Tiles are an excellent floor surfacing option, not only for wet areas such as bathrooms, but also for living, dining and outdoor areas, due to their durability and ease of maintenance and cleaning.
However, the cost of tiling an area can be very high, which leads many people to consider doing a tiling job themselves.
Doing your own tiling right can be an enjoyable and rewarding experience, but doing it wrong can be an absolute nightmare.
This article explains the key points that you should consider before deciding whether to do your own tiling work or contract a professional.
The popularity of DIY tiling can be attributed in part to how easy it looks at first glance - like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, right? Actually, tiling is far more complex than many think, and it is for this reason that the tiling profession (which dates back to Ancient Greece and Rome) exists.
Firstly, you have to assess the substrate (the material floor on top which you will be placing tiles) to ensure that it is structurally sound.
If this material (which can a mortar base, wooden sub-floor, concrete slab or one of a number of other materials) is not structurally sound, your tile installation will likely fail.
Once you have confirmed that the substrate is sound, the next step is planning the placement of the actual tiles.
While all of your tiles may appear to be identical and of the exact same size, this is often not the case, and tiny differences in tile size can have a large impact on your tiling project.
Furthermore, you will need to cut tiles on at least two of the walls, as well as for doorways, windows, toilets, etc.
The planning stage before work commences is critical to ensuring the success of your tiling project, and time spent planning is rarely wasted.
If this hasn't intimidated you, you need to consider whether you have access to the tools and materials required to do the job.
For cutting your tiles for doorways etc.
you will generally need a diamond wet saw, which is expensive and can be difficult and dangerous to operate for beginners.
Alternatively, for some types of tiles, you may be able to get away with using a snap tile cutter tool, which is far cheaper, however is less likely to produce regular, straight lines.
For many jobs, you will find that you require both tools.
Additionally, almost any tiling job will also require a variety of trowels, squeegee, files, spacers, edge trim, spacers, mallets, nippers, etc.
If, having read the above, you are still interesting in doing your own tiling, it may be a good idea for you, provided you have the necessary tools and materials required, and are willing to spend the time reading and learning how to tile, planning your job, and doing the hard work.
If this is the case, it may be best to start with a simple, less-important job, such as a basement, rather than attempting to tile the kitchen or master bathroom on your first try! If you're not sure that you're up to the job, we recommend that you engage a professional tiler to do the job, which may save you a lot of stress and money in the long run.
Many professional tilers after all receive a large amount of their from fixing failed installations that the customers had attempted to do themselves!