Flooring Tile - your opinion, please.
Doityourself.com community forum was created to provide answers to all questions related to home improvement and home repair. Doityourself community can help you find information about how-to topics on small fixes to large remodeling projects. With comprehensive how-to content and expertly moderated community forums DoItYourself.com makes it easy to tackle even the most complex home improvement projects.View Full Version : your opinion, please.
01-07-01, 07:54 PM
I would appreciate your opinion on the following.
I intend to put a tile floor on top of a concrete slab in my kitchen. The old floor covering was vinyl, which I am in the process of removing.
The kitchen (11'x22'long) has three doors and a window, the latter on the south wall. The door on the west wall is 4' and is the main entrance area, which meets our den. The door on the east wall is a 30" door, leading into a hallway. The door on the north wall is a 3' door leading into our dining room. The west and east door are lined up on their north side. Here is a quick (not too scale) diagram in which the dots represent tiles:
+-----| |----+
|.............|
|.............|
|.............|
-`````````````-
...............
..............-
-.............|
|.............|
|.............|
+-------------+
I am going to use 12 inch tiles, putting the first row of tiles along the line of the west/east doors (line of `). Doing that, will allow me to fit 4 full tiles in the west door, and extend these into four rows running all the way to the east wall. However, due to wall thickness, the tiles in the first column running below these rows, and along the west wall, will have to be cut to essentially 9"x12", and will result in last column (running along the east wall) being populated by 3"x12" tiles.
Now, I could instead start witht 9"x12" tiles in the 4' door, essentially moving all the tile columns by 3" left. This would result in 6"x12" tiles along the first column on the west wall, and 6"x12" tiles in the last column along the east wall.
Which of these plans do you think I should adopt?
Personally, I think the second plan, but my wife thinks that since the 4' door is the focus here, I should (for estethic reasons) use the first plan with full tiles in the 4' door.
I'll appreciate your opinions.
captab
I intend to put a tile floor on top of a concrete slab in my kitchen. The old floor covering was vinyl, which I am in the process of removing.
The kitchen (11'x22'long) has three doors and a window, the latter on the south wall. The door on the west wall is 4' and is the main entrance area, which meets our den. The door on the east wall is a 30" door, leading into a hallway. The door on the north wall is a 3' door leading into our dining room. The west and east door are lined up on their north side. Here is a quick (not too scale) diagram in which the dots represent tiles:
+-----| |----+
|.............|
|.............|
|.............|
-`````````````-
...............
..............-
-.............|
|.............|
|.............|
+-------------+
I am going to use 12 inch tiles, putting the first row of tiles along the line of the west/east doors (line of `). Doing that, will allow me to fit 4 full tiles in the west door, and extend these into four rows running all the way to the east wall. However, due to wall thickness, the tiles in the first column running below these rows, and along the west wall, will have to be cut to essentially 9"x12", and will result in last column (running along the east wall) being populated by 3"x12" tiles.
Now, I could instead start witht 9"x12" tiles in the 4' door, essentially moving all the tile columns by 3" left. This would result in 6"x12" tiles along the first column on the west wall, and 6"x12" tiles in the last column along the east wall.
Which of these plans do you think I should adopt?
Personally, I think the second plan, but my wife thinks that since the 4' door is the focus here, I should (for estethic reasons) use the first plan with full tiles in the 4' door.
I'll appreciate your opinions.
captab
01-07-01, 08:33 PM
I haven't been laying tile too long, but have learned some with my remodeling. First find the center of the room. You must work from this center lines. What I have done is put the room into 4 sections. You can do this by measuring your room and then making sure your center line makes a perfect triangle when you connect the corners.For example if you have a 10 x 10 room you would find five and five both horizontally and vertically. Your corners when connected should go through this center diagonal line. There are many books out there to explain it better though. Make sure you get china pencils and a L frame ruler to help you. Work from your center out - always. I have found the cuts by the doors are difficult - and no room has perfectly aligned walls - so a center is always the best place to start from. I am not an expert, but my rooms look pretty darn good right now because I have worked from my center line.
John Bridge
01-08-01, 05:23 PM
Please buy a book, mine or my competitor's. Either can be ordered by clicking the tab at the top right corner of this page.
Please don't start in the center.
I make a little over a buck if you buy my book. You will gain a wealth of experience from it.
Please don't start in the center.
I make a little over a buck if you buy my book. You will gain a wealth of experience from it.
01-09-01, 12:16 PM
Lacarbs and John,
Thank you both for your answers. The count is now 50% for plan one, and 50% for plan two (I think).
John, a couple of weeks ago I did purchase a book on tiling. I bought what Lowes (hardware store) had. Unfortunately, it was not your book. The discussion in that book led me to consider both plans, hence my question.
Now let me ask you, had you been faced with the same question that I posed, which of the two plans would you choose? (Neither start from the center of the room.)
Thank you both for your answers. The count is now 50% for plan one, and 50% for plan two (I think).
John, a couple of weeks ago I did purchase a book on tiling. I bought what Lowes (hardware store) had. Unfortunately, it was not your book. The discussion in that book led me to consider both plans, hence my question.
Now let me ask you, had you been faced with the same question that I posed, which of the two plans would you choose? (Neither start from the center of the room.)