First, cut two parallel lines downward with a rod saw.  A rod saw is a cheap saw, that can either be bought as a blade that fits into your own hacksaw or as a separate saw.  If you’re trying to tile around the tub faucet with tiles no larger than 4″x4″, I recommend the hacksaw.

Next, you need a third line that connects the two previous lines, forming a square that you can knock out.  This can go either of two ways.  You can keep using your rod saw and just cut across.  Or, if you’re tired of sawing, you can score the tile surface with a utility knife or tile cutter.

You need to do some precise measuring to make sure the square you’re cutting out will be covered by the faucet flange.

Deftly knock out that scored piece with a small hammer or handle off a screwdriver.

Fit the tile around the tub faucet hole.

The faucet flange or faucet itself should cover the hole.

Because, if you didn’t know this already, caulking is a strangely archaic and inefficient process.  You squirt the caulk bead where you want it and then…

…Then you dab your finger in water and you smooth the caulk down.  Or you can use little plastic scrapers that are supposed to do the same thing.  But in the end, it’s more efficient just to use your finger.  Messy!

So, a suggested “cleaner” way to do this is to lay down two strips of masking tape, one on either side of the intended caulk bead.  The idea behind this is that when you smooth down the caulk with your finger, the caulk gets smooshed out in direction you didn’t want it to go.  But by having this masking tape, you can later on strip the tape away and the mess with it.

How well does this work?

It’s certainly worth trying out.  Not all tilers–professional or DIY–use masking tape.

For one thing, it takes a lot of time to lay down the masking tape precisely.  Pros with steady hands can caulk cleanly without the tape, and save time.

Also, it’s too easy to rely on the tape to do the job.  The tape is just clean-up help.

Us DIY tilers often have “eyes” bigger than our “hands.”  The opposite scenario is laying down just a little bit of mastic, laying down 2 or 3 tiles, laying down more mastic, and doing this over and over.  It gets tiring.  That’s the point where most of us start increasing the amount of mastic.

You will know if the mastic is too dry to install tile when it has “skinned over.”  Skinning over means that the very top of the mastic has develope a thin, dry layer.  To the touch, it may not feel like much.  In fact, you can even break through it with your fingernail.

But don’t do this.  Even that thin skin is enough to prevent your tiles from sticking properly.

Don’t throw skinned-over mastic back in your bucket of mastic, or you’ll ruin the stuff in the bucket.

Carefully scrape off any “skinned over” mastic from the wall and dispose of it.

Then reapply mastic to your wall–less mastic this time around, of course–and start tiling again.

Frankly, there is no magic bullet.  It just takes a few tips and a little patience, and you’ll get it right.

Use Bullnose on One Side, Flat on Other

On one side of the corner, you will use bullnose edged tile.  On the adjacent side, you will use tile with a flat edge (i.e., non-bullnose).

This is the only want to make sure that when the two tiles meet, they will form a smooth corner.

Trim Off the Bullnose

So, where do you get the “flat tile” mentioned above?  You can either buy tile without the bullnose, or you can use your wet tile saw to trim off just the bullnose part of some tiles.  Do not go too far; just the bullnose.  And don’t worry, you won’t notice the smaller dimensions if you’re judicious about trimming off only the bullnose.

Don’t worry about any special skills needed to trim the bullnose off.  This is an extremely simple cut to do with a wet tile saw.

Bullnose Overlaps Flat-Edged Tile

Now, make sure that the bullnose overlaps the flat-edged tile.  The bullnose is the “show” part of the tile.  The cut-off flat time may have some minor ridges, but this will be covered up by the bullnose.

Tile Both Sides of Corner Simultaneously

Ah, now here’s a great tip.  Do not tile an entire column of bullnoses upward, stop, and then tile the flat-edged tiles upward.

Instead, do a bullnose and its around-the-corner neighbor.  Then the next one up.  Then the next one, and so on.

Stacked Tile Design, Not Overlapping Design

Now, this is no requirement, but it’s a helpful thing–unless you’re really confident about your tiling skills, you will find that the stacked tile design is much easier than the overlapping tile design when working with corners.

Note that by “overlapping” we’re not talking about bullnose overlapping the flat-edged tiles in the tip above.  This is an entirely different thing, where you lay the tiles out in a grid fashion:

Stacked Tile

Overlapping Tile

Stacked Tile

Stacked Tile

You’re familiar with stacked tile, and it’s the most common tile configuration for showers and bathtubs.  Stacked tile forms a grid-like pattern.

• Easiest tile design because you never have to guess about the placement of the next row.
• Too many stacked tiles (especially with wide grout lines) can look imposing and grid-like.
• When wet, if a tile on the bottom row is loose and slippery, the column of tiles above it will force that tile downward.

Choosing between stacked tile and overlapping tile, the beginning tile-setter may choose stacked–it’s a bit easier to execute.

Overlapping Tile

Overlapping Tile

With overlapping tile, there are no “crosses” formed.

• Take a little more work to install overlapping tile because you have to rely on your eye to determine the halfway point for your next row of tile.
• Reputed to be a bit more structurally sound, much like brick is laid in a staggered fashion.
• When wet, overlapping tile will not have problem mentioned with stacked tile of a column forcing the bottom tile downward.
• Can break up that grid-like imposing look.

You start to notice that the row is slipping downward.  Sometimes, it’s not much, and it’s not always the entire row of tiles.  While it may not seem bad, when you get that bottom row of tiles wrong, it becomes exponentially worse for the top rows.  It seems to multiply.  So, getting that first row right is essential.

No, you cannot just hold the tiles with your hand until they stick.  You would be there forever.  Instead, use a batten board for installing tile on wall:

Board placement?  You’re leaving out that first (bottom) row of tiles on the wall, and replacing it with the board.

1. Cut a 1×2 the length of the intended row of tiles.
2. Screw the 1×2 onto the wall.  Be sure to drill pilot holes first, because that 1×2 will crack.  Top of the board goes where the top of the row was supposed to go.
3. Then install the “second” row of tile atop that board.  The board will prevent this “second” row from sliding down.  Be sure that you don’t get a lot of mastic and crap under the board, or it will be hard to remove.
4. Wait as long as humanly possible for the tile mastic to set (or as long as the directions say).
5. Then, remove the board.

Who cares about the screw holes in the wall?  We don’t.  They get covered over by tile.