Laying tail, always start from the center? Or will a corner do if the walls are OK.

abefroman

Laying tail, always start from the center? Or will a corner do if the walls are fairly straight (1/8-1/4 difference)?

JazMan

Laying "tail" often starts with a drink.

To be serious....what kind of tile are you referring to? Ceramic of vinyl?

I've never started in the center, especially when setting ceramic tiles. You need to snap chalk lines parallel with the wall then square off the starting spot using the 3-4-5 method.

For vinyl it is often suggested to divide a room into quarters. No real need to do that, but makes it easier to xplain on paper. Remember, there are imaginary line at every 12" (or whatever the tile size is), which can be transferred to any point in the room.

Give us an example with specific measurements of the rooms and materials used.

Jaz

I see you noticed the misspelling. No problem, it's good for a laugh. Happens all the time. Please continue.

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KERDI Shower Specialist ... DITRA Installs ... Product-Method suitability consultation. I have NEVER made a mistake, I thought I did once...........but I was wrong! - PRODUCTS ADVERTISED WITHIN MY POST ARE NOT ENDORSED BY ME!

abefroman

LOL!

What's the 3-4-5 method?

hyunelan2

The 3-4-5 method is a method of making sure things are perpendicular at 90-degrees. It's a 3-4-5 right-triangle.

Measure one wall 3'. Mark. Measure the second wall 4'. Mark. Run a tape measure between the two. The distance between the 2 marks needs to be exactly 5'. Move the lines/walls/etc in or out to get them exactly on 5'. You now have a perfect 90-degree shape.

You can work on multiples of the 3-4-5 as well. Such as 6-8-10, 9-12-15, etc.

abefroman

A^2 + B^2 = C^2

Got it!

jlhaslip

Before you do your layout, calculate the number of tiles along each length of the walls so that the 'cut' tiles look good.
Nothing worse than a small tile along one edge that looks out of place.
Adjust the starting line so that the cut tiles are balanced.

[edit]
Something worse than a too small tile next to a wall is a grout line right at the baseboards...
[/edit]

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JazMan

Yup, that's it, the "pythagorean theorem".

I've never used it to measure at the walls, just to check my starting lines. Little you can do with the walls, they don't move.

What kind/type of tiles will you be installing?

Jaz

__________________
Tile 4 You LLC Troy, MI
KERDI Shower Specialist ... DITRA Installs ... Product-Method suitability consultation. I have NEVER made a mistake, I thought I did once...........but I was wrong! - PRODUCTS ADVERTISED WITHIN MY POST ARE NOT ENDORSED BY ME!