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Should we lay the tile on the diagonal?

15 years ago

I think I messed up. I thought I'd read that for tile to be laid on the diagonal there should be room for at least 2 tiles to meet tip to tip. Well, my tile is 13" and the area is 41". In my mind I was thinking, "OK, that's gonna work with a 13" tile". Duh! It's not 13" on the diagonal, dummy! So, that said, should I forget about laying the tile on the diagonal?

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Comments (5)

bill_vincent
15 years ago
Actually, I'm not sure-- I know 12x12's diagonally are 17", so a 13" tile shouldn't be more than about 18 1/4" or so, which means you should still be able to fit two tip to tip. That said, I don't know who came up with that "rule", but it's hogwash. If you like the look of diagonal tile, it doesn't matter how narrow the area is. If you want to spend the time on it, then go for it.
stu2900
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks Bill! The tile on the diagonal measures 18 5/8". This is a small room and I just thought putting the floor on the diagonal would add a little something. But doing it that way would mean the pieces would only only be about 2" and I'm afraid that it would look ridiculous. The tile is for the floor in front of the tub and the tile behind the tub was to be squared. Then again, if we put one whole tile in the middle and pieced it on both sides, the pieces would be about ll.25". What do you think?
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@Snaggy oh my! I think I’d constantly be worried about one of my heavy furnishings giving in one day and falling through the floor! “Yep...they say she added one too many sweaters to the dresser....tragedy” lol! OP, I’m probably misinterpreting your latest post incorrectly but I’m gonna mention it just in case. In most cases, the direction of the joists are what dictate the direction to lay the floor, not the subfloor. In other words, the finished floor should only be laid running parallel to the length of the room IF the JOISTS are perpendicular to that. Should the length of the room and joists happen to be running parallel with each other, the finished floor will end up perpendicular to the length of the room since the joists dictate the direction. This isn’t always ideal and there are exceptions to this rule when other accommodations are made, like adding extra support, but that’s the general rule. (You may know this already - so disregard if so - just wanted to clarify since it wasn’t clear to me in your latest post.)
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codnuggets
15 years ago
Placing a whole tile in the middle will leave you exactly where you started, with two full tiles meeting in the middle on the next course. If you shuffle the tile about 1/4 to one side of center (instead of 1/2), you should eliminate the skinny cuts. Mock it up and play with placement until the smallest pieces on the sides are the same size on alternating courses.

Joe
astridh
15 years ago
I was amazed how much larger my small bathrooms looked simply by placing the tile on a diagonal. You should definitely at least lay it out.
bill_vincent
15 years ago
This is a small room and I just thought putting the floor on the diagonal would add a little something. But doing it that way would mean the pieces would only only be about 2" and I'm afraid that it would look ridiculous.

What about taking about 4" off the full tile on one side, thereby giving you a 6" piece on the other?

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