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Goldtrowel Tiling Guide


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Tools Available direct on course, telephone or online at

building-tools.com

Tel: 01708 344700

(November 2014)

Copyright Goldtrowel 2013

Name:



2

Tiling Tools

Tile Cutters:

Platform tile cutter

Tile cutters are used to score a clearly

defined scratch across the glaze of a tile

they vary in size shape and style.

A cutter could resemble a small pencil

with a cutting tip or it could have a

hardened tungsten carbide wheel.

Some cutters have two jaws to hold the tile when you break it after scoring along the

glazed surface.

Electric tile cutter

Have water cooled diamond disc blades,

the water also keeps the amount of dust

down to a minimum. although a face

mask and eye protective equipment

should be worn.

Use for delicate ceramic tile cutting.

Comfortable plastic handle. Tungsten

carbide tip

Tile saw:

Use for cutting slots, angles & curves in

ceramic, floor & wall tiles. Large deep

metal frame. Tungsten carbide blade.

a good tool for cutting curves in tiles to

fit around obstructions such as pipes

Tile File:

a flat strip of metal with an abrasive

surface coated with tungsten carbide

used to smooth the rough edges of cut

tiles. when the surface has become

clogged you can clean with a wire brush

TCT Circle tile cutter:

This hole cutter cuts holes in ceramic

tiles. The cutter features a tungsten

carbide blade safety cage and variable

cutting from 20 to 94mm



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Grout Rake:

Tungsten carbide grit coated blade.

Removes grout from between tiles before

re-grouting

Tile Nippers:

Tile cutting pliers with TCT tipped jaws

and sprung handles. Black lacquered

finish and blue dipped handles. Slight

curve on jaws enables effective cutting

and trimming of tile or mosaic

Profile Gauge:

Use to find profiles or edges and

accurately transfer on to material to be

cut.

can be bought in various sizes

Adhesive comb:

DIY Adhesive comb features the most

popular 6mm teeth

used for serating the tile adhesive

Wood squeegee:

DIY grout spreading squeegee for use on

floor and wall tiles

Tile Spacers:

Tiles spacers designed to give regular

gaps between tiles.



4

Tiler’s Wash Bucket and sponges

• wash bucket roller kit

• for rinsing off tile grouts from sponge

floats

• leaves clean film tile surface

The tilers wash bucket and hydro

sponges are designed to speed up the

laborious job of cleaning off tile grout

The tile grout is applied and worked

into the joint with the green rubber

faced float and allowed to start going

off

The yellow hydro sponge floats are then

used to clean off the grout residues

The sponge float is cleaned in the wash

bucket and excess water squeezed out on

the rollers

Trowels:

notched trowels with detachable and

replacable serated blades

one side of the blade is used for

spreading the adhesive upon the surface

the other side (serated) is used for

serating the adhesive

changing the serated blade of a tiling

trowel

some cheaper trowels have fixed edges

that cannot be changed

serated blades

for the trowels come in a choice of Vee

or square notches

Notched Spatulas:

notched spatulas

used as a scraper type applicator and

spreader for adhesive, the one pictured

takes a detachable 11 inch serated blade



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Level:

spirit level

used for vertical and horizontal levels

Laser Level:

Laser level

used to find levels over distances and set

up datums

Aluminium Ruler:

Aluminium Ruler with Spirit Levels in

both horizontal and vertical planes length

is 900mm metric and imperial scales

useful for marking out

Mastic gun

Steel skeleton frame. Capacity variable from 300ml. Handle with plunger & release clip. Gun for application of sealants & adhesives

Tape Measure:

steel tape measure with both metric and

imperial markings

Pencils:

for marking where tiles are to be cut

never use a felt tipped pen

SILICONE SEALENT FINISHER For shaping silicon sealant.

5mm, 8mm and 45¾mitre

profiles

to suit different applications.



6

Service Conditions

Introduction

It is very important to consider the service condition of a tiling installation when

completing a wall tiling project, listed below are the different service conditions

involved in wall tiling installations with a brief description of each condition and

where they are found

Dry

A dry service condition is where the tiling installation comes into no contact with

water, typically in a domestic kitchen or bathroom, where only the shower area is

considered a wet area.

