How to tile a wall: a beginner’s guide - Tiles and flooring - Building and trades

Want to cover your walls in a beautiful tile installation? Read on to learn how to tile a wall without things becoming messy.

Thanks to the wide variety of patterns, colours, and shapes, tiled walls in rooms like the bathroom and kitchen have maintained their popularity over the years.

They’re easy to keep clean and come in numerous interesting shapes including hexagons, herringbone and arabesque, as well as the traditional square or rectangle.

If it’s your first time learning how to lay wall tiles, we’ve created this helpful guide to show you how to tile a wall, step by step.

Whichever room you’re tiling and whatever size or shape of tile, the basics are always the same.

Follow these instructions on how to tile walls if you’re a beginner, and learn the right way to put tiles on wall surfaces throughout your home.

In this beginner’s guide, we’ll walk you through how to tile a wall by first preparing the surface, then laying the tile, and finally grouting the joints for a perfect finish.

But, before you start, make sure you have all of the following tools and materials.

Checklist: tools and materials

Raring to go? Here's what you'll need to apply tiles to walls,

Tile adhesive
Tile cutter
Tile scribe
Tile nippers (for small cuts)
Notched trowel (3 mm to 4 mm)
Grout mixture
Rubber grout float
Wooden gauge stick
L-shaped framing square
Spirit level
Tape measure
Chalk line
Tile spacers
Bucket
Cloth or sponge

If you're missing any of these, you can pick them up at local DIY stores or tile supply stores.

A tiler placing a white, square tile against a wall.

Here, we’ve laid out a step-by-step guide, from start to finish, for laying tile on any kind of wall, in any kind of room.

As always, read through all the steps before you start the actual work.

Prepare your wall for tiling

Before you start sticking tiles to walls, follow these steps.

Measure the surface area of the whole wall. Take the height and the width measurements and multiply them together
Decide which tiles you would like to use. Consider choosing a square or rectangular tile if it’s your first time laying tile on walls
Check how many tiles you will need. Using the measurements of your tile, see how many will fit in the length and width
Add 10-15% to the amount of tiles you think you’ll need. This is to cover any wastage or breakages (need help? – check out our guide for calculating how many tiles you need)
Gather your tools and materials needed for the project and have them laid out in the room you’ll be working in
Prepare the surface of the wall. Brush or vacuum it to make sure there is no dirt, grime, or debris on the surface
If the wall has holes then flatten them out with filler, and remove any loose nails from wood or plasterboard
Check to see if your wall is even with a spirit level. If it’s not, consider using a wood panel or plasterboard to work on

By this point, your wall should be ready for your tiles.

Plan the tiling pattern

Now that you have your materials and you’ve prepared the wall, you can start the actual tiling.

Find the centre of your wall. Mark two or more places at two different heights, and snap a chalk line between them, marking the centre
Place a wooden gauge checker at the bottom of the wall to set the tiles on, so the first row is laid perfectly even
Starting at the centrepoint, dry lay the first row right to the edges of the wall. Don’t worry about the edge tile cuts just yet

Happy with the pattern? You’re ready to proceed to the next step.

Stick your tiles to the wall

You’ve dry laid enough tiles that you’re happy with the pattern, now it’s time to make them stick.

Prepare your tile adhesive mixture in a bucket, following the manufacturer’s guidelines on consistency and setting time
Take your notched trowel and place a layer around 3 mm to 5 mm thick on the wall, at the centrepoint for the first tile
Make sure you move the notches of the trowel over the surface of the tile adhesive to create a wavy line
Place the tile onto the adhesive and press firmly with your fingertips spread out. Hold it in place for 10-15 seconds
Add your tile spacers around the edge of the tile, then continue to add more adhesive for the remaining tiles
Continue your first row, checking every few tiles with the L-shaped framing square that they’re perfectly aligned
Work your way up to the ceiling using full tiles, leaving the edges for the next step in the process
If you’re laying tile in a brick pattern, instead of following the edges of the tile below, place a spacer at the centrepoint of the tile at the top and lay two tiles next to each other

Most of your tile installation should be done by this point, now we just need to work around the edges.

A tiler applying tile adhesive to a wall, ready for placing a tile.

Cut and lay your edge tiles

You’ve placed all the full tiles that’ll fit, now it’s time to cut and place the edge tiles.

Measure and cut your edge pieces using the tile cutter or tile scribe. Use tile adhesive to insert them in place (having trouble? – read our guide on how to cut tiles)
Leave the adhesive to dry for a minimum of 12 hours before you move onto the next step
Take this chance to remove the tile spacers, leaving clear (even) gaps between your tiles

At this point, all your tiles should be laid on your wall. It’s time for the final flourish.

Grout and clean your tiles

Your full and cut tiles are all in place, now you need to grout the gaps and clean them off.

Mix your grouting material in a bucket until it reaches the desired consistency described by the manufacturer
Take the rubber grout float and scoop up some of the grout. With a 45-degree angle, sweep it over the tile joints
Apply light pressure so that the grouting material fills the joints from the bottom to the top and finish with a tile finisher ball end
Once the grout has dried fully, take a damp sponge or cloth and wipe any excess grout from the surface of the tiles
With a dry cloth, move carefully over the surface of the tiles and grout to remove any final small pieces of debris

Well done, you’ve successfully tiled a wall!

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