I‘m gutting my bathroom and will be tiling the floor and then adding a new vanity and a new toilet.The question is, do you tile before you put in the toilet and new vanity or do you put in these items first and then tile around them? Concrete slab foundation that I‘m currently working on leveling.
You want to tile first, tile last forever. You may want to change your vanity eventually, or you may want a different type of toilet in the future. If you have your tile down first, these changes will not matter. Also, tile doesn't ruin if you have a leak and water damage. If you tile first, you just pick out new things. If you put in the stuff first, you will have to buy exactly the same thing.
Definitely before. Its just the right way, and anyway you'd have to do a lot more intricate cuts to make it look right. Also, mark where the vanity will sit and just go a couple of inches underneath and you can save a few tiles. After Diy Doc's answer, let me add that if you finish and didn't break too many tiles cutting them and have the extras, by all means fill in under the vanity the next day if you want. I just didn't want you to run short. Thanks Doc
I would suggest paying a contractor because there are many things that can go wrong. ...sub floor has bounce, so tiles don't stay down, grout cracks, putting a toilet over tiles (you need to lift the toilet, and reset it after the tiles are laid. You will also need to cut the tiles around the ABS and that can be a bit difficult too.) then the toilet can still leak causing damage. But if you are a good DIYer, then go to Home Depot or Rona and take a seminar.
Do all of your tiling first. If you will be painting at all, make sure you do THAT first. Do anything above the floor first, then lay your tiles then put your toilet and sink in. If you put the toilet and sink down first, your tile cutting will be 10 times worse. Just make sure you put a sealer over the tiles too.
SOME 10 point answers so far. I hope you acknowledge all of them. The issue relates to what you might want to change, Down the road and please know that home builders, don't usually do any flooring under a vanity,,,sigh. I've installed multiple thousands of sq. ft. of flooring, and have re-modeled more bathrooms than anything else, and have to say if nothing is in the bathroom yet, your looking at installing not much more than a 30x24 inch area of tile UNDER where the vanity will be, and less under where the toilet will be. At current prices, and without the added labor you're cost might be less than another $50 for the better way to go. Seems logical to me. Still, give everyone above me some thanks. Tiling, sheet vinyl, hardwood, Solid GOLD, UNDER a toilet is a natural assumption, and allows for NO odd cuts. Assume however, that one day you might want a pedastal sink as opposed to that GLIT vanity. If you install flooring Under, it'll still be there, if you change your notion. Very realistically TILE, etc. Will NOT be on the shelf, to match, 5 years from now. Steven Wolf
