Tiles for the bathroom and toilet, as well as the method of laying it, are of interest to any person who has begun to make repairs in his home. It is always difficult to choose and lay the tiles correctly, since the bathrooms have certain nuances: in the “Khrushchev” the toilets are small, in other apartments the bathrooms have an angular shape or other features.
A suitable color and a beautiful design are not all that you need to focus on when preparing to choose a tile for your bathroom. Naturally, the design of the tile in the toilet is very important, but if it cracks or otherwise deforms and loses its properties, then a beautiful design will no longer save you.
When finishing, first of all, it is necessary distinguish wall and floor tiles. Floor - heavier and is not used for wall decoration. Even if you manage to lay it down, it will not last long and fall off the walls pretty quickly. The situation is the same with wall tiles - they need to be laid only for their intended purpose, as they are very thin and fragile in order to withstand significant weight.
When purchasing tiles, do not forget that it is necessary to take more of them than required for the size of the toilet or bathroom - by about 12-15%, since some of them will probably become unusable, crack or deform during installation.
Tiles for the toilet and bathroom must be flat. This, for starters, will make it easier to lay it, and also provide a strong grip on the surface. In order to find out how flat is the material, it is necessary to attach the tiles one to the other with the front side. The gap between the material in the normal plane must be no more than 1.2 mm.
Diagonal is also an important indicator of ceramic tiles. It is determined using a tape measure, and the difference in the norm can be approximately 0.4-0.6 mm, but it is advisable to choose a tile in which there is no such difference at all.
The quality of the glazing of a tile can be determined by placing the tile against the light - so you can see if there are cracks on it - they are quite small, like a cobweb, and they are invisible in a different position.
No less important is the design of tiles - the overall atmosphere in the bathroom or toilet will depend on this. In addition, the right design will make the flaws in the work less noticeable, which can happen if you do the bathroom renovation with your own hands and do not have much experience.
There are many options for tiles for the bathroom and toilet - with photo printing, with ornaments, plain, mosaic. Try not to lay tiles with small patterns on the floor - this can create uneven floor effect. In a cramped and small room, large-format drawings are not suitable for walls - it is impossible to see them from a proper distance.
Traditionally, when repairing, this technique is used - the wall is horizontally divided using a border with an ornament. The ceiling and the top of the walls are decorated in light colors, the floor and the lower part - in darker ones. So the room looks more spacious and higher, it is important that the dark tile is not very gloomy.
Modern design increasingly offers the reception of zoning. It seems to be why zoning a small room, but against the background of light tiles, a colored insert that highlights the toilet area itself can look very bold and interesting.
Ceramic tiles for the bathroom: Features of a good choice
In order to successfully use the positive properties of ceramic tiles in design, it is necessary know certain secrets. They primarily relate to creating the effect of a visual increase in the room and a high ceiling.
How to visually enlarge a toilet or bath:
- it is advisable to choose cool colors: silver, blue, turquoise, bluish-gray;
- in the decoration of the toilet with tiles, you can use small ceramic elements, for example, a mosaic;
- a good solution is a clear transverse ornament or abstract decor;
- when decorating walls, rows of tiles must have a horizontal orientation;
- for floor tiles, it is advisable to choose a diagonal installation.
How to create the feeling of a high ceiling:
- successful is the use of colorful elongated stripes in the decor;
- decorative elements should preferably be placed at eye level;
- it is necessary to vertically stack the trim elements.
Choosing the color of the tiles in the toilet: Photos and features
Black or dark ceramic tiles can look very stylish, but only if the area of the bath or toilet is quite large and the ceilings are high.
When the toilet is combined with the bathroom, then you can choose dark shades, but in this case, you need to take care of good lighting. Alternatively, you can lay out only one wall with dark tiles - this way you save space and at the same time add originality.
Another option for laying dark tiles is on the floor, while leaving the walls light. This is a classic way of laying, it can be used even for a small toilet or bathroom.
If you decide to choose a tile with a geometric pattern, then it is advisable to use it for the walls, and not for the floor. In the case when the floor in your toilet is uneven - this pattern will only emphasize it.
