tiling

[cambournepete]

The hall carpet's got to go - the cat has made her mark just too many times :shock: ! The house is almost 5 years old, so we're talking plasterboard and "no more nails" glue. The floor is suspended concrete beam and block.

We've decided tiles are a Good Thing, and have found some we like.
I have a couple of questions though:

1) Skirting boards: they're stuck onto plasterboard, so should I take them off (risking ripping the paper and hence plaster on the plasterboard) and then put them back on slightly higher on top of the tiles or should I cut off the bottom using something like this: http://www.axminster.co.uk/default.asp?part=TUFFCUT

2) What do you do at the bottom of the door posts? We've got 6 doors into the hall so there's lot of dor posts to do (12 I hope :wink: ).

3) Tile cutting. The tile shop recommends using a table saw type machine. They sell the plasplugs for around £40 and the Axminster Perform http://www.axminster.co.uk/default.asp?part=tc180 is currently £35. Any preferences or other recommendations ?

4) Doorways - what to use to go from tiling to carpet ? I know ou can buy metal strips but they often look tacky, so should I make some nice hardwood ones ? Actually I think I've amlost convinced myself I should, but how to fasten to the floor?

Anything else I should know/worry about? I've already arranged to pack SWMBO, toddler and one dog to mother-in-law's for the duration.

All advice gratefully received.

Cheers,

Pete

 

[johnelliott]

Why not simply tile up to the skirting board instead of underneath?I've used the tool you mention in the past and it will certainly cut wood quickly but I should imagine that it would be quite difficult to control (time for some intersting jig making, maybe)
Same with the door posts, just tile up to them, that's what a pro would do, probably leave quite large gaps to be grouted too
I bought the expensive (£120?)plasplugs tile saw and it works very well
If you don't want to pin and glue the joining strips then nicely spaced brass screws would look good
John
PS stop blaming the cat, and doesn't she have a name?

 

[andrewm]

1) It's probably a matter of personal choice. If it were me I'd remove the skirting board, but then I just seem to do everything the hard way. What would concern me about just cutting off the bottom is how difficult it would be to get the last tile in and then to make the necessary adjustments to get it flat, square etc.

2) For the door post you need something like a Fein Multimaster which will do the job nicely. You were looking for an excuse to buy more tools weren't you :lol:

3) No experience with tile cutting machines I'm afraid.

4) Hardwood transitions would be nice. That is what I intend doing when I do the kitchen. I have also seen the same in stainless steel which looks good but depends on the style of the house. Of course, you probably have more facilities for working in wood which is another plus point.

Only other thing that I can suggest, and this comes from doing walls and not floors is that this kine of thing normally takes much longer than expected. Finally, Ridgeons seems to sell much better quality materials for this than the sheds.

Oh, and wouldn't it be easier and quicker to do something about the cat instead :wink:

 

[Mdotflorida]

Hi Pete

If it were me I'd be inclined to remove everything and then tile. To stop tearing the plasterboard walls you could cut the paper around the top of the skirting with a stanley knife before removing them. Since they will be higher when they are replaced this line won't show. One thing though is make sure you get the tiles very level, as sitting the skirting boards on top of the tiles will highlight any non level areas as gaps (unless of course you scribe the skirting in).

No experience with it, but the axminster tool doesn't look very precise to me. (Isn't that used by carvers ?) I know that you can get other such tools (Rutlands etc.) but they seem expensive for DIY use only.

And personally I'd take the minimal damage that might (but not necessarily) occur when you take the architraves off.

Good luck. Tiling happens to be my least favorite job ever !!!!

Jeff

 

[johnelliott]

If it were me I'd be inclined to remove everything and then tile.

Why? What's wrong with tiling up to the existing woodwork? One thing about removing the skirtings is that if the plasterboard has been 'dabbed' ie applied to dollops of plaster so that there are mostly voids behind, then it will be very difficult to remove skirting that has been bonded to it without destroying the plasterboard (ask me how I know)
John

 

[Aragorn]

Fully with John E on this one (is this because we're lazy pros John?? :wink: )

I wouldn't have even thought of removing the skirting! Tile up to it, tile up to door frames, tile up to everything. Leave the tiles short of the skirting/jambs etc by the thickness of your grout line and it will look very nice indeed.

Use tools like this saw and this file to shape the tiles neatly around your door frames/architraves.

Joining stripes - my vote is for hardwood fixed with evenly spaced brass screws in some brass cups.