Splash Contact

These are areas such as above sinks or baths where water may be splashed onto the

tiling installation but will not affect it and should be treated as a dry area.

Condensation

Condensation can occur in many areas but poorly ventilated areas can be particularly

susceptible and if this is a concern great care should be taken with the choice of grout,

ideally anti-bacterial grout should be used.

Occasional Wetting

The term `occasional wetting` is usually applied to a domestic bathroom with a

standard water pressure fed shower and not a power shower, which is dealt with later.

Frequent Wetting

The term `frequent wetting` is usually applied to commercial tiling installations such

as communal showers at a leisure center where the showers may be left on all day,

and therefore a lot more is required of the products used.

Power Showers

Power showers are a special case because the amount of water they use and the

strength of the water jets it produces, when a power shower is going to be used

consideration should be given to the adhesive and grout chosen, in particular the grout

must be very strong and ideally an epoxy or high polymer modified grout should be

used.



7

Preparation and Substrates

Preparing the surface for wall tiles

Glazed tiles will highlight any undulations in a wall, therefore the surface to be tiled

has to be Flat (+/- 3mm).

If you are to tile more than one wall in the same room where tiles will meet at an

internal or external angle then the walls will need to be Flat and Level or you will

notice the difference in the cuts that run up the angles.

Gypsum finishing Plaster

Gypsum Finishing Plaster is the most common background for wall tiling, and in

good condition is a perfect surface for tiling, the maximum weight to be put onto

plaster is 20kg per m², check the surface with a long level both vertically and

horizontally looking out for dips or bulges, if the surface is too uneven or is off level

too much then you should consider either floating the wall(s) with sand / cement or

using the direct bond method of dot and dabbing plasterboards to the surface.

If the walls require levelling then this should only be done with sand/cement render.

Plaster should be completely dry prior to tiling usually 3-4 weeks, and then primed

with APD primer. It is important to note plaster is water sensitive!

Plasterboard

Plasterboard is a better background than a skimmed finish wall due to weight

restrictions on skimmed finishes, You can tile over plasterboard upto 32kg per m² in

weight, so long as they are securely anchored to the walls and they are flat level and

with no bulges or dips, the board does not need to be primed.

If the plasterboard is in a potential wet or damp area such as a shower or bathroom

then you should use a water resistant plasterboard.

Painted walls

Walls that have been painted with either gloss or emulsion paint are not suitable for

tiling as the tiles will only be fixed to the paint. Therefore you should roughen the

surface with coarse grit sandpaper so that the adhesive will grip to the wall and not the

paint. Always strip off any loose or flaking paint.

Papered walls

Never fix tiles to existing papered walls as the adhesive holding the paper will not be

strong enough to hold tiles. Always strip off wallpaper from the surface

Old existing ceramic tiles

Provided the old tiles are firmly fixed to the wall (tapping with a coin and removing

any hollow sounding tiles) and there is no sign of bulges uneven or off level surface

then new tiles can be fixed over existing tiles with standard tile adhesive. the tiles

should be clean and dry, the new tiles should be staggered over the existing tiles so

that the joins from the existing tiles do not line up with the new tiles, allow 72 hours

before grouting.

Timber boards

With any timber based boards it is important they are adequately braced, with screws

never nails, Plywood (Marine or WBP 15mm min thickness) is best suited, this should

be sealed with a acrylic based primer if bagged adhesive is being used, you should



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always seal on the reverse side and edges, the tiled surface does not sealing when

using dispersion adhesives.

Brickwork

You can fix tiles to brickwork using thick bed adhesive, but as this is time consuming

and difficult you would be better off to float the wall with backing plaster or dot and

dab the surface.

Ceramic Tiles

Standard field tiles

Standard field tiles have square edges therefore you will need to use spacers when

fixing. they usually have one two or all edges glazed.

many sizes and shapes are available but they usually come in common sizes of

108mm and 150mm square.

