DIY Tiling vs. Hiring a Professional

Tiling jobs can range in difficulty depending on the size and location of the job in question, and of course, on your own skills when it comes to home projects. Deciding whether to make a tiling job a Do-It-Yourself operation or hiring a professional tiler can be difficult when considering costs, clean up, complexity of the tile layout and the overall finished product.

Tiling jobs around the home vary in their types from floor to wall projects with different compositions including clay, ceramic, slate, marble, glass and other types of tiles that are designed to suit indoor or outdoor settings.

Choosing the design of your tiling project should be one of the major deciding factors when choosing between hiring tilers to complete the job or having a go yourself. Many tiling layouts can be quite complex with several different tiles interlacing to create a unique pattern. In these situations, a keen eye and understanding of geometrics is necessary in order for a balanced tiling space to be created. Of course, if you are simply laying tiles of the same size in a fairly square or rectangle shaped room, then DIY may be considered.

When choosing between hiring tilers for a project or making it a DIY, it is important to understand all the aspects that will be involved before commencing with any major tiling projects. Tasks involved with your standard tiling jobs include:

• construct design plans and mark surfaces to be covered and lay out work
• prepare surfaces and remove all old tiles, grout, cement and adhesive
• follow design pattern when applying tiles
• use tile-cutting tools to cut and shape tiles that will lay at edges, corners, or around obstacles such as fittings and pipes. A special cutting tool or a machine saw for this
• space and even the tiles by using tools such as spirit levels, squares and plumb-lines
• prepare and apply grout, remove excess grout, clean and polish tiles
• finish tiles with waterproofing solutions and applications

Of course, this is just a simple overview of steps involved in a tiling project with different variants impacting on every individual project. When tiling a surface of concrete walls, wood, plaster or dry wall, in other words, surfaces that are solid and flat, a cement adhesive or mastic will need to be spread over the entire surface. When tiling surface that are not quite so solid will need to use a tile backer board or a metal mesh with a scratch coat of cement mortar then applied followed by a brown mortar which acts as a surface of the tiles. Factors such as these will need to be considered before commencing your own DIY tiling project to ensure a quality end result.

If you do choose to opt for a professional tiler to complete your tiling project, then you should start by getting several independent written quotations so you can have a general picture of just how much the overall project would costs. If you do decide on one particular tiler, ask to see their qualifications and experience and enquire about the necessary insurances. Discuss the project at length before hiring any tilers and ask various questions such as what their predicted time frame for the project is and if they provide a clean-up service after completion.