How to lay the tiles in the bathroom yourself

Recommendation points

• Repair planning
• Selection of materials for cladding
• Choosing a bathroom design and preparing a material with a tool
• Cooking walls for tiles
• Marking the walls before laying the tiles
• We “beat off” the first row of tiles
• Laying tiles
• Grouting tiles
• Conclusion

The bathroom is one of the most visited places in the apartment; every working day begins and ends with it. The mood for the whole working day sometimes depends on the comfort and atmosphere of the bathroom. It is this factor that makes bathroom renovation a priority, while the cost of repairs is often scared off by the “high cost”.

It is quite possible to bypass such an obstacle and make high-quality repairs, for relatively little money. To do this, it is worth buying a tile and following the instructions and examples from real laying with your own hands, tiling your bathroom with tiles yourself, the cost of such repairs will be reduced by at least two times.

Renovation of an apartment is one of the most diverse events in the life of an apartment owner, on the one hand – large financial costs, on the other – the joy of the renovated housing and a sense of pride at the thought “I live here” after the renovation itself. Considering the first and one of the most urgent aspects of repair, that is, financial, it can be noted that a really good repair is expensive and requires significant investment. Quite often, apartment owners make a huge mistake in trying to start saving money by cutting the budget for repairs by purchasing low-quality materials. Subsequently, such savings translate into the need for repeated repairs with the investment of no less money, and sometimes much more than the initial repair. Getting into a vicious circle of continuous repairs, the owner realizes the relevance of one of the national curses “So that you build your whole life.”.

Repair planning

To avoid such a phenomenon is quite within the power of any owner, for this it is necessary to analyze before the start of the repair itself what will be done and how much such “pleasure” will cost, only after determining an approximate estimate can the repair be planned. Of course, we can say with confidence that an increase in costs during the repair itself cannot be avoided, as a rule, up to 10-15% in excess of previously calculated costs arises in any construction, but a preliminary calculation will allow the owner to clearly understand whether there will be enough resources to repair the entire apartment or be limited some part of it.

One of the most optimal repair options, for most families, is to carry out work on separate rooms, which will allow it to be done really well, on the one hand, and to minimize the “burden” on the family budget, on the other. To this we can add that one of the most effective saving systems is to carry out repair work on our own..

Analyzing the costs of repairs, it can be noted that about 50-60% of all costs will be attributed to the payment of builders’ services. Moreover, most of such work can be done independently; this requires patience, desire and free time. One of the places where you can easily carry out repairs yourself is the bathroom. On the one hand, it is quite small in size, on the other hand, all 70% of the total cost of bathroom renovation will go to the wages of builders. Considering the repair of the bathroom, it can be noted that the repair in it consists of several related processes – the repair of the sewerage and water supply system, the repair of the walls and ceiling, the floor, and the electrical part. One of the most expensive, in terms of money, is the renovation of the bathroom walls.

Selection of materials for cladding

Arrangement of walls in the bathroom is carried out most often with tiles, this is due to a number of reasons. Firstly, the tile is one of the most waterproof materials, while it practically does not absorb moisture, which cannot be said about a number of other materials, such as wallpaper, drywall (even moisture resistant). When using synthetic materials, such as plastic, there is a possibility of mold and mildew between the wall and the facing material, there is no such risk when using tiles. It is also worth noting that the tile is also more resistant to the aggressive effects of solutions, liquids. In the bathroom, as a rule, strong chemical cleaning agents are used, steam technology with high temperatures (steam treatment), the tiles are most resistant to mechanical damage, and to all this, the life of the tiles is much higher than any other material that can be used in the bathroom. room. The only drawback of using tiles is the alleged “complexity” of its installation.