 

[Mdotflorida]

If it were me I'd be inclined to remove everything and then tile.

Why? What's wrong with tiling up to the existing woodwork?

Hi John

Just that I think it's looks that little bit neater in my opinion. If you tile to the skirting you usually end up with a cut tile edge butting to the skirting. Also the grout joint between the tile edge and the skirting is prone to cracking in my experience. Pros and cons of both ways and admitedly if the job is a good un then very little difference. Just my personal preference.

Agreed it can be tricky getting the skirting off but I have done it and got away with simply tearing the paper. If the house is not that old the plasterboard should be fairly sound and you may find they aren't that bad to get off with a small pry bar with a sharp blade.

Jeff

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Pete

If you want to tile under the skirting then buy a Ferm biscuit jointer and use that to cut the bottom of your skirting boad. It works a treat and it's cheaper and safer than the tool you were looking at.

I have tiles going onto carpet and we had some special brass strips that are designed for the job. They work exceptionally well. Of course, wooden ones would be wonderful.

Cheers
Neil

 

[Adam]

Hi Pete

If you want to tile under the skirting then buy a Ferm biscuit jointer and use that to cut the bottom of your skirting boad. It works a treat and it's cheaper and safer than the tool you were looking at.
Cheers Neil

I did exactly this but vertically, when installing some fitted wardrobes into an alcove. Worked fine. Why would you want to remove your skirting boards? If a tile ever cracks, it'll be a devil of a job to get it back out and replace it, as the skirting board will be in the way.

Adam

 

[Midnight]

here's a thought...
I'm in the "tile up to" camp.. called a relative who tiles for a living... he wouldn't be seen dead trying to take off skirting or door surrounds..
However..
I can see the arguement in favour of the removal before tiling too....
how bout a compromise....??
tile up to.... then hide the cut tile edge with a piece of moulding?

 

[Bean]

I'm with most of the other opions here I would not remove the skirting unless I had to, and I would think again in a new house with plasterboard walls.
The transition between tiles and carpet is catered for in my house with a strip of hardwood screwed down and plugged. With the strip slightly raised the door can close on to the strip and not drag over the carpet or tiles when opening.


Bean

 

[cambournepete]

Thanks for all the suggestions and tool recommendations.

Having seen some tiling at the weekend that was "under" rather than "upto" I think I'll do the "under", just got to decide whether to cut or remove the skirting. The plasterboard is definitely dabbed onto the supporting walls and screwed into the metal U shaped stuff they use to make the partition walls. I'll do a trial in the downstairs loo, which is also to be tiled, to see how easy the cutting is. I've already got the Ferm biscuit jointer (which is very good, especially for the money), so that'll cost no more than a new blade when I'm done. I guess I can cut under the door surrounds as well. I'm certainly not going try and tile under the loo and washbasin though - that really sounds like asking for trouble, and our plumbing is dodgy enough - I might end up replacing umpteen taps sometime, so will probably ask for recommendations then, but that's plumbing :shock: !

I also like the idea of the hardwood doorsteps, although SWMBO worried that we might trip on them as we're almost all carpet now. Still, she hasn't tripped in the 4.5 years we've been there when leaving the kitchen and that's a vinyl to carpet transition (i.e. a small step). I'm sure Ethan (almost 18 months) will soon learn to pick his feet up !

A friend at work has offered to lend me his electric tile cutter, so that's a few quid saved.

Oh yeah, the cat is called Timone.

I think that covers everything.

Pete

 

[frank]

pete is the loo screwed to the floor or cemented if its screwed then take it out tile under then re fix it , its a lot easier than cutting round it 8)

 

[cambournepete]

Finished (apart from the skirting in the loo and the door thresholds)!!

Took the skirting off and replaced it (after painting) - wasn't too hard and looks good.

Bought a Rubi star-40 manual tile cutter which is excellent.

Used the electic cutter to nibble away the cut-outs for the toliet etc.

One problem was that some pipes in the loo were boxed in and the skirting was too well attached to the box so I've got to find a matching bit before I can fix any skirting in the loo in case I have to replace it all. Removing the box has made the floor look significantly bigger though.

Just got to "make" and install the door thresholds (sycamore, from Yandles) and the hall is complete.

Oh yeah - concrete absorbs smells (i.e. cat pee) but now it's all sealed the smell has gone - yippee !!! :lol: :lol:

Thanks for peoples help

Pete