Cut Tile
If you are planning a do-it-yourself tiling job, you'll need to cut the tile to fit along the room's perimeter and around corners, just to name a few situations. You can purchase a tile cutter from a home improvement store for smaller jobs using ceramic tile. But for natural stone tile, thicker tile or larger jobs, you'll want to buy or rent a wet saw. Additionally, you can only make straight cuts with a manual tile cutter, so you'll need tile nippers or a wet saw to cut notches and other special cuts.
Contents
Steps
Cutting Tile With a Tile Cutter
- Purchase a tile cutter that's wider than your tiles. If you are laying a diagonal pattern and have to do diagonal cuts, measure the size of the tile from corner to corner and buy a tile cutter that is wider than that. It should also have a rotating guide that allows you to make cuts at different angles.
- Practice using the tile cutter with some scrap tile or less expensive pieces.
- Use a pencil to make a tick mark on both sides of the glazed side of the tile, where the cut begins and ends.
- Slide the lever on the tile cutter so the blade is closest to you.
- Place the tile in the cutter with the glaze side up. Make sure the tick marks are directly over the guide line, and the tile is snug against the stop. If you need cut multiple tiles exactly alike, adjust the protractor gauge so it's against the side of the tile and tighten it in place.
- Move the lever so the carbide or tungsten-steel wheel is on the tick mark at the edge of the tile. Push down on the lever and drag the wheel across the tile with even pressure to cut through the glazed surface. The motion should be continuous. Only score the tile once.
- Push down on the lever to apply pressure on both sides of the score line, which is now the weakest point on the tile, and snap it in two.
- Rub a sharpening stone against the cut edge of the tile to smooth it. If the cut edge will be hidden under molding, you can skip smoothing it.
Cutting Tile With a Wet Saw
- Fill the saw's reservoir with water.
- Adjust the guide for the correct measurement or mark the cutting line on the glazed side of the tile.
- Place the tile face-up snuggly against the guide.
- Turn on the saw and let the blade do the work cutting the tile. The cut will be cleaner if you don't force the tile into the blade.
Tips
- You can use a tile cutter to score both lines of an L-shaped notch, but you will have to use tile nippers to snap along one of the lines and hope the piece breaks cleanly along the second line. Tile nippers resemble pliers and have a carbide edge. There will be less waste using a wet saw for notch cuts.
Warnings
- A manual tile cutter may not work to cut a narrow strip of tile that's less than a half-inch wide.
- Porcelain or thicker ceramic tile may not make a clean cut with a manual tile cutter. Expect more waste or use a wet saw. Natural stone tile must be cut with a wet saw.
Things You'll Need
- Tile cutter or wet saw
- Pencil
- Sharpening stone
- Tile nippers
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