Universal tiles

Universal tiles have chamfered edges thus eliminating the need for spacers.

usually they have one two or all edges glazed

common sizes of 108mm and 150mm square

Heat Resistant tiles

Because tiles are fired at great heat during manufacture this allows them to withstand

great heat of temperatures up to 100 C (212 F) without damage to the tile.

The thicker the tile the greater heat that the tile will withstand.

If you are tiling around a fireplace or cooker you should consult either the supplier or

manufacturer to ensure the tiles are suitable.

Rex tiles

Rex tiles have 2 rounded edges for finishing border lines

Re tiles

Re tiles have 1 rounded edge for finishing border lines

Insert tiles

Insert tiles are made especially by the manufacturer on certain ranges of tiles, so that

you understand what an insert tile is it is a tile that for example has a soap dish, towel

rail or lavatory holder built into the tile, ie it is the tile.

Mosaic tiles

Mosaic tiles are made of either small ceramic or glass chips usually approx an inch

square 25mm.

They are supplied bonded to string, paper or nylon mesh or faced with paper which

controls the joints between tiles.

they are usually supplied in sizes of 12 inch square or 12 x 24inch rectangle.

Some mosaic tiles are held together by paper adhered to the face so check before

fixing you have them the correct way round!



9

Adhesives Grouts and sealants

Standard adhesives

Cementicious powder form (bagged) – these are set by chemical reaction, these are

mixed with water, and can be used in more situations.

Dispersion pre-mixed tubs - these are set by air contact. Usually Suitable only for

areas that are not likely to come into contact with water,

There are no tubs that are waterproof.

Combined adhesive and grout

Fix and grout does both jobs of adhesive and grout but is difficult to remove from the

face of tiles when set so wipe off clean before it sets, these are more suited for DIY

market.

Water resistant adhesive

These adhesives only come in `bagged form` (Cementicious)

Use this for fixing tiles around showers baths sinks and basins but continue to use it

for the rest of the wall.

If the tiles are to be used for example in a swimming pool then contact an adhesive

manufacturer for advice prior to starting.

Heatproof adhesive

Use this to fix tiles to areas that are exposed to high temperatures

Grout

Used for filling the gaps between tiles, comes as a fine powder to be mixed with water

or ready mixed.

Use a waterproof grout for any areas that will come into contact with water.

Waterproof (Epoxy resin) grout should also be used for tiled work surfaces.

Sealants

A flexible waterproof mastic (silicon) supplied in tubes, and come in many colours,

whereby you would need a mastic gun to use, used for sealing gaps and joins between

tiles and fittings in bathrooms and kitchens.

Measurements for tiling

Multiply the length by the width to give you the square metres in a particular wall and

make a note of it. do this for all walls areas to be tiled and add together.

this should give you the total amount of metres required, add 10% for cuts and

wastage.

Example - A 4inch tile 100mm will fit into a square metre 10 x 10 or 100 tiles

Take a look at the Tile Calculator on the next page.



10

Tile Sizes

inches

&

cm

Area to be Tiled in Metres (m2)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 20 25 30

4 x 4” 10 x 10

100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 2000 2500 3000

41/4 x 41/4” 10.8 x 10.8

86 172 258 344 430 516 602 688 774 860 1720 2150 2580

8 x 4” 20 x 10

50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 1000 1250 1500

6 x 6” 15 x 15

44 88 132 176 220 264 308 352 396 440 880 1100 1320

8 x 6” 20 x 15

33 66 99 132 165 198 231 264 297 330 660 825 990

8 x 8” 20 x 20

25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250 500 625 750

10 x 8” 25 x 20

20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 400 500 600

8 x 12” 20 x 30

17 34 51 68 85 102 119 136 153 170 340 425 510

10 x 14.3/8” 25 x 36.5

11 22 33 44 55 66 77 88 99 110 220 275 330

12 x 10” 30 x 25

13 26 39 52 65 78 91 104 117 130 260 325 390

12 x 12” 30 x 30

11 22 33 44 55 66 77 88 99 110 220 275 330

121/4 x 121/4”

31.2 x 31.2

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 200 250 300

13 x 13” 33 x 33

9 18 27 36 45 54 63 72 81 90 180 225 270

121/4 x 81/4” 31 x 21

15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135 150 300 375 450

Copyright © 2011 Goldtrowel ltd



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Setting out wall tiling:

Before setting out you have to make the right decisions for tiles, adhesives grout

patterns of design, borders and more.