Choosing a bathroom design and preparing a material with a tool

In fact, the installation process is quite simple and does not require specialized knowledge, enough patience and desire. At the same time, it is better to invest the money saved on builders in purchasing more expensive tiles, or in plumbing. Bathroom wall cladding begins with the choice of tiles and design definitions. There are a lot of design options, ranging from the acquisition of monochromatic tiles for the entire bathroom, to mosaics and the arrangement of drawings on the walls. The only thing to remember when choosing a tile is that replacing a tile in a bathroom is a rather lengthy, costly and “dirty” process and you should avoid aggressive colors or super-surreal designs, which may, after a while, negatively affect the nervous system of apartment residents. Moreover, the bathroom is a place that cannot be ignored. The second aspect of choosing a tile is its “evenness”, that is, the absence of defects. The higher the class of the tiles, the easier it is to lay them due to the absence of defects in the form of irregularities or bends on the tiles themselves, this is especially true for those who will work independently and are not a specialist.

Before starting the process itself, you must purchase all the necessary equipment and materials. We need a tile, the number of tiles required is calculated based on the square of the walls. To determine the “quadrature”, we multiply the width by the height and get the area of ​​one wall, add everything together and get the result. With a height of 2.7 meters and a width of 2.5 meters, the square of one bathroom wall is 6.75 square meters, there are two such walls, plus the “square” of the second pair of walls (2.7 height, width 2 m) 5.4 * 2 total it turns out 24.3 squares, we add one square to the “battle” we get the estimated number of tiles 25 squares. Tile adhesive should be taken as it is used up and before laying, you should not purchase more than two bags. You will also need a tile cutter, a ballerina drill, several spatulas, plastic crosses and chopiks.

Cooking walls for tiles

After choosing the tile itself, the “dirtiest” stage of the robot begins, this is the preparation of the walls. Initially, all plumbing and other pieces of furniture must be dismantled and taken out of the bathroom, firstly, in order to preserve them, they can be damaged or broken during the laying of the tiles, and secondly, to obtain operational space, which will allow working without difficulty. Also, at this stage, the old tile is beaten off the walls, while it is worth noting that such work must be carried out carefully, without severe damage to the base, otherwise the process of leveling the wall may be delayed. The next “dirty” stage is the leveling of the wall itself, we can say with confidence that this particular stage is one of the most important in the whole process. This is due to the fact that the perfection of the subsequent laying of the tiles depends precisely on how flat the base under it will be. All walls should be checked with the rule for the level, whether there are “overwhelmed” corners or “holes”. All wall defects must be carefully repaired, for large “pits” and heaped corners, it is better to use cement mortar, for smaller defects, you can use a “starting” putty, small grooves can be applied to the walls undergoing treatment, which will further ensure better tile laying.

The final stage of preparation is taking out all the debris and cleaning the bathroom itself before laying the tiles..

Marking the walls before laying the tiles

The second stage of laying the tiles is to “beat off” the first row, for this it is necessary to bring the level across the entire bathroom. For these purposes, we use a water level with fixation of one point (“the so-called” zero “) in the corner, which we transfer with the help of the level to all corners of the bathroom. Having beaten off the level, while the level does not have to be beaten off the floor itself, this can be done at any height, we calculate the number of tiles necessary for laying one horizontal and vertical row. With a bathroom height of 2.7 meters and a tile height of 50 cm, 5.4 tiles will go per vertical row. Such calculations are necessary in order to “bring out” the “cut” parts of the tile into inconspicuous corners or “push” against the floor. In practice, this means that, starting from the ceiling, there will be five horizontal rows of tiles, and the sixth row, consisting of halves, rests on the floor, which will make it almost invisible and create a beautiful overall picture. The operation is repeated with horizontal rows, with a width of 1.5 meters from the wall to the bathroom doors and a tile width of 0.35 cm, 4.3 tiles will be laid in a horizontal row. In this case, starting from the corner, the tile will lie down whole with the exit of the “cut” half to the door. He carries out similar calculations on all walls and we get a clear idea of ​​where the whole tile will fit from, and into which corners the “cut” row will come out. At this stage, decor planning is also carried out, the decor is a patterned tile, stylized for a particular motive. That is, by marking, you can decide how often and in what order the decor will be placed on the wall. There are many styling options for the classic options include a checkerboard pattern, or in a horizontal row, decor is installed at regular intervals.

