# Forum Home Renovation Tiling  polished porcelain floor tiles - DIY or how much for tiler?

## babi

Total newbie here - just painting walls and ceiling was a big project for me  :Biggrin:  
After taking a bit of a breather I'm now ready to tile most of my unit (~60 m2). After the digging through the threads in this here awesome renovateforum.com resource, I shortlisted a few Sydney tiling warehouses (comparison shopped today at Laws Auction, Tile Mega Mart & Tile Factory Outlet) and have now bought polished porcelain for the entire area. 
Not sure how to proceed from here, should I try and do this myself or pay someone? 
 - 600 x 600 polished porcelain tiles
- 3 rooms (lounge & 2 bedrooms) and 3 fiddly doorway spaces
 - existing floor skirting/moulding all along the walls
 - existing carpet to be ripped up 
Not fussed by the amount of time it would take me, but not confident I'll be able to do it properly. Prices for tilers according to interweb discussion forums range from $40 - $80 m2; which would completely break my budget! 
Tips? Advice? TIA  :Smilie:

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## shrek4

The question you need to ask yourself is can you live with it if it isn't perfect? Also is the headache worth it? After doing some DIY tiling myself in a straightforward rectangular room I'd be confident to DIY again. But to tackle multiple rooms with entrance points etc, nah I'd leave that to a pro.  
If it were me I'd save for someone else to do it.

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## babi

That is a good way to look at it.  
Do you think I could save on tiler cost if I worked with them / ripped up the carpet before hand /etc? Anyone know what a good tiler in ACT charges?

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## Dr Freud

What size are the tiles? 
I'm in Perth, so assuming concrete floors? 
Easy bits you can do is rip up the carpet, soft edges etc. 
Depending on the look you want, maybe also rip off the skirting -(then return?/ replace?/ leave off?). 
You'll need a wet saw if DIY (plus all the usual tiling gear). 
If time is no issue, and you are willing to learn as you go, then definitely DIYable. 
Research setting out and do this well.  Take your time to get the levels perfect!  Polished porcelain is unforgiving. 
There's more than enough stuff on the net to get you through.   
Price wise, it sounds like lots of cuts, and with porcelain, this means time.  Without seeing it (photo's?), I'd be aiming around the $80 mark. 
Photo's and small steps will get better feedback as explaining the whole shebang from go to whoa will take a while

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## babi

Thanks for the words of encouragement (have seen a few threads on other discussion forums where first timers are advised to stay far, far away from laying polished porcelain). Will also update the original post, but the tiles are 600 x 600 
Have started doing research online, best step by steps guides I've found are:  How To Lay Floor Tiles  Bunnings Warehouse D.I.Y. Podcasts 
Will be heading home to take pics in a few hours; and will post back here for more collective wisdom  :Smilie:

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## autogenous

Porcelain has to be laid with precision in order to prevent lipping.   
Any undulating concrete floor will mean it may need screeding across the entire floor to flatten it. 
The other is that porcelain tiles come in different grades.  If there is warping of the purchased tiles it can turn into a nightmare.  Some tiles just shouldn't arrive in this country because of bent corners etc. 
If you buy a batch of rubbish porcelain tiles no matter how expensive they may be you will get a poor job.  Tilers cant flatten bent porcelain. 
Paying loads of money or location sourcing does not guarantee a flat square porcelain tile. 
Keep in mind some is so hard nothing can cut them which makes for a slow expensive job. 
All points to consider when purchasing the tiles.

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## GeoffW1

> (have seen a few threads on other discussion forums where first timers are advised to stay far, far away from laying polished porcelain). Will also update the original post, but the tiles are 600 x 600

  Hi, 
I'd agree with that after laying 600 x 300 tiles. The big tiles are very difficult to get right if the floor is not dead level and very flat. The corner joins refuse to meet well otherwise. Also to get those fiddly cut-ins looking good you need a lot of judgement and the right gear.  
I'm all for DIY but some things need a lot of experience, which I think might be the case here. You will want to get that good feeling when you walk on it. 
Cheers

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## babi

Have attached pics here (fingers crossed I've done it right). 
@autogenous Will keep the warnings in mind, but I've already plonked down the tiles, so I'm going to mostly just hope that this is a good batch! They just looked so good on the display, and were reasonably priced  :Smilie:  
@geoffw1 I think yours is majority opinion. Might try and catch a Bunnings workshop, figure out how much the materials will cost; and then weigh up my options.  
Thanks all!

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## Unique1

Good luck mate, i will be watching your thread as i am interested too.  
btw, how much your tiles cost ? Photos of them ? 
Cheers

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## JDub

Gday babi, 
I just completed an excellent one day tiling course (8am-5pm) at CIT in Bruce. Very practical and hands on. The fella who ran it teaches the apprentices during the week. $150 well spent I reckon.