You would need to keep the cut tiles as large as possible, this will almost always

mean you will have to make a compromise.

by this i mean if you were to be tiling up to a window sill with full tiles you may end

up with tight cuts at the ceiling edge or the floor level so it may be better to have cuts

coming up to the window sill reveal.

Datum Line

You will need to set a datum around the walls to be tiled, the datum is not necessarily

a tile joint line, it is merely there to be used for taking measurements from.

The datum should not be broken up by work surfaces openings for windows or doors

etc.

There are different methods for marking a datum line

You can use a combination of spirit levels

You can use a laser level

You can use a level and chalk-line

You can use a water level

Gauging stick

a gauging stick or lathe can be made with a length of straight timber

if you are using square tiles one gauge should suffice

if the tiles are not square then you will need to make another gauge stick.

to make a gauge stick lay your length of timber out on the floor and lay your tiles next

to the timber placing the spacers in between the tiles as you lay them

keep every tile parallel and mark the centre of the joins on the timber stick.

this is to be repeated if not using square tiles.



12

Arranging tiles to be set out around a window area:

Example 1A

In the picture above a gauge stick is held horizontally across the window opening, in

this case the centre of the gauge stick lines up with the centre line (vertical) of the

window, this leaves a half tile cut at the ends of the window.

In some cases it may be necessary to use the centre point between the marks on the

gauge stick to balance out reasonable cuts for the tiles to the edge of the window.

before fixing any tiles there is quite some setting out to complete, do not fix tiles

before completing the setting out.

In the example above i set a datum around the room and marked level

using the gauging stick i can now see if it will have even cuts at both the top and

bottom of the wall and should it will require a half cut tile below the window sill

measure the window opening and mark the centre point of the opening, hold the

gauging stick across the window opening and align the centre mark on the gauging

stick to the centre mark you made for the window opening. now check at each end of

the gauging stick to see how much of a cut you will require. you do not want to have

less than half a tile cut running up the sides of the window if possible. if this is the

case then you can move the gauging stick to between 2 tile marks so that the centre of

a tile will be to the centre of the window opening. and check again to see what cuts

you would have running up the side of the window reveal.

when your happy with the size of the cuts to the sides of the window you can mark the

wall where the outer edge of the tile will finish

see pictures of examples on next page.



13

Tiling around openings

Example A

the picture to the left shows

the centre line of the

window running in paralell

with the centre of the tile

joint thereby leaving equal

cuts to tiles both sides of the

window

picture shows cuts under the

window sill

Example B

the picture to the left shows

the centre line of the

window with the centre of

the middle tile.

this way you would rely on

the reveals of the window to

be perfectly level vertically

picture shows cuts under the

window sill

so we marked the outer edge of the tiles that are to run up the side of the window

opening using our gauging stick. from these marks or even just one of the marks we

can transfer that mark vertically down the wall with a plumb line or level

(see example 1A) plumb line marks between blue dots

from the vertical line mark at the bottom of the wall we can use our gauging stick

horizontally across the wall to assess what cut would be required in the corners of the

wall, we need to balance these cuts also using the gauging stick the last full tile edge

closest to the corner of the wall can be marked and a plumb line mark can be run

down the wall to the mark. this is where we can set our vertical batten

we also need to decide if we are going to finish to the window sill with a half tile plus

or a full tile etc and how this will affect the bottom of the wall and the top of the wall

to ceiling line if we are fully tiling. so this is where we may have to compromise so

that the wall when tiled looks pleasing.

