tiletravertine
I have 18×18 inch square travertine tiles. I would like to know if it is feasible to cut each tile in half and make a herringbone pattern for our bathroom floor. I was planning on using 1/8" grout lines and I'm not sure how to make everything fit nicely together with the awkward measurements, spacings, and cuts.
Any tips or tricks for doing this or should I just resort to a diamond pattern instead?
PS: I love diagrams
It sounds like your goal is to avoid cutting any tiles in the dimension from the 48.5" + Entry (from your pictures). 12X12 tiles won't necessarily be 12". I grabbed an extra that I had in the garage and it is actually 11.75" but is sold as a 12" tile.
As mentioned in the comments, I'd buy the tiles that you like first. You could actually buy all the tiles you are going to need and lay them out in that area with the grout spacers (little plastic spacers that keep all the tiles evenly spaced). Then you could pencil in your wall at exactly the location you'd need to keep from cutting tiles (in that dimension at least... you can't do much about the space between your front door and closet door).
Note that the tile shouldn't butt right against the wall. Your floor/molding trim will cover the small gap between the tiles and the wall.
Hope that helps. Good luck! Tiling is actually not that bad and can be fun.
Ahhhhh no wet saw for small glass mosaics. First it will bounce all over when cutting and second you might get a nice chunk of glass in you.
You will be cutting everything one mosaic tile at a time. Take it off of the mesh.
#1 Make sure when laying out your tile that your cuts are in the corners or in less seen areas.
#2 If you need to cut the corner of a tile or odd shapes use glass nippers.
The nippers are not a precision tool. With a little practice you can get close to what you want. Luckily doing mosaics breaking a couple of squares is relatively cheap. If you have a weird corner cut on a tile or a circular cut and you can get it done in 2-3 tries the great job.
#3 For straight cuts you use a wheel scorer. The picture I have below is a double sided. Often you will just see a single wheel. Just like cutting drywall it is most important to get a good score on the glass side. With a little muscle you should only have to roll an area 2-3 times.
#4 Once you have a line on the top of your tile we are going to move it over to the tile cutter. You are going to place this faced up with the edge right on the cut line. This takes practice and is a little different with each cutter. You will gently (do it to hard and cut may not be clean) bounce the lever to put pressure on the tile. If it is lined up right eventually it will break clean on your scored line. If your cut isn't clean then you may need to score a little deeper or line it up better on your cutter. Also do one tile at a time. I know it seems a PITA but you can do 2-3 tiles in a minute once you get it down. Also do your cuts before you start applying thinset or have a helper.
Best Answer
Travertine Limestone - These are natural stone tiles with a saw cut edge.
I would rent and use a diamond saw tile cutter and use plenty of water during the cut to keep the blade cool and the lime dust down.
It's all in the setup on the saw, make sure you get the sawcut exactly centered, cut in one smooth stroke and make sure the tile is secured so it won't move during the cutting operation.
Otherwise you'll get a funny cut that will be obvious in the final layout.
Travertine and Slate are some of the softest and most easily cuttable natural tile you will work with. Be aware that either can have imperfections and can break away on the edges so have spare material available.