Flooring Tile - bathroom tiling question

i'll soon be tiling an upstairs bathroom, both floor and walls. is it best to tile the wall first, or do i start with the floor?

bob

Do the floor first and then the walls. Find and low spot in the floor and measure up 1/8" for the caulk, the height of the tile and your groutline and mark a level line. Then set your second row of tiles on up, then do the bottom last so any cuts will conform to the variances in level of the floor. If you are using a cove base tile, set them first so that you have a gauge for the floor tiles. Once they're set, you can do either one you want first.

when setting floor tiles first, should one leave a gap between the floor tile and walls? and if so, how much of a gap. would that distance be the width of a tile plus the width of your grout line?

every restaurant bathroom i check out has a grout line where the floor and wall tile meet, so i'm assuming that's how the work should be done. should the grout line where the floor tile meets the wall tile be the same width as the grout line in the middle of floor?

interestingly, whenever i go into someone else's bathroom, a restaurant, school building or a friends house, i always check how the tiling was done, looking to answer some of the questions i have. i'm a first time diy tiler. honestly though, i lot of stuff i see in commerical establishments looks crappy. for instance, full floor tiles on one side and then tile slivers on the other. i guess this situation represents the easiest/most time efficient method for someone looking to scrimp on investing the time necessary to do the job well.

bob

bob

The gap for the change in plane should be determined by the location of the change. If you tile the floor and bring the wall tile down , have it equal to the wall tile spacing, but not really ever less than 1/8". If you tile wall first, leave a gap of about 3/16". If you read the thread about tiles buckling, Dave Gobis posted the axcerpt about expansion gaps from the Tile Coundil of America's Handbook a few replies down. If you remember the EF Hutton commercials form long ago, let me make a play on that...When Dave Gobis speaks, people listen. As for the small slivers you mention, some times that is unavoidable. The old idea of centering the room and laying tiles out from there does not always work. Many itmes it's better to dry lay a "+" with your tiles and see how it will look. Full tiles always look better and if you can hide the smaller cuts in out of the way places, like behind your toilet and vanity, frequently it will look better.

The answer to this question may affect your order: are you planning on using a cove molding, either sanitary or radius molding at the base of your wall?

i'm planning to have wall tile meeting floor tile without molding, unless wifee throws me a another curve ball. she's good at curve balls and also has a mean knuckle ball that you don't see coming until the last second.

bob

...then I'd follow Tilebri's advice. Sounds like he's got you on the right track.