under the bench and it dropped another 3/4 of an inch.

threebeards

As a rule of thumb, always tile the floor first but never tile the walls. Tile as much as 6 inches in from where you think the front of the units will be but where the appliances will be, for the sake of 2 or 3 sq metres, tile all of that area. It's much neater by doing it beforehand. Are you doing it yourself? If so, get a good sigma (or similar) tile cutter.

Good luck

Rockee

Absolutely, it'd be wise to grout after the units are in. Otherwise there'll be discolouration in the grout because of feet trampling over the floor, sweeping etc.

threebeards

Rockee wrote:

Absolutely, it'd be wise to grout after the units are in. Otherwise there'll be discolouration in the grout because of feet trampling over the floor, sweeping etc.

I wouldn't agree Rockee. By tiling first and waiting a few days/weeks to grout means that all kinds of sh1t gets between the tiles and it makes it much harder to grout (take if from someone who found out the hard way!! ). What makes this worse is that there will be a lot of sawdust generated with the fitting of the kitchen. Once the grout is set, any discolouration will occur evenly. If I were db, I'd remove the old units first, lift the old tiles (if there are tiles there), lay the new tiles, grout them at the earliest opportunity, fit the kitchen units and then tile the walls between the units.

db

Thanks for the advice. Now to convince the boss.

Rockee

threebeards wrote:

I wouldn't agree Rockee. By tiling first and waiting a few days/weeks to grout means that all kinds of sh1t gets between the tiles and it makes it much harder to grout (take if from someone who found out the hard way!! ). What makes this worse is that there will be a lot of sawdust generated with the fitting of the kitchen. Once the grout is set, any discolouration will occur evenly. If I were db, I'd remove the old units first, lift the old tiles (if there are tiles there), lay the new tiles, grout them at the earliest opportunity, fit the kitchen units and then tile the walls between the units.

I used to just hoover all the crap from between the joints out!

db

Quick update on how we solved our dilemma. To complicate matters we were living in the house as the extension was built and the kitchen replaced so ripping out the old kitchen and lifting the tiles, then fitting the new tiles and new kitchen was not an option.
We fitted the new kitchen removing old units as we went. After the kitchen was in and the last of the old kitchen gone we removed the old tiles and adhesive. Before laying the new tiles we removed the kicker boards from the kitchen units and let the tiles run underneath. The kicker boards go back this weekend with a bead of silicon. The dishwasher will be a bit difficult to get out but there is a couple of inches adustment in the legs so it can be dropped down to get it out.