Laying ceramic tiles - planning layout

Tiled floors are durable and easy to clean. They are suitable for a wide range of locations, particularly wet areas, and there is a huge range of colours and patterns available.

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Tools: Angle grinder with diamond blade; buckets; chalkline; marking pen; notched trowel (10mm); power drill and mixing screw; rubber mallet; rubber squeegee; spatula; spirit level; sponge; straightedge (2400mm); tape measure; tile pincers; tile cutter.

Materials: For typical 40m² job: 40m² of floor tiles plus wastage allowance (7 per cent for square laying and 15 per cent for tiles laid diagonally); tile adhesive (4–8 20kg bags, depending on bed thickness); grout.

Before you start: Careful floor preparation is essential before tiles are laid. Ensure the floor is clean, level and sound. Irregular or dusty concrete floors may require a wet-mix topping made up of 6 parts fine-grained sand to 1 part cement. Before applying the wet-mix, coat the floor with a mixture of 1 part of a bonding agent to 1 part water. Timber floors need flexible adhesives.

Planning the layout

	Floor tiles can be laid in one of two ways: either square to the walls or on the diagonal. The job illustrated here shows a diagonal pattern, laid at 45° to the walls, with a rectangular half tile laid as a border. Professional tile layers charge more per square metre to lay tiles in a pattern like this because of the extra time involved in cutting and setting-out. For the best looking job, minimise the number of cut tiles; keep diagonal cuts to halves; and arrange the pattern so it is symmetrical to the most prominent wall.
	Determining joint gaps The normal joint or gap between tiles is 1.5–5mm. To decide which size looks best, lay out 9 tiles in 3 rows of 3. Open or close the gaps to achieve the desired spacing. Do not lay tiles too tightly, since there will probably be some variation in their size.
	Laying tiles – planning and getting started STEP 1 For a professional-looking finish, and to avoid wastage and excessive cutting, it’s best to have exactly half-diagonal cuts against the border on at least three of the four walls. This can be achieved with an accurate set-out and adjustments to either the gap between tiles or the border width.

STEP 2
It is vitally important to get your set-out lines exactly square, otherwise the gap between the tiles will gradually grow or shrink as the job proceeds.

STEP 3
Make two marks (the border width) at each end of a long wall. Stretch a taut chalk line across the two marks and snap the line to mark the border line on the floor. Repeat along the adjacent short wall where you will start laying.

STEP 4
Although time-consuming, the best way to set out a floor is to lay a row of tiles dry (without adhesive) to see exactly how the pattern will work across the room. Ensure the gaps are accurate and even, and position the tiles against a straightedge to keep them aligned. If the desired set-out with full and half tiles against the border does not work, make some adjustments.

First, open or close the joints to try to obtain a neat fit. If this fails, adjust the border tile width. Reducing the border width to less than half a tile still allows two border tiles to be cut from one full tile. If the border measures more than half a tile, you will be using a full tile for each cut, which is wasteful and expensive. Keep cost in mind when calculating the percentage of waste in the tile order.

STEP 5
Check that your layout is square using a Pythagorean 3-4-5 triangle. This simple method allows you to establish or check 90° angles. Make a mark 1800mm from the corner on one side. Make a mark 2400mm from the same corner on the other side. Measure between the two marks. The angle is exactly 90° when this distance equals 3000mm. If this distance is more or less than 3000mm, move one or both sides in or out to correct the angle.

STEP 6
If the set-out is not square, adjust one or both lines until a square setting is achieved. If a room is badly out of square, the border tiles will need to be wider at one end of the room than they are at the other. Try to hide discrepancies in corners that receive the least amount of attention.