Tiling: what to you think?

[wanabechippie]

Hey.

3rd attempt at tilling completed today in the mother-in-laws kitchen. She's really happy with it, but I was wondering what others with a more 'discerning' eye think. Toying with the idea of going into handyman/tiller work part-time when I finally pass my driving test.

Any comments/tips/abuse gratefully received.

 

[Steve]

Looks a cracking job! I'd hire you!

Just a small point that would bug me. See how 5 black tiles are the width of 2 white tiles? Try to keep that pattern going. I notice a few of the black joints are out of line with the white ones. Now most people wouldn't give a hoot, but its the attention to detail like these. And some people do notice things like this.

 

[FredFlintstone]

Nice, very nice!

Agree with Crafty though re the black tiles. Apart from that (and the filthy plug but that's nothing to do with you) it's fantastic. Even with the "not quite matched" pattern, it's b100dy good. Nice and plumb. Classy.

Why part time mate? With a job like that you could earn a decent living tiling.

Fred.

 

[jdp-tiling]

looks a nice job mate...well done

 

[wanabechippie]

Thanks for the support, guys. Really appreciate it!

I did notice that 2.5 black tiles = one big white one at the start, but for some reason it never occured to me that I could have a grout-line match after 2 white tiles!! I mentioned this at the start to the mother-in-law but she said it would be fine to have the black row as a separate entity to the whites.

Now I look at it, it does bug me to see that I could have made it even better and will probably drive me crackers everytime I see it from now on

Still, one of those things I guess you learn the hard way!

Incidentally, Is there an easier/neater way of cutting square holes in the tiles to take the plug sockets? I was using a 115mm grinder with a stone disk. Worked ok but I did get a bit of break-out on the glaze and I couldn't get the corners as square as I would have liked.

 

[bernardgreen]

Impressive

I found this method worked for cutting holes in tiles. ( 30 mm square holes for air operated switches )

Drilling holes at the corners of the marked area.

Drill a large one for a jig saw blade and then cut with a jig saw and plenty of water on the blade working fom the back of the tile.

I like the way you have the spot light shining on the socket.

Bernard
Sharnbrook

 

[wanabechippie]

Thanks again.

Just out of interest, is there a general rule of thumb when it comes to pricing up tiling work? Someone mentioned, in another post, that brickies can charge around 60p per brick laid for a job. Is there a similar thing for tilers as in price per tile or £ per sq/m?

Am seriously considering offering my (newbie) tiling services to friends of friends etc at weekends and was wondering how much I could fairly charge.

 

[FredFlintstone]

Am seriously considering offering my (newbie) tiling services to friends of friends etc at weekends and was wondering how much I could fairly charge.

What do you mean seriously considering? What's there to consider?

How much do you want to earn a day? Just work out how much you want to earn in a day and work around that so if you think you want £150 a day and you can to 10 sq m a day then charge £15 per sq m. Only thing is, it's difficult to fix a rate per sq m because there are several variables such as design, layout, fixtures, corners, windows etc so you're probably best working to a rate per day, maybe rounded up to the nearest half day.

Obviously add materials to this rate.

 

[Thermo]

youll get to know roughly how long a job will take when you look at it. you can then wok out a price based on your day rate and materials from there. just remember though not every job goes to plan!

 

[masona]

Nice job mate, just a thought, the black tiles might looks better with black grout

 

[ColJack]

did you cut round the socket or round the back box..?
As a sparky there is nothing more anoying than tiled in sockets.. it makes removing them for testing a pain in the ass..

just loosen the sockets so you can get the tiles behind..

also makes a better looking job since any "chip out" while cutting is then hidden...

better off with rounded corners to a cut also since it's easier for a tile to crack from a square corner.

great job though.. if you were close enough to me i might consider getting you in to do my kitchen..

 

[gcol]

Looks fine wanabechippie, I can only mention what's already been said about the tiles not lining up. However, you often find that they don't fit exactly if you try and get them to line up and the joints run out (which looks worse - you end up using a smaller grout joint to compensate).
They look flat enough so that's good.
Looking at the first photo, you may have wiped out too much grout from a few joints.
Picking up on ColJack's point, it does look like you've cut round the sockets and grouted round them. Either that or it looks like you've siliconed around them.
Tiling well is not difficult, tiling well and fast enough to make it pay is another matter.

 

[wanabechippie]

Looking at the first photo, you may have wiped out too much grout from a few joints.

Yeah, there are a few spots where I got a bit carried away with the clean-up. How near to the surface should the grout end up?

Picking up on ColJack's point, it does look like you've cut round the sockets and grouted round them. Either that or it looks like you've siliconed around them.

Er... may have... So, just cut the tiles to the size of the back box and fit under the socket face? Gotcha.

Tiling well is not difficult, tiling well and fast enough to make it pay is another matter.

This job (8sq/m) took approx 7hrs. Not sure if that's a respectable time considering there were 5 sockets to get around and not a square line in the house!

Anyhoo, thanks again for the help/support. Got the mother-in-law's floor to do this weekend! I'll let you know how that goes!!

 

[gcol]

Looking at the first photo, you may have wiped out too much grout from a few joints.

Yeah, there are a few spots where I got a bit carried away with the clean-up. How near to the surface should the grout end up? Just so you can't see the edge of the tiles.

Picking up on ColJack's point, it does look like you've cut round the sockets and grouted round them. Either that or it looks like you've siliconed around them.

Er... may have... So, just cut the tiles to the size of the back box and fit under the socket face? Gotcha. So long as you don't cover the screw holes and leave enough clearance for the switch moulding, it doesn't matter how far under the edge you tile (or how neat ).

Tiling well is not difficult, tiling well and fast enough to make it pay is another matter.

This job (8sq/m) took approx 7hrs. Not sure if that's a respectable time considering there were 5 sockets to get around and not a square line in the house! Sounds ok. Is that a total time - how long did you leave the adhesive to go off before you grouted?

Anyhoo, thanks again for the help/support. Got the mother-in-law's floor to do this weekend! I'll let you know how that goes!!

No worries. Floors are dead easy, so long as you plan it right so that you're not tiled into a corner.

 

[Softus]

Hey.

Yo.

Looks like a lovely job, wanabechippie, and one worthy of a professional fee.