DIY is fast becoming a way of looking after your house cheaply. There are quite a few things you can do in your house as long as you have the right tools available. Drainage maintenance (sometimes requires an expert company, for example in drain jetting and CCTV), plumbing repairs, and tiling maintenance are all possibilities if you have the right tools for the job.
For tiling you need quite a few specialized tools before you start any job:
1) You‘ll need to be able to cut tiles accurately and consistently so you’ll need to get a dry tile cutter. Brands such as Sigma and Rubi are for the professionals so you don’t need to invest in an expensive one for a few small jobs. These manufacturers offer lower range cutters which are quite suitable for the once-in-a-while tiling job.
2) Don’t make a mess in your house so get yourself some dust sheets to lay down before you start.
3) Grout floats are the tools for applying grouts to joints. This is done by carefully applying the grout to the joint and smoothing over and wiping off with the float to get a consistent finish.
4) A good bucket will be needed to get the grout off float during passes.
5) A good trowel, these are special trowels – a normal garden one will not suffice. Tilers trowels have grooves and notches for them to be able to get the correct surface area and quantity. Trowels from Rubi, and Marshall Town are ones that professional tilers use – find a cheap one in their range.
6) Have you considered the colour of your grout? There are so many that you need to find the right one before you commence. Mapei have a full range, and Bal are well established.
7) Where can you get the tools? There are quite a few online shops offering tools at good prices but it pays to shop around looking for special offers. Or you can to Topps, B&Q and other big retailers – they have a big markup though so be aware that although it’s convenient you will be paying an expensive price for your
tiling tools.
For many DIY’ers tiling can seem like a ‘black art’ but it’s not. Using the right tools helps considerably and with resources on Youtube for guidance you can get all the information you need.