how do I tile? People say to make a guide using a piece of timber and then they say to srew it to the wall etc.... is this needed with this? Any tips for how to get started?
Like any other task, it's a matter of establishing what you want to achieve and learning how to achieve it. In the case of tiling the objectives are:
1. Good and permanent adhesion.
2. A uniformly flat result.
3. Perfectly straight grout lines.
If you want an incredibly cheap crash course in tiling, then buy a 3' x 6' section of 18mm plywood, erect it vertically in the garden, buy some cheap white 150mm square tiles, and invest some good adhesive in a practise session. You can batten acrss the bottom to represent the shower tray, and tile upwards from that point.
You'll soon realise that you need to sort out the following before laying the first tile:
a) Determing where to put whole tiles and where to put cut ones.
b) How to cut.
c) Size of grout gap.
d) How much wastage to allow for, and how many tiles to buy.
Don't skimp on tiles - if you do the job in more than one go and buy different batches of tiles, the colour (even of white ones), and size, and thickness, is subject to subtle variations.