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## Gaza

If your unit is not on the ground floor then you will need acoutstic underlay in accordance to the BCA and your strata corp. 
I don't think that diy tilling is good idea.

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## genetik_defekt

Do not attempt this yourself. it will not be perfect and you will be dissapointed with the results. if you pay someone else then you have someone to fall back on if its not right. yes it will be expensive but you can wait and save up for it as you still have carpet down.  
Just think, your trying to ADD value to your unit, if a potential buyer see a  dodgey tiling job when it comes time to sell you could lose buyers. And ripping out 60 square of porcelain is never going to be easy. 
P.S  What did you pay for your tiles?

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## multiblade

Should you or shouldn't you?
1st attempt at tiling...I tiled a fire place hearth ... lol
Was interesting, no training and no explanations just handed the materials and told to do it.  had to level the area first with ardit (first time for that too), and when that was dry do the job in front of the client, pretending i knew what is was doing. It looked perfect when finished but I was very very careful. And it was a tiny, tiny job. 
2nd attempt at tiling...
Bathroom repairs to a hob in the bathroom at the architects own house. Rectified edges and glass tiles together. I had to waterproof it first and the rectified tiles all required 'jolly' edging. Came up good enough that the architect was satified. 
3rd attempt at tiling (my own place)...
35m2 floor and wall tiling. 300x300 vitrified on the floor and 450x300 rectified white on the walls. It came up VERY well, the bathroom looked great. A good professional tiler inspected it when visiting and told me that it was very good but he could have done a better job grouting. By the time i had got to the grouting stage I was so exhausted I cant actually remember the grouting at all lol 
4th and 5th attempt at tiling (my own place)... I paid a proffesional. lol
I am such a messy worker that clean up is a b!tch, and the good pros make it look so very easy and they are unbeleivable fast. Also if you a lucky enough to get a good ethical one that works hard and fast on day rate, it isnt really that expensive.
The proffesionals were a team of 2, charged me around $850 - $900/day for the 2 of them and did two small kitchen floors and splashbacks in 1.5 days. This included glue and grout. Summary, when i can afford to, i will always pay the proffesionals. When I cant afford to, and have the time, I can do it pretty damn good.  
So I guess its a case of how much money do you have, and how willing you are to plan it properly and be careful how you do it. 
A non-proffesional or non trade qualified doesnt always do a worse job, but they ALWAYS do a slower job, and in my case I end up covered in whatever I'm working with. 
Best of luck if you do it yourself.  
Cheers.

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## babi

Slow going folks. Still haven't shopped around for tiling quotes, but after reading the responses here I'm resigned to forking out for a pro. 
EDIT: Aaaand, if you're a tiler in Canberra - message me please  :Smilie:

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## Oldsaltoz

Hi Babi, 
If your tiles have a brick edge rather than the more common rounded edge, get a pro, and make sure the pro has put down brick edge tiles that size. 
The floor levels MUST be near perfect to have any chance of a good finish, or you will the lip of the brick edge on every other tile. 
I assume you have researched the type and frequency of having to seal this type of tile to prevent staining. Once stained there is little that will remove it. 
A friend purchased a couple of pallets of them and they had got wet at some stage, the plastic strapping lost some of it's colour and you guessed it. they had to be thrown away. :Eek:  
Good luck. :Smilie:

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## reflexor

> Slow going folks. Still haven't shopped around for tiling quotes, but after reading the responses here I'm resigned to forking out for a pro. 
> EDIT: Aaaand, if you're a tiler in Canberra - message me please

  hi babi, just saw your post. tiler just did our kitchen splashback exactly as in your photo. now wants to charge $1,500 for 4m2 kitchen backsplash. that's just for labour alone. which makes it $375/m2.  
material cost is just $27/m2.  
in a fix now cos tiler already did the job, then builder tells us tiler wants $1,500.  
be very careful! :Cry:  
(for details of our situation, go to our thread.)

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## babi

Sorry to hear about it reflexor  :Frown:  Will be sure to ask for a written quote!

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## babi

I bit the bullet and paid for a professional to do this. Watching them go, I think that was a decision for the best!  
Will post photos soon, but I think the tileres did an awesome job - neat, detail oriented, quick & reasonable. Message me if you're looking for a tiler in Canberra  :Smilie:  
Another recommendation, this time for Laws Auction, which is where I bought the tiles. Even after the transportation costs from Sydney to Canberra, it came out to 1/2 of what it would have cost at Harvey Norma/etc.

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