Cutting a circle for a light fixture in mosaic tile

I use [CMT diamond orange tool bits] for my pipe cuts in marble flooring. They come in many large and very small sizes. I like them, no water needed like other, lower quality stone cutting bits. For that, you can also just remove the tiles that will cover the hole and then snip off the corners of the tile to make a round as possible hole.

Diamond HOLE SAW.

Expensive, but worth it.

The old fashioned way, with narrow nipper cutters in small steps, time consuming.



ED

de-nagorg said:

Diamond HOLE SAW.

Expensive, but worth it.

The old fashioned way, with narrow nipper cutters in small steps, time consuming.

ED

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Will the hole saw work without making the tile fly off of the mesh?

Fashion a holding clamp from 1X material, to hold the tile sheeting, and just leave a space in the center for the saw to pass through.

Then clamp your sheet between the upper and lower 1X, Clamp the apparatus between 2 saw horses, or other stable surface, and center the saw, and use a variable speed drill, go slow and steady.





ED

If it is like most, you have a hole for the can to sit in.....and then likely 1” around that for trim of the insert to cover. Cheapest approach I would draw the hole on the tile with grease pencil, cut the webbing to lose all of the full tiles in the actual hole, and then just nibble off edges of what is left to get into the area covered by trim and foam seal. No need to be perfect. And it is not a big deal if a few tiles come off of the mesh when they shouldn’t. You just cement them in place spacing by hand, tape in place with masking or painters tape. Ron

Search "dremel tile cutting blade". You can use your drill to use the blade, if don't have the tool. You'll see diamond coated blade first, which is relatively expensive. I think masonary grinding blade will work as well. A grinder will work as well as manual tile nipper.

Another thing is that the can lights have small finish ring, so you need to be fairly exact. For cutting an arch into several tiles, I'd set up the tiles on a plywood with double sided tape or hot glue. Then use a fence cut to the radius and cut from outside the curve. Tile file can smooth the cut. A regular tile will not give you a pretty edge though. A glass or porceline is all one material throughout.

U will need a recessed can rated for damp location

Reddog5522 said:

U will need a recessed can rated for damp location

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it is. That's not what I needed advice about. Electrician took care of that

You can use a round lamp in a square fixture. I installed a vent that has two LED lights in my remodeled shower. As it is a vent it is rated for a wet location. You should not put a standard light can in a shower. The ones sold for this use have a special gasket and lens and are usually larger than the ones for dry locations.

I would also not put tile with grout on the ceiling in a shower where it will get steam and start to grow mold in short order.

Have had tile with grout in my shower, round top so fiberglass stall and on ceiling for 35 years...no mold yet...but maybe it takes a while. And as I stated, you do NOT need an exact fit. I have a 6” recessed can....and what is known as a wet area rated 6” trim kit for it. HOWEVER, while the inside diameter for the trim is 6”, the OUTSIDE diameter is 8”....giving yuo an inch all around to mess with. Ron

We have several type of saw. But the one use the most for NON-strait cut is a cheap angle grinder diamond blade. It does not do everything and you need some practice for some cut.



https://www.lowes.com/pd/DEWALT-4-in-Diamond-Arbor-Grinding-Wheel/1101023


With Wall tile, we even use the cheaper masonry diamond saw ( about $10).