Lift Your Room with New Tiles
If you want to cover an uneven wall, but don’t feel up to plastering or you want a surface which protects against moisture and is easy to clean, think tiles.
This is another relatively easy DIY project that comes under the painting and decorating heading – and it can transform a room without calling in the architects.
Using a straight wooden batten, mark out the number of spaced tiles it extends over.
From the top of the skirting, use this gauge to calculate how many tiles you’ll need to reach the ceiling (or whatever height you’re tiling to). If a narrow strip is left at the top, just move the bottom row up by half a tile.
With a spirit level and pencil, mark the horizontal rows on the wall and tack the batten along the first line. Do the same for the vertical lines, but start from a corner and use a plumb line to get an accurate vertical drop.
From the corner made by the two battens, spread half a square metre of adhesive onto the wall, using the notched edge of the trowel to score it.
Press tiles onto the wall until adhesive squeezes out around the sides. Push spacers into the corners (that’s eight per tile) and place a spirit level across the tiles periodically to check they’re flat. Keep going until you’ve placed all the whole tiles.
Remove the battens when the adhesive is dry and, using a tile-cutting jig and tile saw, cut the remaining tiles to shape. Finally, grout the tiles, wiping with a damp sponge as you go.
