wall tiling problems

[kylieo]

I've just started tiling my bathroom and am having a slight problem. I have three walls that join in a u shape, the back wall fits an exact number of tiles but the other two don't so i will have part tiles in the corners and hence i currently have a gap there. is there any easy way of making sure that the join of tiles in the corner will line up with those on the back wall? My first attempt, i got to the top to find that there was a noticeable difference between the two levels. i think this is partly due to slight differences in the size of the tiles. any good advice?


my second question is that on the tiles that i have laid, there's bits of tile adhesive stuck on the front of them. i have been scraping these off with my nails since i don't want to use a proper scrapper and risk scratching the tiles. is there any better way of cleaning them or do i just need to be really careful when i lay them?

thanks,
kylie

 

[gcol]

First off, you can easily remove the adhesive from the face of your tiles with a chisel - just keep the chisel flat to the tile and scrape it off. Be careful at the corners of the tiles - they'll chip if you catch them wrong.

I'm not too sure what you mean about the tiles not matching. If the tiles fit without cutting on the back wall then you've been very lucky. If the tiles were that close then I would usually offset them by half a tile to remove any problem of the gap running out as you go upwards. You should just find the centre of the wall and work out your tile laying from there. You should aim to leave an equally sized tile at either end where ever possible, but if one side is finishing clean (i.e. not against a coner) then try and keep that side a full tile and do the cutting at the corner. You should always aim to cut a corner tile so it is over half the width of the tile. This isn't always possible but it does make life easier. You need to offer the tiles to the wall and move them about to see where they'll fall. Always lay the back wall corner tiles first then lay the side corner tiles - that way any inaccurate cuttting will be less visable.

If I've gotten hold of the wrong end of the stick then I apologise, but I wasn't 100% what you meant. Plus I've been drinking and I've got Queen blaring in my ears.

Cheers,
Gcol

 

[kylieo]

thanks for your help, i guess i wasn't too clear in my post.
what i meant was that at the corner between the two walls, the joins between the tiles didn't quite line up, so on one wall a tile will end but on the other wall, the tile wouldn't finish for another 1 or 2 mm. the first time i did this i had huge differences, up to 10mm so i took the tiles off and i have done it again and the differences are smaller now. is this normal? will it look ok? does that explanation make any more sense?
as for using a chisel to get the glue of the tiles, i'm really worried about scratching the tiles, i have put so much effort into this and i don't want to wreck it at the end!
thanks, kylie.

 

[gcol]

If I'm understanding you correctly Kylie. You're saying that the gap at the corner is 1-2mm. I'm assuming you mean the vertical gap and not the horizontal grout lines being out. If it's the vertical, then 1-2mm will be fine when it's been grouted. It's better to have a small gap like that than it being flush anyway - it gives the grout somewhere to get hold of. Make sure that the gap isn't greater than about 4 mm though, or it'll probably be noticable even aftyer you've grouted.
Are these tiles that you've cut or do they just happen to fall right like that?

If you don't feel safe with a chisel, get something that's hard and plastic (no jokes please) with a sharp edge on it and scrape it off with that instead.
Cheers,
Gcol