Herringbone pattern floor tile off angle

4 years ago

We had our contractor put down floor tile in a herringbone pattern. It was supposed to be at a 45 degree angle to the door wall, but it appears to be about 10 degrees off. Is this a big deal, or should I just get over it? it is a small basement bathroom.

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PRO

Beth H. :

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

No big deal on the actual degree of the angle, however, the overall crookedness and off-angle in relation to the shape of the room is horrible!

look at your first pic on the left side. (I know the heater is there. it shouldn't matter)

Either you wall is completely out of square, or the measurement on the tile is completely out of whack. See at the top left how there are about 4-5 tiles that end on the 'down' portion of the design? now compare to the bottom left where the design ends on the 'up' side. It's not a slight difference either.

As was mentioned, this design needs to be carefully planned and isn't for every application. For instance, since you have a corner angled shower, and you're working w/an angled design, I would have started this design so that it starts in front of the shower

Right now you have centered the design on the room itself, w/o taking into consideration the angled corner shower. It looks crooked, doesn't it? That's because of the layout. I would have started the design based on the shower position, and done like:

with this layout, it's not going to look crooked because the tile layout is following the same position of the shower.

it doesn't help that you have all of these funky, skinny cuts above this red line.

This is one of the most difficult patterns to lay and get right. You have to know how to get the correct 45 degree starting point. Not only on the floor, but you also have to mark your tile w/a speed square to get dead center on that. (this one was for my wood floors).

Enlarge the pic and look carefully at the blue tape.

**I went over it in red so you can see the lines better. the little short one shows the corner edge of the plank that meets up w/the 2nd line, forming a true 45 degree mark. the vertical lines simulate the two chalk lines on the floor. you line up one corner of the plank/tile on one line, and the other corner on the other line. Doing it this assures you get a perfect 45 and that you will have symmetry on both outside edges/borders***

Comments (8)

Design Girl
4 years ago
With what seems like an angled shower, this was a poor design choice for the floor. Herringbone doesn't work well in every application.
PRO
Cabot & Rowe
4 years ago
This is your call. If it were my house........
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Hillside House
4 years ago
That would drive me nuts.
Sammy
4 years ago
That looks really dumb. Big deal.
SJ McCarthy
4 years ago
At this point, you have a floor that will function perfectly.

A small room without a SINGLE 90 deg is a horror show for an installer. Now ask said horrified installer to throw down a herring bone. Zoinks! Which wall do you work with? How do you snap your chalk lines to find the centre of the room? Where's your first row?

I'm unable to zoom in on the photos but the tile looks perfect...other than the angle. I would ask for a few bucks off the final bill and keep going. Your tiler did a nice job (other than the angle). The tiles and cuts themselves look good. If you ask for a redo you will probably have a swearing match on your hands and a tile setter who quits.

Sometimes we as homeowners have to take responsibility for our choices. A tile setter is a subcontractor. The GC dictates HOW things are to be done. So long as the technical aspects of the job are done, the tile setter will simply do as s/he is told. If the homeowner is the GC, then the homeowner takes on the FULL responsibility for the job. That includes CLEAR written instructions with diagrams on tile installation.

I'm sorry this is a little off. Considering the hellish space the tiler had to work with and the hellish herring bone in said space, I would say they did an OK job. A few bucks off the bill is all I would be (brazen) enough to ask for.
alanawilson
Original Author
4 years ago
Everyone- thank you for the great comments. We ended up discussing it with our contractor. He offered to re-do it or give a break on the price. We decided to not take up up and re-do. We are very happy with the workmanship other than the 55 degree angles. Some great ideas for future projects. We will definitely look for suggestions on our next project!
PRO
Beth H. :
4 years ago
luckily the toilet and baseboards will cover most of the visible errors. if you're happy, then that's all that matters.

Herringbone pattern floor tile off angle

Beth H. :

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Design Girl

Cabot & Rowe

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Herringbone pattern floor tile off angle

Beth H. :

Comments (8)

Design Girl

Cabot & Rowe

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Hillside House

Sammy

SJ McCarthy

alanawilsonOriginal Author

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alanawilson
Original Author