How To Get A Straight Line For Tiling A Floor

Use a tile cutter for small straight cuts.

How to get a straight line for tiling a floor.

Find and mark the matching point on the wall directly opposite. You ll see how to s. In general to lay the tile itself mix thinset and spread it on the floor using the notched edge of a trowel starting at the intersection between your chalk lines on the floor. The first step in laying out tile is to mark a layout line in the room.

For making curved cuts you can use tile nippers. Pin a line of string across the room and use that to line up the tiles. If the wall is too long to snap the chalk easily kneel by the midpoint of the line and press it down to the floor with one hand. Snap a chalk line between the marks from wall to wall.

If the tile is too thick for nippers try the following method. Reach out with your other hand and lift up the chalk line about 10 to 12 inches from the floor pulling straight up then release the line so it snaps down onto the floor creating a crisp straight line. I think they used a long straight edge too but only to tamp the tiles into line. Clean up right away.

Use a chalk line to extend this line from one side of the room to the other. The ledger shown here is a length of steel angle held in place by wood blocks screwed to the wall. Square your layout to the room entryway how to square for tiling measure between the two marks and mark the center point. And mark the center point on the floor.

To get a straight level start position a ledger on the wall leaving a gap below about 1 2 in. Planning the layout for a tile project is usually the hardest and most time consuming step. Pull the line very taut and the hold the line down on the mark with one hand. Watch this video to learn how a pro does it.

Draw a line parallel to the entrance across the three marks using the longest straightedge available. A strip of plywood or a perfectly straight board will do the job too. The tilers who did our hall reproduction victorian pattern drew a line on the floor and used that. Less than a full tile.