We “beat off” the first row of tiles

After carrying out all the calculations, we proceed to skipping the first row, it is worth noting that the first row will not be the first in the literal sense of the word. The first row will serve nominally the second, but in fact the first consisting of whole tiles. To do this, based on the previously “beaten off” level, we break the wall into horizontal rows, carrying out this operation according to the marks corresponding to the first “whole” row, set the “cheap” (used when installing drywall) at the lower level of the row, you can also use wooden blocks, or iron corners, the only requirement for them is evenness, such props-levels. On the one hand, the “level-support” will allow you to clearly establish the level of the row, on the second, it will serve as a support for the tile during the period of solidification of the solution, which will not allow it to “slip”. After installation, we proceed to the installation itself. The tile is glued to specialized tile glue, when preparing it, it is important to observe the proportions of glue and water, which will allow the glue to have a normal consistency, not too thick or, on the contrary, too liquid. After preparing the glue, we begin to lay the tiles..

Laying tiles

We start from the corner, based on the correct calculations, put a little glue on the wall with a spatula and level it, apply the glue to the tile itself with the second spatula. In this case, a special spatula with teeth is used, which we pass along the back of the tile, forming stripes.

This operation is necessary to reduce the amount of glue on the tile itself, which will allow it to be installed without problems. After installing the first tile, you need to press it down a little and check how even it is installed. On the underside and on the side of the wall, we install plastic spacers that are of the same size and allow you not to worry about the evenness of the gaps.

We install cross-shaped plastic spacers between the tiles. And we continue laying, the basic rule is not to put a lot of glue, and also do not forget to install spacers between the tiles. Also, do not remember about the decorative elements, if any, and control the laying of the tile itself, in order to avoid “sinking” of individual corners of the tile itself.

First of all, we lay three to four even rows upward along the entire circumference of the bathroom. Cutting pieces of tiles is carried out with a tile cutter, cutting with other tools is extremely undesirable, as it gives uneven edges and possible defects during installation. It is better to purchase a tile cutter, while you should not purchase an expensive professional one, a small and relatively cheap one will do.

We cut the tile on the front side, having previously marked and marked the cut line. We carry out a quick movement several times, after that we lightly hit the cut line with the tile cutter knife itself and the two halves are ready. One of the problems is cutting tiles with round holes in the places where the water supply and electricity come out. Cutting on such tiles is carried out using a “ballerina”, that is, a special drill with a nozzle, in the form of a compass, with which we cut out the necessary holes. The second option, perhaps, is cutting holes with a “crown”, a drill with a nozzle. This option is a little simpler, but the cost of such “crowns” is quite significant, provided that the purchase of this tool is not often used, the purchase of this tool is unprofitable, while such drills must be bought for all sizes of holes available in the bathroom, and with the help of the “ballerina” you can cut holes of different diameters.

In the future, all technological operations are repeated and gradually the bathroom takes on a finished look.

Grouting tiles

When laying tiles, the front part must be wiped off the glue immediately after hardening, this process will be long and extremely unpleasant. At the end of the work, the final touch is the grouting of the joints between the tiles. Grouting is done with a special compound using a small roller. Grout on sale comes in different colors and when choosing, you should take care of the harmonious combination of the color of the tile and grout. Since it is tile glue, the grouting material is extremely difficult to remove after drying, so you need to wipe the grout during the process itself.

Conclusion

As a rule, the greatest amount of time is spent on preparation and beginning, in the process the necessary skill appears and it is quite realistic to lay all the tiles on the bathroom walls in one, maximum two weeks of not particularly rushed work, while the amount of money saved will pleasantly surprise and serve as a very stimulating bonus … Nothing is impossible, there is only fear born of our insecurity.