cutting shapes in floor tiles

[Glassman]

The missus is putting pressure on me to lay ceramic floor tiles onto our bathroom floor. Im completely new to tiling but it's looks fairly strightforward to be honest. It's a ground floor bathroom and I'll be laying the new tiles onto the existing old floor which has very old tiles already on it.
The floor in question is only about 2 metres square and I was thinking of tiling around the bottom of the toilet basin and sink stand. Can this be done?

I do a lot of glass cutting for a living and I was just wondering, do I use the same or similar technique when cutting ceramic tiles? How exactly do I cut curved cut-outs in floor tiles?
I dont want to have to lift up the toilet if I can help it.

Thanks in advance

 

[Diyisfun]

Hire a tile saw, messy but easy, for cuttung curves just nibble.

 

[Glassman]

I've got a tile cutting "thingy-me-bob" for cutting straight edges but I was a bit sceptical about cutting curved cut-outs.
So do I just score the outline into the tile and then nibble away with a pair of pointed pliers or would a coping saw do the job better?

 

[gcol]

I'd cut the profile into the surface of the tile with an angle grinder and just cut V sections out until you reach the line. Use a continuous edged diamond wheel in the grinder. Marcrist are good blades. http://www.tradetiler.com/acatalog/tile_cutter_diamond_Wheels.html

 

[Glassman]

Good idea gcol. Thanks

I might give that a try and see what happens

 

[Moz]

Glassman
you can get a lot of good hand tile tools at that link above for the "nibbling" an the guy there Dave is a Top Bloke .....

I always used him for our firm ,his Dahm washboys are No1 ...

 

[Glassman]

Cheers fella's. That looks like a great site.

Im actually now toying with the idea of getting the rodsaw or maybe the tile jigsaw blades.
Looks like the best and safest method to me.

RODSAW LINK
http://www.tradetiler.com/acatalog/tile_Hole_Cutting_drilling.html

Im new to tiling and the nippers look a bit heavy duty to be honest and I want to get the cleanest cut possible being the perfectionist that I am.

 

[Moz]

"The missus is putting pressure on me to lay ceramic *floor* tiles "


the rodsaw is only real good with wall tiles , get a pair of nippers ,Power Scribe,Tile File .....

trust me you will be surprised how good you will scribe , nipper an file the tile

can you not tile under the toilet bowl an basin pedestal ,looks far better imho ?

 

[Glassman]

can you not tile under the toilet bowl an basin pedestal ,looks far better imho ?

That's I was thinking of doing originally but I think there is too much work involved lifting up the toilet cistern which is bolted to the wall. The toilet was fitted last year before the wall tiles were fixed.
The wall tiles were then fitted by a friend and he tiled around the cistern where it fixes to the wall. He did a great job and it does looks tidy.
Lifting the toilet up means loads of alteration work needed to the tiles etc. Then there's the plumbing which would need altering also after the toilet and sink have been raised. Far too much grief and hassle so I've decided against it.

Thanks a lot for the info. You've given me some hope of getting the job done. I'm going to take my time and be as careful as I can cutting the tiles so hopefully when finished it will look smart enough.

 

[Moz]

he tiled around the cistern

AAAAAAAARGHh....

anyway you can get away with a good job cutting to fit , just take your time nibbling/nipping ...
hope it works out fine
moz

 

[Diyisfun]

For about £15 you can hire a tile saw no hassle so easy, 2 broken tiles nibbling the saw is paid for.

 

[gcol]

I hope you don't mean one of those awful grit blades in a frame Diyisfun? They take forever.

 

[gcol]

Good idea gcol. Thanks

I might give that a try and see what happens

Trust me, I do this quite a lot you know.

 

[Diyisfun]

gcol, I ment a proper one.