to be continued



14

All Prices include VAT

Tool Price image quantity Ref

Economy Cleaning Sponge £1.00

Professional Hydro Sponge £2.99

Complete Tiling Kit (B) £315.00

002

Professional Tiling Full Tiling Kit (A) £699.00

001

SBR x 5 litres £17.60 5

3 Vial Spirit Level 450mm £6.00

1000

3 Vial Spirit Level 600mm £7.00 1001




3 Vial Spirit Level 1800mm (professional red) £25.00 1005

Stabila 1800mm Professional Sprit Level £36.99

10071

Stabila 600mm Professional Sprit Level £15.00 1007

Stabila 300mm Professional Sprit Level £11.99 1006

Stabila 1200mm Professional Sprit Level £22.99

10062

Stabila Quad Set 250/600/1200/1800mm Professional Sprit Levels

£89.99

1006

36 inch marking ruler with spirit levels £6.99

10052

240 volt 150 watt halogen work light with hook £7.70

11030

240 volt 500 watt worklight £11.00

11032

DWW100 Plasplugs Compact Tile Cutter £49.99

11659

QEP 750w Professional Tile Cutter (110v or 240v) £119.99

1167

Semi Pro (Black Box) Manual Tile Cutter £75.00 Limited Stock

(OFFER) 1165

Measure max Tape 10 metre £5.99

1203

Vitrex Pro 630mm Tile Cutter £75.00

1204



15

Clinker Brutus 750mm XL Pro Tile Cutter £149.99

1205

DCR electronic distancer stabila £40.00

1209

Stabila Laser Distance measurer £98.99

1210

Stabilo professional Tilers pencil (Yellow) each £1.20

1261

Stabilo professional Tilers pencil (Graphite) each £1.20 1262

Stabilo professional Tilers pencil (Red) each £1.20 12621

Stabilo Pencils x 12 £12.10 1264

Tool Bag 600mm Hard Base Multi pocket £15.00

1265

large canvas tool bag 760mm £8.70

1263

Tarpaulin 1.8 x 2.4 mtrs £3.30

1310

Tarpaulin 3.6 x 4.8 mtrs £9.90 1312

Tarpaulin 6.1 x 3.6 mtrs £12.99 13120

400mm Stainless Steel Floor Trowel £14.99

1322

Stainless Gauging trowel £9.90

14102

Soft grip bucket trowel £3.90

1411

Heavy Duty Softgrip Bucket Trowel £9.99 1412

Stainless Steel Mini Bucket Trowel £5.99

600w low speed adhesive mixer £44.99

1425

850w Adhesive Power Mixer 110v or 240v £65.00

1426

3 piece chalkline set £4.00

1427

25 metre cable reel £23.99

1438

cotton dust sheet 12 x 9 feet £8.99

1439

cotton dust sheets 12 x 9 feet x 3 of £23.99 1440

Cotton staircase dust sheet 24 x 3 feet £8.99 14401

TCT Parrott Nipper £8.50

1444

10.8V Drill Driver (Lithium-Ion) £49.99

1602

hard hat in yellow £5.00

1700

hard hat in blue £5.00 1701

hard hat in white £5.00 1702



16

Professional Wraparound Safety glasses (OFFER) £10.00

17041

standard caulking gun 300ml £2.00

2

Invincible Yellow Bucket 3 Gallon x 1 £4.50

2020

Invincible Yellow Bucket 3 Gallon x 6 £24.99 2021

Standard black Builders bucket x 1 with lip £1.99

2022

Standard black Builders bucket x 6 with lip £11.00 2023

Coco Hand Brush £1.75

277870

Polythene Dust Roll (2mx50m) £6.25 282576

Steel Framing Square 400 x 600mm £6.95

3131

Chalk – Blue £1.90

349

Chalk – Red £1.90 350

Chalk - White £1.90 351

Metal Chalk Line £3.75

353

carpenters pencils x 12 & sharpener £4.13

418

Rexel Professional Carpenters Pencil x 1 £0.60

Combination Square £6.99

424

expert caulking gun 300ml £4.00

43

expert caulking gun 400ml £5.00 44

Floor / Wall Scraper with long wooden handle £8.99

4

Deluxe Floor / Wall scraper £17.60

818

TCT Tile Nipper £6.99

