700 x 280 wall tiles.

[tony7]

Hi, I think I've decided on a tile for our bathroom walls, the tile is 700x280 in size. I'm not a tiler but have tiled a good bit in the past inc two batrooms, one of them our own

I've never used a tile that size before and wonder, are there any tips you could share, the walls should/are flat enough, no real concerns there and am going to apply the adhesive to the walls using a 6mm notch trowel.

The tile adhesive comes in bags, so it looks like I'll have to mix it.

Would there be any difference in the ready mixed adhesive compaired to the one I have to mix myself?

Thanks in advance.

 

[flameport]

Ready mix adhesive sets by drying out, mostly through the grout lines. With tiles that large, it will take forever.

Powdered adhesive is cement based and sets by chemical reaction. It sets much faster than tub slop, so don't mix up more than you can use within 20 minuets or so, and clean off any excess from tiles and anything else immediately. Wearing gloves is essential unless you want cement burns.

 

[tony7]

Ready mix adhesive sets by drying out, mostly through the grout lines. With tiles that large, it will take forever.

Powdered adhesive is cement based and sets by chemical reaction. It sets much faster than tub slop, so don't mix up more than you can use within 20 minuets or so, and clean off any excess from tiles and anything else immediately. Wearing gloves is essential unless you want cement burns.

Great advice, thank you.

 

[tony7]

Just thinking, our bathroom is about 7ft 6 Sq, would a 700x280 wall tile look out of place in that size of bathroom?

Thanks in advance.

 

[johnny2007]

Just thinking, our bathroom is about 7ft 6 Sq, would a 700x280 wall tile look out of place in that size of bathroom?

Thanks in advance.

No, it will make it look bigger imo.
In my small bathroom the boss went for 600x300 tiles and now it looks a lot bigger than before.

 

[tony7]

No, it will make it look bigger imo.
In my small bathroom the boss went for 600x300 tiles and now it looks a lot bigger than before.

That’s good news. Thanks.

 

[raykf]

You may need a new tile cutter too?

 

[tony7]

You may need a new tile cutter too?

Aye, I was thinking that, do you think it will be difficult to cut the tile length ways.

Did you half lap the tiles, like brick effect or one on top of each other ?

Thank you

 

[johnny2007]

Aye, I was thinking that, do you think it will be difficult to cut the tile length ways.

Did you half lap the tiles, like brick effect or one on top of each other ?

Thank you

Up to you.
Lay them on your table and decide.

 

[tony7]

Up to you.
Lay them on your table and decide.

Good idea, thanks.

 

[mrrusty]

As an experienced DIY tiler, here are my tips.

Take a good long while to set out and work out the cuts. Use a laser to scan round the room if you have one.
The biggest problem with large format tiles is lippage - with small tiles you can pinch a smidgen of non-flatness on each tile and it doesn't show. With large format you cant.
I always start on a batten 1 tile up from the lowest, and cut the last tile downwards. When you start that first row use a good straight edge on the tile and make sure it is as flat as can be - or at least parallel to the wall - you can gauge the tiles for the rest of the wall from that first one or two. Get them parallel with clearance for adhesive across the whole wall, and the rest should go up the wall without lippage.
Always back butter the tiles - the last thing you want is any tiles with poor adhesion.
Watch the weight - the maximum weight of tiles on skim is recommended as 20kg/m2 - easy to exceed with large format
If there is any non-flatness in your wall, you are best putting up a backer board first and getting it flat. Fighting large format across a non-flat wall is not fun.
You don't need a fancy cutter. I have two diamond wheel cutters - a bigun and a littleun, and the little cheap plasplugs diamond wheel cutter (which I have also made a larger ply table for) cuts everything I throw at it.

 

[johnny2007]

If you use bal adhesive you definitely won't need to butter the tiles, don't ask how i know...

 

[mrrusty]

If you use bal adhesive you definitely won't need to butter the tiles, don't ask how i know...

I always think it's a bit belt and braces. I had some tiles a while ago which were either dusty or slightly oily on the back, they were just not grabbing the adhesive at first - I've just got in the habit of back buttering now

 

[tony7]

As an experienced DIY tiler, here are my tips.

Take a good long while to set out and work out the cuts. Use a laser to scan round the room if you have one.
The biggest problem with large format tiles is lippage - with small tiles you can pinch a smidgen of non-flatness on each tile and it doesn't show. With large format you cant.
I always start on a batten 1 tile up from the lowest, and cut the last tile downwards. When you start that first row use a good straight edge on the tile and make sure it is as flat as can be - or at least parallel to the wall - you can gauge the tiles for the rest of the wall from that first one or two. Get them parallel with clearance for adhesive across the whole wall, and the rest should go up the wall without lippage.
Always back butter the tiles - the last thing you want is any tiles with poor adhesion.
Watch the weight - the maximum weight of tiles on skim is recommended as 20kg/m2 - easy to exceed with large format
If there is any non-flatness in your wall, you are best putting up a backer board first and getting it flat. Fighting large format across a non-flat wall is not fun.
You don't need a fancy cutter. I have two diamond wheel cutters - a bigun and a littleun, and the little cheap plasplugs diamond wheel cutter (which I have also made a larger ply table for) cuts everything I throw at it.

Thank you so much mrrusty, No, I dont have a laser BTW. I was thinking of using a straight edge, made from 1/2 ply about 7ft long and about 10/12 inc wide. You see the back buttering a tile, do you still apply adhesive to the wall as well and then apply a little on the tile too?

The tiles will be stuck onto 1/2 ply and then maybe new 1/2 plaster board.

I'm putting in a wall hung vanity unit as well, do I center the tiles for the vanity unit and the LED mirror above, or center the tile for the wall?

Thank you.

 

[tony7]

If you use bal adhesive you definitely won't need to butter the tiles, don't ask how i know...

Thank you johnny2007, I dont have the tiles or adhesive yet so i dont know what I'm getting

Thank you.