Professional Tile Layout For those new to laying tile, the temptation is to pick the straightest wall and start laying the floor along it. While that may work with other flooring materials, tiles must begin from the center of the room. This gives you plenty of space to work outward to the walls and ensure a symmetrical pattern.
The first and foremost rule of tile layout: Make sure your pattern is square. Before laying your first tile, snap a couple of chalk lines to guide the installation. The Quarter Method A standard procedure for tile layout is the quarter method, in which the room is actually divided into four quarters to help sequence the layout. First step is to measure and mark the midpoint of all four walls. Snap intersecting chalk lines at the center point of the site, forming a square cross. Use the 3-4-5 rule to check that the lines form right angles. Measure and mark a point 4 feet from the center along one line. Measure and mark a point 3 feet from the center on the intersecting line. A diagonal line between the two points should measure 5 feet if the chalk lines are at 90 degrees. If that's not the case, then readjust your chalk lines. A large A-square can make checking your guide lines a snap. Just align the A-square with the chalk-line intersection to make sure the lines are at right angles. Once the chalk lines are square, lay out the entire floor in a dry run, with no mortar. Start by laying a row of tiles along each of the four lines, all the way to the walls, creating a cross of tiles in the center of the room. If necessary, use plastic spacers to keep the grout joints even. At the ends of the walls you will likely be faced with a space that's too small for the width of a last tile. If this space is less than half the width of a tile, adjust the layout so that the last tile along the wall will be at least half the standard size. Also, check that the last row of tiles against each wall is uniform in size so the room's layout will be symmetrical. If not, adjust accordingly. Then fill in the remaining fields of each quarter, keeping the tiles square and the spacing uniform. Work from the intersection toward the walls. Once the tiles are laid for the dry run, you can adjust the placement of individual tiles based on color harmony or texture. Just create a system to help you remember where to place them during the actual installation. The quarter method is a standard procedure for laying out all tile sizes, shapes and materials. In order to lay the tiles in a staggered fashion, such as a running bond pattern, lay the tiles only along one axis of the intersecting chalk lines. Work from the center, filling in the quadrants and offsetting the grout joints from row to row. Diagonal Layout Tiles can also be laid diagonally across the room. Using the center point established with the quarter method, snap lines across the two diagonals of the room creating an "X" on top of the cross. Then install the tiles as with using the quarter method. Make sure the lines are at true right angles and that the cut border tiles are equal in width. Complex Layout More complex layouts can add an artistic appeal to the floor but can be more difficult to install. Many such intricate designs use differing shapes, sizes or colors of tile with borders or special feature strips. When planning a complex layout, use graph paper to create a scale blueprint. Be very careful with your measurements and make note of details such as color choice. At the Borders If you're installing a border of different-style tiles, remember to plan your layout to allow room for the cut tiles. This can be done by snapping chalk lines around the room, parallel to the walls. Keep the lines at the required distance from each wall to allow for the border. Then follow the quarter method for installation, laying the dry run from the center to the border lines, rather than the walls. Also, when laying out a dry run, it's easy to correct your mistakes. But be careful when mortaring the tiles in place during the actual installation. Boxing yourself into a new tile layout is a beginner's mistake. It can force you to step on freshly laid tile, requiring reinstallation. Laying the field one quadrant at a time helps prevent this. Before tiling the field all the way to the wall, leave enough space to get into the corner. Lay the final rows as you back your way out of the corner. If you have a partner, they can be cutting border tiles as you lay the field so the border will be ready for installation by the time you reach the wall. Follow Up Question Q: How do I lay out a diagonal tile pattern? From what I've read here, there's still something missing in my mind. I understand that I should first find the center point of the room and then make an "X" through it, however I don't see how that "X" is created. Do I measure out a certain distance from the center point to form the X? Either way, can you please tell me all the steps? A: This is pretty easy. I must assume the tile you are installing is square and not rectangular shaped. Even if they are rectangle, the method is the same. I would start the job by determining which of the walls in the room is both the longest and would show the most tile when the job is finished. For example, a room may have one wall that acts much like a hallway. As the tile runs into these highly visible walls, you want the triangular shaped cut pieces to be equal in shape so the pattern looks symmetrical. This is an often overlooked aspect of both square and diagonal layout. It gets just a tad more complicated as now you must determine how big you want the cut pieces to be at this wall. Do you want perfect half cuts so there is no waste along this wall? If so, you may want to start laying tile from this wall, working your way across the room. In this case, you would cut two tiles perfectly in half diagonally and place them along the wall allowing 3/8 inch spacing along the cut edge of the tile and the wall. Once you place the tiles randomly along the wall, you can then connect the tips of the tile with a string line to see if the tips all touch the string. If not, make the slight necessary adjustments. This line can then be created with a chalk line to create what I call the base line. Remember, we agreed that perfect half-cut tile aligning on this wall was important. At this point I would decide that I want the tile to be centered in the room going the other direction. This means you will need to create a line oriented at 90 degrees to your base line at the center of the space. This is easy to do using the Pythagoran Theorem. I cover that in an older column of mine here: http://www.askthebuilder.com/010_2_How_to_Square_Something.shtml But you are not finished yet as you need to have a chalk line leaving the intersection of the two chalk lines (the base line and the 90-degree square center-room line) at a 45-degree angle. This third line forms the guide line for any edge of a full tile that is not cut. In other words, immediately next to your base line leaving the long wall, you will be laying full uncut tiles. You create this third 45-degree angle line by making a square using your base line and 90-degree intersecting line. The point where these two lines intersect becomes one corner of the square. Measure 4 feet down the base line and 4 feet up the 90 degree line and make marks at these two points. These two points are two additional corners of a square. You now need to find the last corner of the 4-foot square. Using two tape measures, hold the ends of the tapes at the points on each line and pull the tapes out away from the lines but towards each other. As you cross the tape measure blades over one another and the 4-foot mark on the tape is exactly at the 4-foot mark of the second tape, this point is the fourth corner of a perfect square. Mark this point carefully. If you stretch a chalk line from the original intersection point on the base line, where the second 90-degree line intersects the base line across this final corner of the square, and stretch the line as far as you can to one of the walls, you have a secondary baseline that is oriented 45 degrees to the original base line. This new secondary base line is the one to use to align all full tiles that are not cut. ********************************************************************** This message and its attachments may contain legally privileged or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not disclose or use the information contained in it. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately by return e-mail and delete the e-mail. Any content of this message and its attachments which does not relate to the official business of Eraring Energy must be taken not to have been sent or endorsed by Eraring Energy. 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