503

Steel 100% coverage V notch Shower Trowel £8.99

504

Professional Stainless Steel 6mm square Tilers Trowel £9.99

506

Professional Stainless Steel full bed floor Tilers Trowel £9.99

507

Refina 11” Slotted Edge Softgrip Trowel £16.99

5070

Refina 11” Slotted Edge Softgrip Trowel (H/D) £23.99

50701

10mm Scalloped Notched Blade (11”) Refina £1.50 5072



17

6mm square serrated notched blade (11”) £1.50

5073

6mm shower notched blade (11”) £2.20 1730

3mm `V` notch Mosaic blade £1.50 1731

6mm square notch Margin Trowel *OFFER* £2.99

1732

Professional Tilers Washboy set £49.99

5075

Refina Tilers Washboy (Bucket only) £39.99 5076

Professional Tilers Washboy (with wheels) £28.99

50754

Economy Grout Float £5.00

50751

Epoxy Grout Float 10” x 3. ¾” White base £14.30 50752

Heavy Duty Epoxy Grout Float *OFFER* £9.99

Margin Grout Float 6”x2” £3.99

50753

11” Professional grout float £12.99

5076

11” x 5.5” Grout Float £9.99

50762

11” hydro cleaning sponge float £9.99

5077

11” hydro cleaning sponge float (Velcro) £12.99 5077

Replacement hydro sponge for REF 5077 £4.40

50770

Abrasive emulsifying Float with 2 pads £14.00

5078

Replacement abrasive FINE white pad £2.70 50780

Replacement abrasive MEDIUM green pad £2.70 50781

Replacement abrasive COARSE black pad OFFER £1.50

50782

Professional grit edge Tile File (half round) £5.99

50783

Interchangeable Grout Finisher £2.99

50784

Silicone Mastic Spoons £3.99

50785

10 inch Tile Steel Shaping Template Profile *OFFER* £8.99

50786

Stainless steel Tilers 6mm square adhesive Midget Trowel £13.99

5079

Stainless steel Tilers 3mm v-notch adhesive Midget Trowel £13.99 50791



18

Grout Rake (blue) with 2 Blades £3.99

509

TCT Circle Tile Cutter £9.90

510

Diamond Tipped Jigsaw Blade 50mm Bosch or Standard (pack of 3)

£5.99

5112

Circular Tile Scribe / Cutter 300mm dia

£9.44

5111

TCT Tile Scorer £2.99 5110

Steel TCT Tile Scorer £2.99

5110

2 – 73mm Tile Hole Cutter (Arrow Head) £12.99

5113

190mm Wooden Mitre Box *OFFER* £2.50

514

Economy Hacksaw £1.25

515

115mm Block Brush £2.99

518

3 inch coated steel scraper £3.50

521

3 inch stainless steel full blade scraper £4.85

522

goldtrowel plastering part 1 DVD £10.00

600

goldtrowel plastering part 2 DVD £10.00

601

goldtrowel plastering parts 1 & 2 DVDs £20.00

602

Perfect Skimming Techniques Part 1 DVD £10.00

611

Perfect Skimming Techniques Part 2 DVD £10.00 611

SDS+ Chisel 3Pce Set – 20,40 & point £5.99

612

Non-Contact AC Voltage Detector £7.99

614

3mm Tile spacers (1,000) £4.99

615

300mm Clear Mark Stainless Steel Rule £1.99

616

600mm Budget Clear Mark Stainless Steel Rule £3.85 6160

600mm Metric Steel Rule (RST) £5.99 6161

9m 800g Stockinette £5.99

617



19

100 Assorted Plastic Packers £6.86

633499

Hop-Up Platform 150kg capacity 500mm high

£29.99

640000

Metal Dust Pan £3.66

675197

White Rubber Mallet (16oz) £3.50

7141

Combination Rubber Mallet 16oz

£5.59

7142

gradient laser level £14.99

997

365 drills tile cutting kit

£50.00

995

Self levelling laser level kit £45.00

1170

Stabila LAX 50 Self Levelling Laser Level £120.00

1169

Vitrex Gel2 Swivel Cap Knee Pads £10.00

K1

Notes

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