Open question.

How long should it take to lay 9sqm of floor tiles in a stripped out kitchen?

Depends how big the tiles are and how many you have to cut to fit. etc etc.

Quote: billwill @ 7th October 2014, 9:22 PM BST

Depends how big the tiles are and how many you have to cut to fit. etc etc.

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Fair point well made Barbera.

"Depends how big the tiles are and how many you have to cut to fit. etc etc."

Yers.......... and whether you are laying vinyl or ceramic? Ceramic taking longer of course what with cutting. Also if you are laying ceramic on a wooden floor make sure you use a flexible cement. Ceramic will cover a multitude of sins, but if you are laying vinyl make sure the floor is as flat as you can get it i.e. no bumps or lumps as in time this will show through as a pattern on the tiles - if the floor is uneven then go over it with some sort of screed or self levelling compound.

Depending how good you want the job to look, always start from the plumb centre of the room by either measuring or using a chalk line marker and work outwards - means probably you will have more cuts around the edges of course, but it will look better balanced. If you do decide on this method then lay a few out to see where the final edges will finish up.

If you couldn't give a monkey's what it looks like then start from one wall - less cuts!

Hercules is of course correct.
Starting from a wall edge sounds logical but there has never been a wall built that is 90 degrees to the other walls.

Youtube is your friend. There are hundreds of videos showing you how to lay any floor correctly by experts.

It's another world isn't it.

Quote: A Horseradish @ 8th October 2014, 11:32 AM BST

It's another world isn't it.

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I've not given up on you yet! We'll make a DIYer out of you one day.

Started laying laminate flooring today. Whilst the "click" into place works well, it's few and far between you actually near that satisfying noise. It took me over 4 hours to do half the room (it's a 20ft room to be fair) not looking forward to finishing it tomorrow... Looking even less forward to doing the rest of the house

Quote: Lee @ 8th October 2014, 11:34 PM BST

Started laying laminate flooring today. Whilst the "click" into place works well, it's few and far between you actually near that satisfying noise. It took me over 4 hours to do half the room (it's a 20ft room to be fair) not looking forward to finishing it tomorrow... Looking even less forward to doing the rest of the house

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Dear Boy, laminate flooring is so, erm, passé.

Yeah, lino's back!

Probably.

I wish! That would take 2 mins to put down.

Quote: Lee @ 9th October 2014, 11:09 AM BST

I wish! That would take 2 mins to put down.

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Not wishing to correct you twice across two different threads but proper lino (Marmoleum) is actually a bit of a bugger to lay.
Once down though - it stays down and is brilliant.

Well you're just Mr. Pedantic today aren't you.

Quote: A Horseradish @ 7th October 2014, 7:40 PM BST

Well, it isn't an "only", no. It's decorating dyslexia. I would find the challenge of reciting a monologue in Swahili by the end of the month much easier. Or even writing some sort of question for Only Connect. Frustrating!

I don't know if you do the ceiling, walls or skirting board first. I don't know if the sandpaper is supposed to bring the latter down to bare wood. I don't know how to remove the paper so that bits aren't permanently stuck there. I don't know what to do with any chips in the walls, what to use for filler or how long to leave the filler to set. I don't know how to spread out the new anaglypta or whatever in limited space so that it doesn't end up creased and crumpled. I don't know how anyone, frankly, hangs it neatly on any wall. And I don't know if it needs to be painted in the unlikely event that there is any success at it sticking to the wall.

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Always Ceiling, Walls, Woodwork, and with that you only need to sand it down to give the new paint a "key" to stick to - also removes any grease = or sugar soap it. The only time you would strip back to the bare wood would be if the original paintwork was very badly done previous (drips, runs) or it was flaking badly. Incidentally, sandpaper is a bit "old hat" now - use some sort of grit paper, which lasts longer - example:-

http://www.screwfix.com/p/flexovit-aluminium-oxide-sanding-roll-115mm-x-25m-120-grit/6967d

You can buy this in smaller quantities from say B&Q

Preparation is everything - get that all done first and if you have further work to do on the walls or woodwork, this can be followed up while you paint the ceiling.

Removing old wallpaper - should come off by just giving in it a good soaking in water, and with a bit of luck it will simply fall off the wall, but you do have to use a scraper sometimes - especially if it had been over-painted. If you do have a whole room to strip of over-painted wallpaper - best of luck as it is a bastard job! Might try in that case to hire a steam stripper - very good.

Chips/holes in the wall - if you have few then get a tub of ready mixed filler, or if you are on a budget then buy the powder, which keeps longer and you can mix as required. Always dampen the hole you are filling first with either a spray bottle (ideal - old washed out cleaner bottle of some description will do) or use a paint brush to soak the hole after you have removed any loose dust/plaster. If the hole is bigger than say 1" don't be tempted to fill it in one go as the filler will/can start to sag out of the hole and always "key" the first fill well into the hole - force it into every nook and cranny. Over the years the ideal tool I have found for this is a putty knife - in fact I have found that in particular the most useful of all in DIY as it has such a multitude of uses. Large or small holes, you will find that the filler will shrink slightly as it dries so inevitably you have to fill twice anyway. You will know when the filler has gone off/set - it will be hard.

Wallpaper. If you have a decent wall, then why not just paint it. If not then line it first with a quality lining paper - this will of course give you the opportunity to hang paper without having to worry about a pattern. Also, to speed up the process, cut all the lining paper up into lengths first of say the height of the wall plus 4" - this will give you couple of inches to play with top and bottom when you hang it. AND always have two lengths on the go at the same time - one pasted ready to go on the wall (lightly folded) and by the time you have pasted second one, the first one will be ready to hang, and the reason for this is that the wallpaper will slightly expand as it takes up the moisture from the paste, so that if you tried to hang it straight after pasting it, you will find that the edges will push against each other and it will look a f**king mess. Forgot to mention wall prep. - if it has decent plaster then paper straight onto it. If not, then "size" it with a watery mix of wallpaper paste, or if it is really bad a watery mix of PVA.

You mention anaglypta wallpaper - yup, this is fine but you will probably have a pattern to hang to. The advantage of this is that it covers up a multitude of sins, thereby the wall doesn't have to be perfect. BUT DO NOT use wood chip paper - it is cheap and nasty and looks that when on the wall.

Ideally, you should overpaint anaglypta or lining paper.

OK, so let me know when you have got the hang of that, and we'll discuss how to wallpaper a ceiling!