Tile up? Or tile down?

[chrisz]

I'm tiling my kitchen with 300mm x 100mm ceramic tiles. I am tiling above the worktop, I think the usual way to do this would be to place a batton above the worktop, tile up from here, then fill in the space between the batton and the worktop.

I have some wall cupbards above the worktop and I've measured the distance between the bottom of these and the worktop. It's approx 650mm, so working on this, I will get six tiles in then approx half a tile remaining. What I want to know is wether I should put a whole tile on top of the worktop and tile up to the bottom of the cupboard, as above the worktop is more visible than under the cupboard, or do it the other way round, leaving the half tile at the bottom. Or, a quarter sliver at top and bottom.

If I do put a whole tile at the bottom, shall I measure up from worktop a whole tile lay the tiles on a batton level, then fill in below in case the worktop isn't 100% level (although I think it pretty much is)

thanks
chris

 

[Diyisfun]

I think you should lay the tiles out, so they look good & fit between the cabinets with minium cuts.

 

[gcol]

Start tiling from the worksurface with a full tile - don't worry about what you're left with under the cupboards cause you'll not notice it. What you will notice is if you start cutting the bottom row of tiles, it'll look rubbish.

 

[Diyisfun]

Start tiling from the worksurface with a full tile - don't worry about what you're left with under the cupboards cause you'll not notice it. What you will notice is if you start cutting the bottom row of tiles, it'll look rubbish.

I would agree with this if work top & cabinets are parallel. I would prefer the tiles to go behind the work top.

 

[gcol]

I would prefer the tiles to go behind the work top.

That's a definite "no-no" for much the same reasons I've mentioned here //www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=79608

 

[chrisz]

cheers guys.

Do I literally sit the tile on top of the worktop, or shall i put a tile spacer in?

 

[chrisz]

ps, are you suggesting I can't cut tiles very well!!?

 

[chrisz]

PPS gcol, while you're here. I posted about whether to pva my walls first (but didn't get much of a reply), i a put a skim coat of plaster to smooth out a lot of cruddy plaster and fill wire runs etc. I checked the back of the bal adhesive and it said to seal with bal stuff if the plaster is newer than 4 weeks (it isn't) or really dusty (a little). Should I pva to be on the safe side, use bal, or just wipe off the dust?

 

[gcol]

cheers guys.

Do I literally sit the tile on top of the worktop, or shall i put a tile spacer in?

Straight onto the worktop.

 

[gcol]

PPS gcol, while you're here. I posted about whether to pva my walls first (but didn't get much of a reply), i a put a skim coat of plaster to smooth out a lot of cruddy plaster and fill wire runs etc. I checked the back of the bal adhesive and it said to seal with bal stuff if the plaster is newer than 4 weeks (it isn't) or really dusty (a little). Should I pva to be on the safe side, use bal, or just wipe off the dust?

If you're using premixed stuff, then I'd say use their primer. Failing that, pva is fine as long as you're not using it in a shower area. If you're using bagged powdered adhesive then I'd just go straight onto the wall.

 

[chrisz]

premixed bal blue star. will pva it to be on the safe side.

I presume I run a bead of silicone round after? White or clear?

cheers for your help as always. I finished the travertine floor. Prety chuffed with the results, couldn't have done it without advice from here. This should be a doddle in comparison!

 

[gcol]

I presume I run a bead of silicone round after? White or clear?

Of the two, white against the tiles. I generally use white around tiles and clear around sinks and hobs but it all depends on what colour your tiles/worktops are. Obviously, if you have grey grout then white silicone might not look too hot.

 

[chrisz]

white tiles, white grout. so white sealant!

 

[Softus]

Do I literally sit the tile on top of the worktop, or shall i put a tile spacer in?

2mm spacer, so that you can silicone seal the gap.

 

[chrisz]

uh-oh, contradiction! if i sit the tile on top like gcol suggests, then seal between tile and worktop, will this not be a sufficient seal?