In my opinion, anyone possessing enthusiasm and a modicum of common sense can have a fair attempt at most DIY/building tasks. Tiling is a good place to start as it is a finishing job rather than anything structural or electrical/plumbing based. Your house will not fall down through poor tiling, and at the very worst, you need only get a pro in if you really can’t achieve a reasonable finish. That said, the following tips are ways to make that first tiling job easier than it might otherwise be.

• Most important is the background upon which you are going to apply your tiles, the smoother and flatter this is, the better your chances of success. With a flat surface and the correct trowel you will soon get used to applying just the right amount of adhesive ensuring a clean and tidy job.

• Choose the right tiles. If you wish to drive yourself mad with frustration, please purchase glass mosaics. Impossible to cut neatly and supplied on cardboard backing sheets, these are not ideal starter tiles. Alternatively, large (10”x8” perhaps), good quality, white ceramic tiles are relatively cheap, easy to cut, easy to lay and always look good.

• Choose the right adhesive. This is a question of experimentation, but they do differ from one brand to the next. Firstly, if installing in a wet area make sure your adhesive is waterproof. Secondly, ensure the adhesive is suitable for your background. All this information is on the packaging. Thirdly, avoid quick drying trade adhesives until you are more experienced, as the last thing you need is to be rushed. Lastly, use a ready mixed wall adhesive rather than a powder. This eliminates the challenge of getting the mix right.

• Avoid all in one grout and adhesive at all costs. Buy good adhesive, buy good grout. Separately.

• Do you really need that border tile? It is very tempting to add dados, borders or upstands but remember YOU will have to put them on the wall. Profiles that protrude beyond the wall tiles are gathering places for water, muck and mould. They create issues round windows and other openings that wouldn’t have occurred otherwise and they often detract from what would have been a clean and simple look. Consider carefully, and try and dissuade your other half from getting carried away in the tile showroom.

So now you have followed my advice and bought your plain white tiles and accessories, its time to tile!

Marking out is important. You need a level horizontal line all the way round the room to follow. Hopefully this will be the floor, worktop, shower tray or skirting. If you do not have a level to start from, start one tile up from the bottom and fix a batten all the way round the room and tile from that. Afterwards, remove the batten and cut the bottom row of tiles in.

Often overlooked by novice tilers but very important, is the vertical spacing of the tiles. Rarely do tiles fit perfectly along the wall. A couple of minutes with the tape measure will save much cutting later on. It is most important to avoid very thin pieces in one corner. Find the middle of the room and measure out to the corners to see how the tiles will work out. It is best to get the tiles in the corners the same size. It only takes a few minutes and will make a big difference to the finish.

In a moment of flippancy, one could say it is a simple job of sticking the ceramic to the wall so it looks nice, and why complicate matters? Consistently throughout this series of hints and tips, the emphasis has been on the individual finding their own technique. Don’t expect to hold the trowel right first time but persevere and it will get easier with each tile. The essentials are as follows. Get the adhesive on the wall; spread it with a notched trowel and the press the tile onto the adhesive with even but firm pressure. Use tile spacers to maintain consistent gaps. Don’t put them in to the joints where four tiles meet, just insert one nib in between two tiles so they can be removed later. Assuming the wall is flat, make sure the edges of adjoining tiles are level with each other and keep an eye on horizontal and vertical joints to make sure they are consistent.

The general rule with tiling is if it looks good, it is good. With decent adhesive and a sound background, there is nothing else to worry about. The essentials of tiling are the same as most other building jobs. Good planning, good preparation, good measuring and good cutting.

Cleaning! The bold type is justified for this most important paragraph. Do not let the adhesive dry on the tiles and rake the joints out otherwise the adhesive will show through the grout and look horrendous. Keep a bucket full of water nearby (adding some hot water makes it more comfortable!) and clean with a sponge constantly to keep adhesive off the surface. Less speed more haste is the motto of the day when tiling. If you neglect the cleaning it will take you longer overall because you will spend hours cleaning off hardened adhesive. Excuse my over-emphasis, but this is the voice of painful experience!

Grouting

After the tiles have been on the walls for 24 hrs you can grout. Drying times depend on the type of grout but leave plenty of time to finish the job properly. Mix the grout into a paste and spread across the whole wall working into the joints with a rubber-edged grouting tool. Clean the surface of the tiles repeatedly as the grout hardens, frequently rinsing your sponge and changing the water in your bucket. Patience is a virtue as you can only work as fast as the grout will set. Clean repeatedly switching to a dry cloth to get the remnants of the grout of the face of the tiles. There are loads of grout finishing tools on the market but with thin joints, nothing beats a finger. When the tiles are clean and the gaps are filled equally, its job done.