When tiling a wall AND the floor, how close to the floor should I get the wall tile?
Question:Should the wall tile touch the floor? OR
Should I leave enough space for the floor tile to go under the wall tile? OR
Should they meet at each edge of the tiles?
I dont' know the best way to do this? I'm tiling up the wall about 3.5 ft and laying a new tile floor.
Answers:
Generally the floor tile goes under the wall tile. I would put the floor tile down first, then start the first course of wall tile with a special tile with a curve on the bottom, sort of a reverse bullnose, used for just this situation.
However you choose to do it, even just butting the wall tile to the floor, the gap will be less noticeable if the floor tile goes under the wall tile. You might consider caulking this gap instead of grouting it to prevent cracking as the floor flexes as well.
Good luck.
One of the things that can hurt you with the floor when setting tight from the wall is if your floor tile is not laid flat. If your tiles undulate more than say 1/8 of an inch you could have a pretty serious chaulk bead to cover up the gaps.
A suggestion that I can give you on setting flat is to use a straight edge. A straight edge can be a good level with a hard 90 degree edge. Set the level across two tiles one that was set previously and the new set at a 45 degree angle and look at the hard edge against the tiles to see daylight. Any daylight raise or lower the newly set tile.
If you just want to 'stick and forget' I suggest putting in at least an 1/8th inch grout joint between the floor and wall to make up for the differences. Also, get some white wedges from a local tile shop that sells materials and supplies. This will help in raising and lowering tiles to keep a level line on your wall tiles.
Also, one more thing to remember is to use an anti-fracture membrane on the floor so if there are any cracks in the surface they will not crack the tiles from future movement of your concrete foundation. If you are setting over a wood subfloor you will have to use a tile substrate like cement backerboard. Check out your local where house store for information and classes on how to set basic tile installations.
Good luck.
It would be best to lay the floor tile first. After the floor tile is set, the wall tile can sit right on top of the floor tile. It is good to use a backer board for the floor tile, but it can be layed on plywood if it is atleast 3/4 inch plywood. Use thinset mortar for the floor you can also use it for the walls, but I prefer to use mastic adhevsive "wall glue". Plastic spacers are very handy and come in several different sizes depending on what size grout joint you wish to have. If you are using 4x4 tile on the walls they probably have built in spacers and you can but them right up to each other. If you have any other questions concerning laying out the tile or something not mentioned feel free to e-mail "blossomhandyman@yahoo.com"
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