When the ceiling in your bathroom is low, you can visually enlarge it by laying the tiles vertically. You can also choose tiles with vertical stripes- this will visually make the walls higher.
When the toilet is narrow, the layout will also help visually expand it. For starters, this can be done with the help of color: blue and any of its shades will do an excellent job with this task. But warm shades in narrow rooms should be avoided. For small toilets, light cold shades are another suitable colors - lilac, white, lemon, etc. It is possible to combine several colors, but without strong contrast. You can pick up small drawings - they can also help to increase the space, but they should not be very catchy and bright - this will create the opposite effect.
Repair of a toilet with tiles: Photos and stages of work
In a toilet or bathroom, tiling begins with an assessment of the bathroom and determining the amount of material required. It will be useful to pre-prepare the tools. Most likely, all of them are already there, but if something is missing, then you need to buy more.
So, you will need:
Bathroom or toilet tiles hardest to lay on the floor, therefore, its preparation must be done very carefully. First of all, you need to remove the old coating on the floor and plumbing. If the tile has already been laid, then a hammer and chisel will help to remove it. It is necessary to remove not only the coating itself, but also the old adhesive.
Then you need to level the surface. The concrete floor is leveled, poured with a special mixture for this (or you can make a solution with cement and sand with your own hands). Naturally, it is better to fill with a mixture, as it will create a more even and high-quality coating. How to dilute and fill it, you can read on the package.
Then, when the floor is ready, it is necessary to determine the level of the future coating and mark it on the walls, connecting the marks with lines. After you need to draw a level around the perimeter of the room using a water level. After marking the walls, they need to be connected with lines.
Laying tiles on the floor
The next step is laying out the tiles in the toilet or bathroom. This stage can only be started when when the floor is completely dry. It's best to start in the center as some of the tiles will need to be trimmed, and it's best to have the trims on the sides of the room.
The layout of the first tile is the most important stage, because in the future you will need to focus on it, and you must certainly do this correctly so that it lies flat. The tile on the floor is laid with pressure, and the glue that appears at the edges must be removed immediately. In this way, all floor tiles are laid out
Laying tiles on the walls
First of all, the walls must be leveled. You also need to remove the old coating, remove glue, dust and dirt. Then the walls treated with a primer- it is advisable to select a coarse-grained primer, as it will provide more reliable adhesion to the tile.
Then, when the wall is dry, start laying. The most important in this case is the first row - you will align all the rest along it, therefore you need to lay it efficiently and evenly. Tiles are laid at a small distance from each other, which is equal to the thickness of the seam.
If you do not plan to repair the floor in the toilet or bathroom, but decide to replace only the tiles on the wall, then laying the rows must be done from 2 rows, and lay the fitted and cut material on the floor.
Just like flooring, laying tiles on walls is done with pressure. That is, first you need to apply glue with a spatula, and then press the tile firmly against the wall and remove the remaining glue that appears from the edges.
Laying is best done from below, because even if something goes wrong, then at this level the flaws will be the least visible.
With a level, you need to check not only the laid rows, but also several already laid tiles in order to correct their position in a timely manner if it is incorrect (this often happens if you are a beginner and have not done repairs to the toilet or bathroom before with your own hands).
Between each tile you need to insert crosses- then there will be an even distance between the material. But after the completion of the stage of work, do not forget to remove them, otherwise they will seize with glue and it will be impossible to get them without removing the tile.
You probably won't be able to finish all the work in one day, but before you finish, make sure that you have completely laid out the row, removed the crosses and glue. You can continue the repair work only the next day.
The final stage of laying is cleaning the seams. This is done using grout, which is rubbed into the cavity of the seams. Then, when the grout is distributed and slightly dried, it is necessary to wipe the entire coating with a dry cloth.
This work is completed. Now you know how to lay tiles in a toilet or bathroom. If you have done everything correctly, then the ceramic coating will look stylish and smooth, and will decorate the space of any bathroom. Do not be too lazy to refer to the photos and diagrams of the stages of work before proceeding with the selection and installation of tiles, since it is much easier to do everything right at once than to redo the entire coating, wasting your strength, time and money.
Assortment of toilet and bath tiles
