Bathroom tiling
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What's underneath is just as important as what's on top! A great tiling job can transform your bathroom, but before you begin, it's worth considering two key things that will make all the difference to the quality of the finished job. Firstly, make sure you choose the right sort of tile. Tiling is an art – and not all tilers are artists! So, ask around. Word of mouth is still the most reliable way to find skilled tradesmen. If you don't know anyone who has had their bathroom tiled lately, ask at your local tile shop for a list of recommended tilers in your area. Tiling is definitely a job for an expert. Trying to do it yourself could be false economy! So, what sort of tiles are suitable for bathrooms? Bathrooms are one of the most demanding areas in the house for building materials. Whatever you use, it needs to withstand constant heat, water and humidity. This makes unglazed, porous tiles unsuitable. There are different grades of tiles for walls and floors. Floor tiles need to be non-slip and hard wearing. High gloss glazed tiles tend not to be suitable, not only because of potential slipperiness, but because they also grow dull with use. Wall tiles tend to be thinner and less strong because they take less wear. High gloss tiles are suitable for walls – and easy to clean. Not only do the tiles need to be impervious to water (not all are), but the adhesive, grout, and substrate material all need to be able to withstand the conditions. If the substrate fails, chances are the tiles will too. James Hardie's Villaboard provides a high performance tile substrate for the walls, and when used in conjunction with Villaboard Bedding Compound and Villaboard Finishing Compound, it provides a total system – with no weak links. Villaboard is made from fibre-cement so it is impervious and stable. Plus new-generation Villaboard is coated with a surface primer which inhibits absorption of jointing compounds into the sheet. This also provides better adhesion for tiles and wallpaper adhesives and less paint required when using Villaboard as a surface for paint finishes in wet areas. Because Villaboard can be painted or tiled over, it provides the perfect surface for bathroom walls that are tiled up to a certain height, then painted. For bathroom floors, James Hardie Tile and Slate Underlay provides a smooth impervious substrate for laying tile, slate, vinyl, timber strip, particle board or plywood sheet flooring. A solid cement based composition means that Tile and Slate Underlay gives dimensional stability and will not rot, plus it's easy to install.
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