Hey everyone, I'm in a bit of a dilemma about when to do my bathroom tiling. We've recently bought a house with an okay bathroom, but we need to rotate our toilet and move our sink. Originally, I wasn't planning to renovate for another five years, but now I think it's best to handle the plumbing changes early. My main question is: when the time comes to retile in the future, will it be a hassle to tile around the installed plumbing fixtures, or is it better to tile first and then do the plumbing? I'm also thinking about adding a countertop basin, and I'm unsure how that will affect the ease of moving the vanity later on.
3 Answers
Honestly, tiling around existing fixtures is much easier than having to deal with removing everything later. Go ahead and make your plumbing changes now, but keep in mind that when you tile, you might need to add a spacer for the toilet drain if the tile raises the floor height a bit.
If your toilet line isn’t moving, I’d recommend tiling the floor before installing the vanity and toilet. This way, if you make any upgrades later, you won't have to worry about the flooring being messed up. Just keep it clean from the start!
I’d suggest that you rough plumb and set the vanities first, then tile, and finally install the toilet and/or pedestal sink. If you’re going for a wall-hung sink, do the wall tile after the plumbing is in place. I’ve never mixed wall tiles with pedestal sinks, so I would avoid that combo if possible!
We’re also considering tiling the walls too, but not sure about the floor yet.