A simple guide is, the floor must be as ridged as possible, loose floorboards should be screwed back down an over boarded with WBP plywood (15mm thick minimum) screwed at 300mm centres and use an adhesive and grout to suit the type of application.

Remember, timber can be tiled but preparation is esential.

"Yes you can tile over existing tiles. As a rule use ready mixed acrylic adhesives for walls and Sontex single part Rapidflex grey for floors. It does depend upon your individual circumstances but this is a standard practice and we stock the relevant adhesives in our showrooms. Make sure that the tiles which you are fixing to are secure, our sales staff will be able to advise you further"

Use a gauge rod (a straight off cut of wood), lay out several tiles on the floor, use spacers or matchsticks to allow for the grout. place the rod next to the tiles and mark each joint. Measure the height of the wall and divide by 2, marking this height on the wall. Use the gauge and mark the joints from this height down. If the size of the last tile is less than half a tile, move the original starting point up or down. If the last tile is greater than half a tile,use these marks. Using a spirit level, draw a horizontal line across the wall at the base of the lowest row of whole tiles. Measure the width of the wall, mark the centre and repeat the process horizontally.

There are different ways of cutting holes in tiles depending upon the size of the hole and type of tile. To make a hole for a screw fixing,you will need a special drill bit (available from all good hardware stores) shaped like an arrow. Place tape across the area to be drilled, this stops the glaze from cracking. Do not apply undue pressure, let the drill bit cut the hole.To cut around radiator pipes etc, use tile nippers. Mark the area you wish to remove and nibble away at the tile until you have removed the section you require.

We do not offer a tile cutting service as such. We do have tile cutters which we hire out. These can be pre-booked and are charged at a daily rate. We do ask for a deposit which is refunded on return of the cutter.

Installing new tiling can be costly so it is important to prepare the substrate in advance of fixing the new tiling. Ensure that the vinyl tiles are fully secure to the concrete or screed before tiling, - Primer 303, will help to promote better bonding of the tile adhesive. Use a flexible, rapid setting adhesive to fix the new tiles - Sontex single part Rapidflex grey and flexible grout. - Fast Trackgrey grout to finish the job. If the vinyl is at all loose the tiling will have a limited life. Check thoroughly, or better still spend a little time and remove the vinyl tiles completely.

Where you put the motif tile in a room is very much down to personal preference and choice. As a guide use them as a feature. Fix them above your bath, in a shower or between a hob and cooker-hood. Try to get an even balance with a random spread across the whole area to be tiled.

Surface preporation of walls before tiling is essential as failing to clean the surface properly leaves a weak link which could result in poor bonding of the tile. Remove any dirt, grease or loose materials and make good any surface irregularities - once filled, hollows should be allowed to dry. Make sure that any old adhesive is removed. For painted walls ensure that the paint is sound. For papered walls, all paper must be removed! New plaster should be a minimum of 4 weeks old and dry prior to tiling and any dust or porous plaster must be primed.

We recommend that you use HG Grout cleaner to clean grout. It is stocked in all of our showrooms along with a comprehensive range of HG tile cleaning and maintenance products. Full instructions for use are on the back of each bottle.

Measure the width and height of the wall, multiply the width by the height, this will give you the total square metere/square foot area. Do the same with each wall to be tiled. Do the same with any door or window and then subtract this area from the wall area. Click now to use my tile calculator to workout the amount of tiles you will require for the job. Alternatively, if you take your measurements into any of our showrooms our staff will be happy to do the calculation for you.

Just click now to use my tile calculator, its quick, easy and accurate and covers all the different sizes of tiles which you will find in our showrooms.

To convert an area from sqm to sqyd, multiply by 1.196
e.g. 4 sqm = 4x1.196 = 4.784 sqyd

To convert from sqyd to sqm multiply by 0.8361
e.g. 5.2 sqyd = 5.2x0.8361 = 4.348 sqm

Our glass tiles can be cut with a tile cutter such as the Rubi cutters which we have available for hire. Simply score the surface of the glass tile with the cutting wheel where you wish to cut, then bring down the arm to make a clean cut. Remember the cut edge will be sharp.

The rule here is not to box yourself into a corner, have the design already laid out as detailed in "How do I tile a floor?" and make sure that you finish at the door of the room.

All of our showrooms keep business cards of tilers who have a good name and are local to the area. Ask a member of staff, the cards will be held at the counter.

Before fixing floor tiles make sure that you check the subfloor for any loose or weak adheared material. If fixing to a wooden floor, please see "How do I prepare a wooden floor?" in this section. You may find that new concrete or cement and sand screeds have surface deposits such as lime bloom, which need to be removed. Older substrates may have other residues which should also be removed. Once the floor surface is clean and free from contamination, priming may be necessary - if in doubt, consult the technical information available from the adhesive manufacturer.

If you are fixing a single row of borders to a room they are normally fixed at dado height approximately 1.2m above the floor level. You can also fix a double border with a second row running one tile down from the ceiling. Manufacturers have responded to this trend by making larger borders to run at dado height with a small border or pencil to run just below ceiling height.

Yes our showroom staff are calculating customers requierments every day. Its all part of the job! Bring your dimensions and design in, however complicated they may seem into one of our showrooms and we will work out how many tiles you will need.

Yes you should buy extra tiles, around 10% as a rule. The extra tiles will allow for damage and cuts while tiling. Also you should keep some tiles in store in case you need to repair at some stage in the future. It is unlikely that we will have the same shade number in stock should you require replacements a year or so down the line.

It is not so much which way is best but which way you prefer and how the different layouts look on your floor. A long narrow room will look much better tiled square while in Italy, the spiritual home of tiles, floors are inevitably laid on the diagonal.

We are not able unfortunately to offer a room measuring service. However, if you bring your room measurments into our showroom our staff will be able to calculate for you how many tiles you will require.