Tiling round a bath

[MrsBotchIt]

I am tiling my bathroom and have been told to start tiling above the bath first. I have placed a full tile at the corner and marked the top of the tile, and then with a spirit level drew a line along the length of the bath. I then placed a row of tiles along the length of the bath, some of which (in the middle of the bath) fell below the spirit level mark (about 4mm), and some (at the end of the bath) went above the spirit level mark (about 2mm). Do I need to drop the spirit level line down further towards the bath and cut the tiles to fit, as this seems unsightly as I want a full row of tiles along the top of the bath?

 

[Mudster]

If your bath isn't level - or flat for that matter you can't really use a full tile off it to start.

Are you tiling the entire room or just an area around the bath?

It makes a difference how I explain the laying out.

 

[MrsBotchIt]

I am tiling all of the 2 walls around the bath (1 being a window wall). Using 25 x 40cm tiles.

 

[Mudster]

You need to consider how the tiles cut into the floor, ceiling, top and bottom of the window and the bath.

If the bath isn't level, forget it, try setting out from the window sill, if that doesn't work, measure floor to ceiling and start at exactly half way.

Just keep trying until you get nice big cuts everywhere, this reduces all the small niggly bits that make a tiling job so untidy.

Never assume anything is flat, attach a batten to the wall absolutely level and start tiling off that, when the tiles are st (the next day usually) you can remove the batten and fill in the gaps below.

 

[MrsBotchIt]

Managed to do the job reasonably ok over the weekend and grouted tonight. Next time I will save up and call in the professionals. Thanks for your help and advice.