Tiling - from the bottom up or top down?

[Fee]

I'm about to re-tile a shower - I've prepared the area having taken off the old tiles and the old adhesive and allowed the area to dry out.

The bathroom is tiled so I want to match up the new tiles' lines with the existing tiles' lines to make the finish look better. (they are the same size)

In order to do this easily, I'll need to tile from the top down - is this OK to do?

(I had a look in the "How to" section but it didn't mention anything about tiling from the bottom up or from the top down)

Cheers,
Fee

 

[Diyisfun]

If you tile top to bottom, your tiles may slip, why not work out where the tiles will finish & put a batten then tile up..if you are tiling it in one hit, then should you be a little bit out it will be easy to slide the tiles up & insert a piece of card in to hold them in the new position. I have used this method & it worked for me.
Im not a tiler
Good Luck

 

[Fee]

Thanks for the reply - I plan to do the tiling all in one go.

I guess I could tile from the bottom up - I'll just need to cut a tile (for the bottom row) and hope that all my spacing is accurate to meet the top tiles!!

Thanks again...

 

[mrcrow]

i did a similar match tile line job and had to tile top to bottom because of the dado top tile finish at around 1200mm above floor level...wanted that to be straight and level to match into the right angle of the wall
the tiles were pretty hefty and i could see them slide as i fixed each one.
my walls were dry linings so i just screwed in a stopper screw to hold each one..and wait...so i made the mistake of tiling horizontally..should have done each vertical in one shot as suggested then pressed the tiles up...that's me though
i had to cut a tile at the bottom to the skirting board top
my existing house is cut tiles at the bottom at the floor level..no skirting
..the top of bath line being the start of the full tile..up and down
so it was tiled bath upwards/downwards and then the rest of the room tiled to suit..

ps i would like to know any problems using mdf on a partition wall in the bathroom..it will be emulsioned as a finish on lining paper..

 

[Diyisfun]

Do the bottom tile last...fix a batten ..work up...then when happy remove batten ..cut & fix bottom tiles.

 

[masona]

I guess I could tile from the bottom up - I'll just need to cut a tile (for the bottom row)

Don't start with a cut tile on the bottom, start on the next row up with a full tile. If one of your tile is slightly undersize it will throw everything out of line. Always start at the bottom and not at the top because they are heavy.