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• Very few lines or fittings in a house are truly horizontal or vertical, so this must be taken into account when tiling. Allowance should be made for skirting boards, architrave and corners between walls.
  
• Make a tilting gauge from a length of straight wooden batten (eg. 1.8m or 2.4m of planed 1" x 1" wood). Mark out on its length the spacing of the tiles and the separate spacer gaps if used.
  
• Starting at the top of the skirting board, use the tiling gauge to plan your tile rows. If a narrow strip is left at the top, move the bottom row up by half-a-tile width to give more even margins.
  
• Using a spirit level, mark out the first horizontal row of tiles to be fixed above the floor or skirting boards. This must be one tile height or less above the base level. Nail a thin guide batten along this line so that the tiles can be positioned against it.
  
• Use masonry nails for the guide battens, but do not drive them fully in - they can then be easily removed afterwards.
  
• Mark a vertical line down the centre of the wall, using a plumb bob and line. Use the gauge stick again to set out the vertical rows on each side of this line. If the border tiles measure less than half-a-tile width, move the rows sideways by half a tile. Fix another guide batten against the final vertical line.