In an attempt to further cut cost for the renovations, i'm contemplating 1/2 height wall tiles for kitchen and bathroom wall. Any opinions on the pros and cons of either?

It probably won't look nice. 1/2 height, neither here nor there. Very old fashion too.

The tiles for my kitchen wall is 1/2 height, done 30 years ago. I didn't hack the tiles to cut cost for my reno when I bought the flat few mths ago. Frankly speaking, a little bit regret cos don't find it nice now

To cut cost, don't do wall tiles for kitchen lah, save the $ to do full wall for bathroom.

Bathroom tiles do full height better. Coz it's a very wet area. Even good paints will sure blister under this kind of hostile conditions.

Kitchen. If that wall is doing cabinet, then tile only the center portion will do (contractor don't like it cost they earn less). The rest is covered by cabinet. If the wall is empty, then painting is perfectly ok, but get those washable type which u can wipe, e.g Wash & Wear. I did that for my kitchen.

It probably won't look nice. 1/2 height, neither here nor there. Very old fashion too.

The tiles for my kitchen wall is 1/2 height, done 30 years ago. I didn't hack the tiles to cut cost for my reno when I bought the flat few mths ago. Frankly speaking, a little bit regret cos don't find it nice now

To cut cost, don't do wall tiles for kitchen lah, save the $ to do full wall for bathroom.

Bathroom tiles do full height better. Coz it's a very wet area. Even good paints will sure blister under this kind of hostile conditions.

Kitchen. If that wall is doing cabinet, then tile only the center portion will do (contractor don't like it cost they earn less). The rest is covered by cabinet. If the wall is empty, then painting is perfectly ok, but get those washable type which u can wipe, e.g Wash & Wear. I did that for my kitchen.

Yeah the 1/2 height idea came from the old fashion hdb houses. Guess i'll just tile the empty wall only.

Yeah the 1/2 height idea came from the old fashion hdb houses. Guess i'll just tile the empty wall only.

if paint empty wall = no need to wipe.

if tile empty wall = need to wipe. Coz tile is smooth surface, any dirt is quite obvious, especially when u look at it from an angle.

if paint empty wall = no need to wipe.

if tile empty wall = need to wipe. Coz tile is smooth surface, any dirt is quite obvious, especially when u look at it from an angle.

hmmmm.... hmmmmm... the easier way out sound tempting...

something's been bothering me about wall tiling..hope to hear your views here.

Certain IDs & contractors have quoted for kitchen wall tiling but they only tile the parts without the kitchen cabinets. They claimed that since you're putting up cabinets, then there's no need to tile those area where the cabinets would be installed. Also, it will be cheaper.

I'm not entirely convinced & wonder if it's just another ploy to up their profit margin.

I thought a fully tiled wall would maybe give added insulation against water leakage ...yes? no? Also, it feels kind of strange knowing that your kitchen wall is "half-naked".

any comments & advice is appreciated.

Yes, it is kind of the norm here, no tiles behind the cabinet.

You can insist them to lay tiles behind the cabinet if you are not comfortable. But you probably have to pay more since IDs/contractors charge by psf basis.

Against water leakage? Don't think an extra tiled layer can do that. Water can still seep thru but takes longer time. Waterproofing treatment is the key here. But this should be done at the source, eg. the exterior layer of your wall, not your kitchen wall.

Half-naked? Very good imagination. So my kitchen wall is half-naked!! What about kitchen wall with no tiles at all, just painted wall? Nude??

something's been bothering me about wall tiling..hope to hear your views here.

Certain IDs & contractors have quoted for kitchen wall tiling but they only tile the parts without the kitchen cabinets. They claimed that since you're putting up cabinets, then there's no need to tile those area where the cabinets would be installed. Also, it will be cheaper.

I'm not entirely convinced & wonder if it's just another ploy to up their profit margin.

I thought a fully tiled wall would maybe give added insulation against water leakage ...yes? no? Also, it feels kind of strange knowing that your kitchen wall is "half-naked".

any comments & advice is appreciated.

From what i've been reading usually the kitchen cabinet part of the wall is usually naked cept for the exposed part betweeen the top and bottom cabinet where you have your backsplash. When you say water leakage, from where exactly? the built in sink? If i could i'd probably just paint the whole kitchen with easy wash or water resistance paint ;p

Oh and 1 question, when we say water proofing of the kitchen, what exactly do they do and to which areas of the kitchen or bathroom?

i think the water proofing is like some chemical or duno wat added in the cement before laying of tiles ah??

correct me if i am wrong heheheheh

cos i so happened to see the HDB file of my previous new flat hor and read when you purchased new flat from HDB directly, you are not allowed to hack the wall or floor tiles for at least 3 years as water proofing being done so as to prevent wastage of the waterproofing...

think quite norm for contractor to quote only wall tiles on exposed area..am doing the same thing also

you can also have full wall tile but higher costs lor

water proofing is only done to the floors, not the walls. They usually do the floor and a small curb up the wall, forming a U-shaped, to contain/control the water.

The entire toilet floor are waterproofed. Kitchen, sometimes contractor cut corners, only does the area near sink. By right should be entire kitchen floor as well.

Edited June 13, 200818 yr by hihihi

Can i just give my opinion based on real life experience? The house that i'm living at now has bathrooms with half wall tile, half painted wall. However the half painted wall after some time starts to have mould & peel off. It could be due to the moisture or steam from the hot water.. It's very very unsightly & we dun hv time to maintain it. Therefore our new house we just tile up everything. So if you really want to hv half painted wall in your bathroom, would suggest that:

1) use really good anti-mould paint

2) probably can install exhaust fan to minimise moisture trap

I think the above measures could only minimise the damage & all..i still feel tiling up the whole bathroom is better...think of it as investment...

thanks everyone for your take on this

Yes, it is kind of the norm here, no tiles behind the cabinet.

You can insist them to lay tiles behind the cabinet if you are not comfortable. But you probably have to pay more since IDs/contractors charge by psf basis.

Against water leakage? Don't think an extra tiled layer can do that. Water can still seep thru but takes longer time. Waterproofing treatment is the key here. But this should be done at the source, eg. the exterior layer of your wall, not your kitchen wall.

Half-naked? Very good imagination. So my kitchen wall is half-naked!! What about kitchen wall with no tiles at all, just painted wall? Nude??

hehehehe....guess you're right...it's just that it feel like patchwork....hmmm...maybe I'll just psyche myself that "half-dressed" is more sexy

water proofing is only done to the floors, not the walls. They usually do the floor and a small curb up the wall, forming a U-shaped, to contain/control the water.

The entire toilet floor are waterproofed. Kitchen, sometimes contractor cut corners, only does the area near sink. By right should be entire kitchen floor as well.

hmmm...All the while I had thought that the kitchen & toilet walls will be treated too ...sotong me.

a story to share....a friend of mine, while doing reno, had discovered severe water leakage problem on the wall for the kitchen cabinet. It was not discovered until her contractor removed the old cabinet by the previous owner. The source of the water leakage was from the neighbour's side. I think it has to do with how the pipes were laid by HDB.

Eventually, my friend had to report to HBD and can only put up the cabinet after the neighbour agreed - after a long, long time, to undertake repairs. Unfortunately, instead of making friends with new neignbours, she made enemies........