How to cut tiles

no matter what your timing it's unlikely that the surface you tile will be the exact size where you can just use whole tiles and you'll probably need to make some l-shaped cuts to fit around items such as electrical fittings if you're tiling job requires you to turn around obstructions such as pipes or curved objects such as a basin pedestal see our film how to tile around obstructions for general tiling guidance see our advertising films on the website there are a few different ways to make straight cuts in tiles during the cutting process shards of tile could fly off and cut edges can be sharp so be sure to wear gloves and eye protection goggles at all times a basic tool that can be used to make straight cuts in ceramic tiles is a tile scribe this tool has a tungsten carbide tip so it's coarse ceramic tiles easily but it's only suitable for cutting wall tiles having measured the gap to be tiled transfer the measurements to the tile and then use a steel rod and a china Graff pencil or a non-permanent felt-tip pen to mark the cut line across the tile make sure the rule does not move as you mark the cut line score the tile along the cut line using the tile scribe and the steel rule be careful to hold the steel rule firmly in place then put around objects such as a pencil under the tile apply pressure on each side and snap the tile one tool you could use is a combined score and snapper it has a tungsten carbide cutting wheel which scores the surface of the tile and the swiveling plate that is used to snap the scored tile this type of cutter is only suitable when it comes to cutting wall tiles once the tile has been marked the cutting wheel is run along the cut line using a steel rule as a guide next the tallest put into the tool so that the swiveling plate is above the scored cut line and the edge of the cutter frame is directly below the scored line squeeze the handles the tile will snap into a flatbed tile cutter will score and snap tiles and it includes a sturdy base to support the top while it's being scored mark up the top and insert it into the cutter so that the tile is flat on the bed of the cutter and the cut line is lined up with the cutter wheel lower the handle to bring the wheel into contact with the tile apply light pressure to the handle to score the tile you shouldn't need to pull and push the wheel backwards and forwards if the cutting wheel is sharp one pass of the cutting wheel should be enough to score the tile next put the tile into the built-in tile snap up and then apply pressure to the tiles until it snaps the amount of pressure that you need will vary according to the type and the thickness of the tile that you are cutting flatbed tile cutters come in a range of types and sizes some are light duty and some are heavy duty if you're going to invest in a flatbed cutter make sure that it's suitable and big enough for the type of tiles that you need to cut if you've got a lot of tiling to do you may want to invest in an electric wet tile cutter these are more expensive but they can also be used to make our shaved cuts they come with a cutting guide so if you have a lot of cuts that are the same size you can set the cutting width and then cut as many tiles on the same width as you need make sure that the water level in the water tray is deep enough adjust the cutting guide so that the distance between the guide and the cutting blade is the same as the size of the cut that you need turn on the cutter and gently slide the tile towards the blade keeping in full contact with the cutting guide keep your fingers well away from the blade electric tile cutters come in a range of types and sizes if you're going to invest in an electric tile cutter make sure that it's suitable and big enough for the type of tiles that you will need to cut quite often a tiling job will require an l-shape cut to be made to tile around a corner or around an electrical fitting often the easiest way to make an l-shaped cut is to use an electric tile cutter mark the cut lines setup the tile guide and then make the first cut adjust the tile guide and make the second cut if you're cutting floor tiles which are harder than wall tiles and electric cutter is probably your best option for making our shaped cuts however if you're cutting wall tiles you can use any of the tile cutters we've mentioned to make straight cuts together with a tassel this is a basic tassel is a bit like a junior hacksaw but it has a deeper frame and a tungsten carbide blade if you have an electric jigsaw you can buy blades that are suitable for use on ceramics to make an L cut with a tile scribe you need to first mark up the tile then using the scribe and a steel rule scribe the tile along each cut line make sure you scribe each cut line right up to the corner place the tile on a flat firm surface hold the tower firmly in place use a soft jaw clamp if you can and gently cut along the shortest cut line using the saw keep the blade at right angles to the top or you may Jam the saw and either snap the blade or break the tile make sure you cut right up to the corner then place the other cut line over a round object and snap the tile in the same way as you would as if you were making a straight cut if the area to be cut out is small you may need to use some pliers to snap the tart or some tile nippers to nip away the area that needs to be removed so that's how to make straight cuts and how to cut tiles to form an L shape for more ideas than no health visit DIY com

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Id: kLQl57MHZEY

Length: 6min 21sec (381 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 29 2013