What is a batten

[kilo_4que]

I know this may sound silly but I was wanting to know what people are referring to when they say batten and how they actually use it to fit tiles. Am i right in saying its just a long piece of would placed over the tiles to see if they are flush in alignment?

[Richard C]

In the context of tiling, a batten is usually a long piece of straight wood but it’s fixed to the wall to give you a straight edge to lay the first run of tiles onto & then tile on up the wall. The gap below the batten is always less than the height of a full tile; you then remove the batten & cut tiles to fit down to the floor.

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Richard C

[kilo_4que]

O thanks for the reply Richard, Ive normally used the skirting board as a rest and straight alignment of my first run of tiles