Do You Tile the Floor or Walls First in a Bathroom?

The short answer: in a standard bathroom where both the walls and the floor are being tiled, most professional tilers tile the walls first, then the floor. The bottom row of wall tiles is left off, the floor is laid, and that last row is fitted afterwards so it sits cleanly on top of the floor tiles. It is a tidy, forgiving way to work.

That is the default, not a rule. There are several common situations where you tile the floor first, and getting the order wrong can leave you with gaps, lippage, water tracking into the joists, or a row of awkward slivers along the skirting line. Below is how working tilers actually sequence a job, and how the bath, shower tray and screed change the decision.

Why walls first is the usual professional approach

When the floor is going to be tiled too, tiling the walls first has a few practical advantages that add up on site.

You protect a finished floor. Wall tiling is messy: adhesive squeezes out, grout drips, spacers fall, and the odd tile gets dropped. If the floor is already tiled and grouted, every drop is a risk to a finished surface. Doing the walls while the floor is still bare screed or board means spills land somewhere you do not care about.
The floor tiles tuck under the walls. Tilers usually leave the bottom row of wall tiles off, tile the floor up to and slightly under where the wall tiles will sit, then drop the last wall row in afterwards. The wall tiles overlap the floor edge, so the joint reads as a clean line rather than a visible gap, and any small inaccuracy in the floor cut is hidden behind the wall tile.
You can hang off a level batten. A timber batten screwed across the wall gives the first full row of wall tiles a dead-level base to rest on while the adhesive sets, so nothing slips. The floor does not need to be finished for that, which is exactly why the walls can go up first.
You set out from the right datum. Walls almost never meet the floor in a perfectly level line. Setting out the wall tiles from a level batten rather than off the existing floor stops a sloping floor from throwing every wall course out of true.

When you tile the floor first instead

Plenty of jobs call for the reverse. Tile the floor first when one of these applies.

The existing floor is staying. If you are only retiling the walls and the floor tiles, vinyl or screed are remaining, there is nothing to do but tile the walls down to the existing surface and finish with a trim or silicone. The order question does not really arise.
A shower tray or bath needs tiles running under it. If you want floor tiles to continue under a shower tray, the floor has to be tiled, and the tray bedded on top, before the surrounding walls go up. Running the floor (or a waterproof layer) under the tray means any leak is contained over a tiled, tanked surface rather than soaking straight into the chipboard or ply and down into the joists.
It is a wet room. Wet rooms and level-access showers are almost always floor first. The waterproofing has to be continuous from the walls, down to the floor and into the drain, and the falls in the floor are formed before the walls are tiled. The tanking membrane is laid and lapped before any tile goes on.
Wall-hung fittings change the sequence. A wall-hung WC or basin on a concealed frame, or large-format wall tiles that are heavy and unforgiving, sometimes pushes a tiler to settle the floor level first so the fittings and tile coursing line up exactly.

How the bath, shower tray and screed change the order

The single biggest thing that decides your sequence is what is happening with the bath or shower, because tiling and “first fix” plumbing have to interleave.

Wall tiles overlapping a bath lip with a silicone sealed joint — Tiles overlap the bath edge and a silicone joint seals the gap so water runs back into the bath.

Tiling around a bath

With a standard fitted bath, the usual order is: fit and level the bath, then tile the walls down onto the bath edge. You tile to the bath, not behind it, and finish the joint with a low-modulus silicone or a bath seal trim. A common professional trick is to fill the bath with water before sealing so it sits at its loaded level, then seal the gap, which stops the silicone joint pulling open the first time someone gets in. Tiles should overlap the bath lip slightly so water runs back into the bath rather than behind it.

Tiling with a shower tray

For a shower tray, decide early whether tiles run under it or up to it. If tiles run under the tray, tile the floor, bed the tray, then tile the walls down to the tray edge. If the tray sits on the screed or subfloor, fit and level the tray first, then tile the walls down onto it and seal the joint. Either way, the tray goes in before the surrounding wall tiles so you can tile down to a fixed, level edge.

