ᐅ Tiling walls before installing the floors?

Hello,

our general contractor surprised me today by asking when we would be finished with painting, as he wants to schedule the tiler soon.
I replied that the screed still needs at least 5 weeks to dry — this was also the time frame I gave the painter, with the note that he should start in the utility room and could then manage the rest relatively freely during this period.
Then my contractor said: The walls could already be tiled now; we should just have the ceilings in the bathrooms and the upper sections of the walls painted.
I said I would try to arrange that or speed up the process.

After this conversation, I’m wondering: Is it common to tile the walls before the floors? Isn’t the floor usually installed first, and then the wall tiles are set on top?
I have a feeling that this method might cause problems that wouldn’t arise otherwise.
Maybe he would tile the edge of the floor first — I am familiar with such a piecemeal approach from him — but that doesn’t feel right either because the screed needs to be ground down. And would it still come together properly in the middle of the floor?

I’m confused.
Is this a great idea that I should fully support, or is it more likely to negatively impact the quality of the tiling work?

Regards

willWohnen

Our tiler (for floors and walls) started with the walls first, partly due to residual moisture in the floor, and completed everything except for the bottom row of wall tiles. Then the floor beneath the tiled walls was done, and finally, the bottom row of wall tiles was installed.

This approach only works if the tiler has the exact measurements and can take accurate dimensions accordingly.

In our case, the coordination ultimately worked well.

However, why is painting done before tiling? How do they finish the tile edges if the tiles are not yet fixed to the wall? I am thinking especially about the baseboard area and the bathrooms. Depending on the tiler, that must require a lot of reworking.

Hello @toxicmolotow Thanks for sharing your experience, it actually seems doable.
Yes, there will need to be corrections everywhere, including the baseboards in all rooms. We discussed this with the painter, but he didn’t see it as a big issue. He still preferred to start by painting everything first. At this stage, there are no doors, switch plates, floor coverings, or even a wooden staircase installed yet, all of which he would have to carefully mask. There is also a small scaffold in the staircase area that he can use. Apparently, this approach makes sense for him in terms of effort.

I would also recommend painting everything beforehand and then doing any touch-ups later – it makes the painting process much less stressful.

@Lexmaul79 Thank you. It’s always good to hear how others see it.

Let's do it that way as well.
Currently, the wall tiles are being installed, the fleece is being applied in the other rooms, and then they will be painted.
So everything before the floor coverings, electrical work, etc. Only the bathrooms will receive the final plaster later. For that, the doors and so on should be installed.