So how difficult is this tiling thing?

18 years ago

Acting as my own designer, I seem to have made a wee bit of an error.

Our very tiny vanity was originally going to be placed in the corner. Now that it is there we realize that it is too close to the wall on the right side. When washing or brushing teeth, your elbow will hit the wall (I know, I know - how did I miss this?) There is room on the left to move it over so it would stand a couple of inches away from the wall. Luckily the plumbing hasn't been hooked up yet.

The problem is that they didn't tile the wall beside the vanity. The tiler and I didn't end on the best of terms so calling him back is out. I still have tile and grout here. Do you think I could just buy some thinset and slap some tile up there this weekend?

I know they have those cheapy snap tile cutters at home depot. Would I need anything else?

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Comments (4)

lmhall2000
18 years ago
I'll try to help....did he tile right on the drywall? Did they use hardibacker board or some other type of water "proof" backing under the tile he used?

I tiled a backsplash in my kitchen directly on drywall...it's really a 3 on a scale of 10 being the most difficult. I'm about to tile 4 bathrooms and a laundry/backsplash/tub surround in a home we're remodeling...if it's on the wall it will be pretty simple....just not sure if others will recommend a hardibacker board instead of drywall..I think you'll be fine with the drywall but I'm also one of those that doesn't always do the "right" approach...but what I do stays up there and looks good! :)

Buy some mastic, you'll spread this in the area you're tiling...on the top row of tile just make sure not to spread it too high so it won't seep out the top...you can put it on the back of the tile for that top row and just a smidgen on the wall to adheare to...press in place I found that it's better to do a section at a time with mastic on the wall and a small scrape with a notched mastic spreader on the back of the tile and slap it on...put your spacers in between, but take them out before they dry in and after the tiles have set up. Wait a day and grout your seams...there are many websites that will walk you through it and it always helps me to see it done! :)

What you'll need...
A bag of spacers, measure the distance between tiles and see what size you should get.
A notched trowel for spreading the mastic
A large sponge for wiping in the grout
Sealant for the grout seams...and of course the tile and mastic...
budge1
Original Author
18 years ago
thanks lmhall2000, I'm off to buy supplies. I may use thinset instead of mastic, but I'll see what they have.
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melisande
18 years ago
I think it depends on how perfect you want it to be! I've tiled a kitchen countertop, with bullnose trim, and I am not a handy person. I took the tiles to HomeDepot to have them cut them, though. I found those tile snips to be beyond my ability to use.

You got some good instructions just above - let us know how it goes!
budge1
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks melisande. It did not have to be perfect at all (and it's not!) since the vanity will be just 3 inches away from that wall and more or less cover it.

They sold me the cheapest tile cutter for $15 because it was their floor model. I did a couple of practice cuts and away I went. Much easier than I thought it would be (it was a very small space -36"x22") and all done but the grouting.

and please don't tell me the grouting is the hard part :-)