how to place tile when room takes a turn

16 years ago

I hope you can see what I am dealing with. My entryway floor is the laminate surface in the picture. The hallway turns, with surface becoming carpet, heading towards that doorway in foreground. The main entrance is on the far left of the pic

Ok, we are going to remove the carpet and laminate and replace it with tile in the entire entryway. To the left of that room in foreground is the garage doorway. Carpet in that half of hall was not good idea on part of original owner as it is main traffic area.

In laying the tile pattern we are really having a problem. I hope you can see how the floor takes a turn, not a 90, not a 45. So if we try to do the tile starting at one end, the direction of the pattern changes once you make the turn.

We originally planned on doing laminate in the entire area but faced similar problem. But where the turn occurred we could at least do a transition strip so the pattern change would not have been horrible. We opted to not do the laminate because the rest of the downstairs will be laminate and I thought that would be way too much. Doing tile will designate that area as a separate one.

I cannot even imaging how to make the turn with tile. Any suggestions?

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Comments (4)

oruboris
16 years ago
If the 'turned' area is realitively small, I'd just choose a pattern I liked, and continue it throughout the area. The tiles touching the walls in the 'turned' area will need to carefully cut, but it shouldn't be all that tough.

Or you could use the same pattern in the turned area, but laid parallel with the walls. In that case, I'd use a separate tile border around the walls and between the two patterns.

I'd do an overhead angle, scale drawing on graph paper. Make several copies, and draw in the tiles in various patterns till you find one you like. Graph paper is the tile designers best friend! Not only will a scale drawing help you calculate how much tile to buy, it will be invaluable when the tile is being laid.

Cutting angles in tile isn't that difficult. You [or your professional] just have to think very clearly about what you are doing, where a particular tile goes. One of my favorite things about tile is that the creative possibilies are endless, and a little extra time and care with planing and installation will give you a beautiful, one of a kind result completely unique, completely your own.
Shannon01
Original Author
16 years ago
I think I am hoping for the impossible. If we start the pattern in a diamond at the front door and continue the layout down the halls, the pattern ends up being square in the halls. And if we start pattern square at the door, the layout ends up being a diamond in the halls.

I like the idea of a border around the walls. Only problem with that is that we want the tile to flow down the hall without any pattern break or separation. Like I said, this may be impossible. I may just have to have diamond at one end and square at the other.

I have tried to graph this and the pattern still does not come out right. I wonder if doing a more difficult pattern would be a better solution. Like a herringbone or staggered pattern.

Nothing we do ever comes out easy. Heck, it took us two tries to purchase phones the other day cause the guy sold us the wrong thing. My rule over the years has been that as long as there is at least one major hangup in a project, it always comes out perfect. When all goes well, it ends up looking horrible or it breaks!
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oruboris
16 years ago
It will go from 'square' to 'diamond' if the turn is 45 degrees. I think that would be a pretty cool look, easy to do, and emphasize your unusual geometry.

But if the turn is more or less than 45, I'd try something like a versailles pattern on graph paper, it looks random but isn't, and breaks up the very long grout lines that I personally don't care for.

Or you could try something like the sliced stone mosaics: much smoother than other 'pebble' floors, and if they are carefully laid, you get almost no repeating pattern:
{{gwi:1550825}}
This would allow for a homogenous flow with no worries about what lines up with what...

There are similar tiles where the individual stones are more square, and these tend to develope more straight lines.

Here is a link that might be useful: wave tile
green-zeus
16 years ago
Is this an L shaped hallway? I laid a diamond pattern in such a hallway a few years ago. Maybe instead of picturing diamonds, think of square tiles on a diagonal. The lines go the same direction, regardless of how the floor turns.

how to place tile when room takes a turn

Comments (4)

oruboris

Shannon01
Original Author

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how to place tile when room takes a turn

Comments (4)

oruboris

Shannon01Original Author

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