cutting 12x12 tile

Petrafire

hey im doing my first ceramic tile job and my wife picked out a design with 12" tiles and 6" tiles but the tile she chose only comes in 12" so i have been trying to cut the 12" into four usable pieces with my wet saw but cant get any to be the exact same size they are very close but if there not the exact size will that mess up the look of the floor any other solutions??

ConstantChange

You won't get 4 6" pieces out of a 12" tile. You have to remember you're going to lose the width of the blade when cutting them.

Set your fence on your wet saw to the smallest width of all four tiles. Then run all four of your cut ~6" tiles though the wet saw twice (length and width). Now all your cut tiles should be very close to the same size (should all be the same size in theory).

Now do a dry layout using the roughly 6" tiles and see how it will look. You'll have to use wider grout lines to get everything to line up right with the 12" tiles. If you like it, go for it. If not, don't waste your time and find a tile that comes in 6" and 12".

Scuba_Dave

So far every tile I have used has a (sometimes slightly) beveled edge
I'm not sure how its going to look with only some sides of your 6" tiles beveled

Jack Olsen

The better way to cut them (without any loss to the thickness of your cutting blade) is to use one of the tile cutters that scores a line in the tile surface and then applies enough pressure to force a break.

But it's not going to work. Tiles have beveled edges, which won't be reproduced when you cut them in half (and half again). And it's not like you can sand down the edges -- you'll sand right through the glazing.

__________________
Jack Olsen

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Petrafire

why does the tile need a beveled edge?

Jack Olsen

Because the grout sits lower than the face of the tile, and you don't want to cut people's feet with hard corners and edges.

I guess you could try having the grout level with the face of your cut tiles, but there are two problems. One is that the normal tools you use to put in grout push it down, since the normal goal is to have it slightly recessed. Second is that you're going to have to trim off the four beveled outside edges of each tile you start with so that those edges are as high as the ones you cut. This is going to mean even more material lost than you were initially having a problem with.

That said, there are all kinds of different tiles out there. Some might not be beveled.

__________________
Jack Olsen

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

FlooringDude

No offense but scrap the idea of using that tile...you're in over your head. If you want to have a pattern you need to purchase the tile in both 6x6 and 12x12 sizes and make sure they match up size wise. Your 12x12 tile is more than likely 11 7/8" and then like the other guy said you have to subtract the blade width. It's not going to look good to anyone who knows anything about tile because the cuts won't look right and it is a waste of your time. I'd suggest doing a normal or offset layout with what you have or returning whats left and buying something that will work and is already manufactured for your design. Also make sure your grount joints make up for the difference in having two 6x6s next your 12x12s.