Julian Cassell's DIY Blog

Drilling into porcelain tiles is a lot trickier than drilling holes in ceramic tiles as porcelain is a much harder material. Therefore rather than using a standard spear shaped tile bit that is used for ceramic tiles (see my guide – ‘Fixing into tiles’), you need to use a diamond drill bit, which is specifically designed for making holes in hard tiles. Like any drill bits, diamond bits come in a number of different sizes, so you need to select the right size of bit for the job at hand read more »

A good manual tile cutter is pretty vital to a tiler’s toolkit and although you may need an electric tile cutter, or tile saw, for making tricky cuts, a manual cutter is the ideal tool for making quick, straight and accurate cuts. These types of tile cutter are also known as score and snap tile cutters, because that best describes how they work, and although you can buy hand held manual cutters, I’d urge you to opt for the larger model of manual tile cutter that I demonstrate in the guide below. read more »

When deciding where to start tiling a floor, you can employ a number of techniques that will help in your decision-making process. The aim is to produce a tile layout that provides the most balanced effect, in terms of cut tiles around the edge of the room, as well as trying to establish any areas where you ideally need to centralise the design, such as at a door entrance, for example. In reality, your tile layout will normally have compromises read more »

Buying a tile cutter is a necessary undertaking for any DIY tiling project. The main issue is deciding whether to go with an electric option, a traditional unpowered manual tile cutter, or indeed both. My recommendations at the bottom of this guide have changed slightly recently because of an incredibly good experience with a tile cutter which I think is easily the best value tile cutter I’ve ever used. read more »

The silicone sealant joints around the edges of baths and showers are vital waterproofing components and must be replaced/renewed if they have been badly applied, or,  the passage of time (and corrosive cleaning agents!) have gradually broken down the effectiveness of the seal. read more »