ᐅ Tiling walls before installing the floors?

Created on: 25 Jun 2015 18:14
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willWohnen
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
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nordanney
25 Jun 2015 23:58
It’s probably a matter of opinion whether to install the ceiling first and then the walls or vice versa. In our case, the walls went up first.
Where do you see potential issues?
Musketier26 Jun 2015 07:35
We painted most of it afterwards. However, the tiler also said that it can be done beforehand. He would work carefully.
In the rooms where we applied fleece to the walls, we did this before tiling so that the fleece is hidden behind the baseboard and does not have to be cut off on top.
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willWohnen
27 Jun 2015 23:04
@nordanney Hello, I would have suspected problems at the joint between floor and wall, simply because the gap between the wall and floor tiles might not fit properly—too tight to get the floor tile in underneath, too tight to apply enough silicone as a moisture barrier, too wide and too much silicone resulting in an unattractive wide joint... things like that.
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Sebastian79
27 Jun 2015 23:26
Silicone is not a protection against moisture
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willWohnen
27 Jun 2015 23:32
@Lexmaul79 That's why these are installed under kitchen sinks and shower glass panels, right? I once had a thread here where I asked about baseboard tiles, and one answer was that they also serve to protect against moisture in these areas.
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Sebastian79
28 Jun 2015 02:37
This is purely an aesthetic issue – the waterproofing itself must be done differently. You could completely avoid using silicone in the shower, but it would look odd.