Screed and floor levelling

If the floor needs a self-levelling compound or a new screed, that has to cure before floor tiles go down, and the walls can be tiled while it does. On a timber floor, an overboard such as a tile backer board or marine ply is fixed and, in a wet area, tanked before tiling. Trying to tile a floor that has not been levelled or properly decoupled is where cracked tiles and hollow spots come from later.

Waterproofing comes before the tiles, whichever order you choose

Order of work is a finishing question. Waterproofing is a structural one, and it sits underneath both. The British Standard for wall and floor tiling, BS 5385, covers internal tiling, and its guidance for wet areas is that the substrate in showers and wet rooms should be protected with a suitable proprietary tanking membrane system before tiling. Tile, adhesive and grout on their own are not a waterproof layer; they let water through over time, so the tanking behind them is what actually keeps the wall dry. The Tile Association sets out the same guidance in its technical advice, which you can read on the Tile Association website.

In practice that means: tank the shower zone and any splash area first, lap the membrane correctly between wall and floor, and only then start tiling. If you tile in the wrong order and skip or break the tanking, no amount of neat grouting will save the wall behind it.

The practical risks of getting the order wrong

Damaging a finished floor. Tiling walls over a freshly grouted floor risks chips, scratches and adhesive stains on tiles you have already paid to lay.
A visible gap at the base of the wall. Tile the floor last without leaving the bottom wall row off and you can end up with an ugly joint, or thin sliver cuts where the floor meets the wall.
Water getting behind the bath or tray. Sealing to fittings in the wrong sequence, or tiling behind a tray that should have been bedded first, can let water track into the floor structure.
Coursing that does not line up. Setting wall tiles off an uneven floor instead of a level batten throws every row out, and the error grows the higher you go.
Trapped tolerances. If the floor finishes higher or lower than planned, a fitted bottom wall row gives you nowhere to absorb it. Leaving that row until the floor is down keeps a margin for adjustment.

None of this is hard once the sequence is planned at the start. The mistakes happen when someone tiles the easy surface first without thinking about what has to land on top of it.

A simple way to decide

Run through it in order. Is it a wet room or a level-access shower? Floor first, after tanking. Do you want tiles under the shower tray? Floor first, then tray, then walls. Standard bathroom with a bath and a floor both being tiled? Walls first, leave the bottom row off, tile the floor, fit the last row. Only the walls being retiled over a floor that is staying? Walls only, finish neatly to the existing floor. That covers the vast majority of UK bathrooms.

If you are in Bromley or south east London and would rather have the sequencing, tanking and setting out handled properly, Bromley Tilers plans the order of work around your bath, tray and floor before any tile goes up.

Frequently asked questions

Do professional tilers always tile the walls first?

No. Walls first is the common default for a standard bathroom where both surfaces are being tiled, because it protects the floor and lets the wall tiles overlap it. Wet rooms, level-access showers, and jobs where tiles run under a shower tray are usually tiled floor first.

Why is the bottom row of wall tiles left off?

So the floor can be tiled up to and slightly under the wall line, then the final wall row dropped on top. It hides the floor edge cut, gives a clean joint, and leaves room to absorb any small variation in the finished floor height.

Should floor tiles run under the bath or shower tray?

Under a shower tray it is often worth it, so a leak sits over a tiled, waterproofed surface instead of bare boards. Under a standard bath it is not usually necessary; tilers fit and level the bath, then tile the walls down to it and seal the joint.

Do I waterproof before or after tiling?

Before. BS 5385 advises tanking the substrate in wet areas with a proper membrane system before any tile is fixed. Tile, adhesive and grout are not a waterproof layer on their own, so the tanking has to go on first.

Does the order matter if I am only retiling the walls?

Not much. If the floor is staying, you tile the walls down to the existing floor and finish with silicone or a trim. The floor-or-walls-first question mainly applies when both surfaces are being tiled in the same job.

What happens if I tile the floor first by mistake in a normal bathroom?

It can still work, but you risk chipping or staining the finished floor while tiling the walls above it, and you lose the easy way to hide the floor edge under the wall tiles. Protect the floor well and plan the wall-to-floor joint carefully if you go this way.

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contact@bromleytilers.co.uk