Which Way Should I Lay Cermaic Tile - Laundry Room

Post by **Apoptosis** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 7:48 am

I have a small laundry room that I managed to cut through the linoleum and it started to look like crap... I pulled off all the old stuff and have started to lay tile...

Which direction should I go with for the laundry room... As you can see half of the room will be covered by the washer/dryer...

Diagonal will take longer to lay and more tiles are needed due to all the cuts... Is it worth it for a room this small or should I just lay them normal?

Help!

bubba · Post by **bubba** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 8:01 am

I like the look of the 45, but the straight is less work to cut and will cost less.

Post by **Apoptosis** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 8:14 am

yeah...

Either way I lay the tile it's going to look better than the linoleum

kenc51 · Post by **kenc51** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 8:29 am

Used to do tiling!

Straight will look better in the end, start in the middle of the longest wall and work from there. Trust me it will look better than the otherway!

stopthekilling77 · Post by **stopthekilling77** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 8:51 am

gotta agree with ken, i helped tile with my friend's dad's construction/contracting business a few summers ago, it'll be less work, less money, and you're right, it'll look a lot better than linoleum!

Post by **Apoptosis** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 9:26 am

straight it is then... I snapped lines to find the center and was told to start from the center out in the four grids... Here goes nothing.

camaroguy1998 · Post by **camaroguy1998** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 12:03 pm

Just my thought....Since the floor will be half covered by the washer & dryer I would start on the wall that is exposed and work to the wall that will be coverd by the W&D!
That way what you see will be complete tiles!
(Just My Opinion)
Anyway you go it will look better!

kenc51 · Post by **kenc51** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 12:10 pm

camaroguy1998 wrote:Just my thought....Since the floor will be half covered by the washer & dryer I would start on the wall that is exposed and work to the wall that will be coverd by the W&D!
That way what you see will be complete tiles!
(Just My Opinion)
Anyway you go it will look better!

Your right, you should always start in the middle of the largest visable wall and work out from there. If you start in the center, you will have 1/2 cust tiles at the edges. When you cut the tile, it will have a straight edge, while the other side won't. this will make the cut tiles around the edges stand out.

Nate, make sure you don't use cheap grout when your finishing. since it's the laundry room, it can get damp and you don't want mould forming in the joints later on.

vicaphit · Post by **vicaphit** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 1:39 pm

yeah, always start with the largest exposed wall when tiling that way you dont have to cut as much and you have full tiles exposed instead of cut tiles, and start in a corner if possible.

the angled tiles would look pretty cool as long as you have a wet saw to cut them all

Post by **Apoptosis** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 3:02 pm

I started in the middle... The extra cuts along the walls are not much trouble at all as I did borrow a wet saw... I got to the half way point and ran out of thinset, so I am off to buy some more before it gets dinner time...

Tech_Greek · Post by **Tech_Greek** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 4:12 pm

Why not do some crown moulding afterwards? ;)

Post by **DMB2000uk** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:11 pm

So you have time to do normal people things as well as run legit reviews? Wow. Do you have a watch that stops time or something?

Dan

stopthekilling77 · Post by **stopthekilling77** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 7:20 pm

DMB2000uk wrote:So you have time to do normal people things as well as run legit reviews? Wow. Do you have a watch that stops time or something?

Dan

dan, he reviewed that watch like 4 reviews ago

lol

KnightRid · Post by **KnightRid** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 5:58 am

Well we bought new kitchen cabinets ( SOLID wood cabinets from a local comapny taht they used for shows and for magazine pictures for $1500 - for the WHOLE thing! no counter tops, but at least 15 cabinets! ) and the wife though about doing tile for the floor. EVERYONE we talked to said dont

Once you lay tile, you have a hell of a time with the grout staying clean, if you drop something on the tile taht is heavy, they break.

I like them laying normal, and since you are already doing it that way, good job

Mike

We are actually thinking of linoleum again for the kitchen *sigh* - Cheaper and easier to do, but tile woudl look so damn good.

pastorjay · Post by **pastorjay** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 6:13 am

Good job so far Nate! Can't wait to see the finished product!

Dragon_Cooler · Post by **Dragon_Cooler** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 6:43 am

well they were right that does look better. im glad i didnt suggest the other way like i was going to. LOL

Post by **Apoptosis** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 7:20 am

I haven't cleaned it up yet, but it's looking good... I'm going to use a light color grout on it tonight after it's set for 24 hours...

After that I'm free and clear... Just need to trim out some new baseboard and seal/caulk it. I told my girlfriend she's in charge of the paint for the room and she wants to paint, so have at it! (a buddy from my old neighborhood is a carpet guy and is going to to the carpet tack strip trick to build up to the tile and then pull/cut/tuck the carpet at the transition strip.

Home Depot is having a 50% off sale on all in stock kitchen cabinets, so I'm tempted to do wall to wall cabinets above the washer/dryer...

Either way you look at it the hard part is done... All the old stuff was removed, backerboard installed and the tile was cut and set... give me a grout back and a sponge ;)

just for fun I used two colors of thin set (light gray and gray) and have determined that a light grout will look better than a dark.

pastorjay · Post by **pastorjay** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 7:24 am

So, you busy this weekend... Want to come to Springfield?

Hehe...

Post by **Apoptosis** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 7:32 am

This was my dry run before I tackle my complex kitchen.... Think I'm going to hang my hat after this one... 200+ sq ft of tile lost it's appeal.

bubba · Post by **bubba** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 8:03 am

Looks good