Tile floor question

peace2804

Hi guys, planning to change the Lino floor in the kitchen to tiles, there are some great bargains now. Apart from the tiles what else should I buy? What would be the cost of labour ( don't have a size of the kitchen yet but it's a classic semi detached house)? Anything that I should check myself before comiting to put the tiles down?

vagabond2013

make sure the floor is pretty level and clean.. remove any bumps.. you also need tile adesieve and grout.. if the floor underneath is rough use floor leveler at least 2 days before hand to allow for drying.. if your doing it yourself buy an electric tile cutter around €35 in B&Q saves time and makes life easier... also divide floor with a length of timber 2 x 1 and nail it to the floor to keep a straight line watch out for pipes under the floor if you do this.. dont mix too much adesieve at one time.. and if you can place the tiles on the floor first before adesieve and have all your tiles cut first then mix up and stick em down leaving a gap between each one.. spacers are a good idea if its your first go...

homer911

Ideally you should remove the kickboards from the bottoms of the kitchen units, tile beyond their actual position and trim the kickboards before replacing

Tom Joad

Shop around for the tiles and always allow an extra 10% on top of how many tiles you need for the area - especially important if you are getting them in an end of line sale etc.

Always check the quotes you get from the shops to see the quantity of tiles they are quoting - I know a number of people who have got stung by this - think they are getting a great quote and then realising that they need 3 - 4extra boxes of tiles to finish the job.

If you are getting someone in to do the job - don't buy adhesive without consulting them - most tilers hate using the ready mixed stuff that most tile shops sell - so save yourself some hassle and wait to talk to the tiler first before buying adhesive.

+1 on making sure the floor is level - can't emphasise this enough - if the floor is not level not matter how expensive the tiles it will always look and feel like a crap job.

slimjimmc

^+1

Don't confuse "square yards" with "square metres", there's nearly 20% in difference in area. Many places quote prices in sq yds because it looks cheaper at initial glance.
1 Sq yd = 0.836127 sq m

Tiles + adhesive (and possibly levelling compound) will raise the floor height so check if the bottom of the doors into the room need trimming to clear the extra height.

peace2804

Thanks guys for all the replies, it's really helpful, if the best option is to bring a tiler to do the job, how much it will cost roughly?

looksee

Make sure you get tiles that are non-slippery, remember that a child who falls on a tiled floor is hitting a very hard surface. And anything that gets dropped on a tiled floor generally does not survive. (been there, taken them up!)

Tom Joad

Depends on a few things such as type of tile/size (Marble more expensive than Porcelain and more expensive again than Ceramic, area of the country - but off the top of my head you'd be looking at €20 - €25 per sq meter.

Remember tiling is a real skill - anyone can tile but a professional finish will only be achieved by a professional.

vagabond2013

hi again.. if you measure the length and with of the area to be tiled and let us know which type of tile you are buying then we can determine a rough price...:D

650gs

More like 12 to 15 euro a sq mtr and get the tiler to get the grout/adhesive it will be more than likely half the price