How To Cut Floor Tiles At Home

14th August 2020

3 ways to cut tiles at home Ways and tools for cutting and adjusting tiles with your own hands to the required size. How to use a manual tile cutter and an angle grinder to cut tiles.

3 ways to cut tile at home

Any ceramic tile laying process is not complete without cutting it. There will be a lot of it especially if you use some kind of non-standard layout, for example, diagonally. In the last article, we talked about which layout is better to choose in order to get uniform and beautiful cuts everywhere. Now we will talk about how to properly cut tiles at home.

As you know, tiles are made of baked clay, which is covered with glaze on top. It’s hard to break it with your hands, but if it lies on any unevenness, then it easily cracks from a small load. To simplify this process and make the required break line, you need to loosen the top layer of the glaze. That is, cut it, and therefore make efforts to break.

There are 3 main ways to do this:

Special tool. Manual, electric tile cutter or special tongs.
Angle Grinder.
Other handy sharp tools.

Let’s talk in more detail about each tile cutting method.

Fast navigation through the article

Electric tile cutter

If you have a large volume of work, then the fastest and highest quality cut comes from an electric tile cutter. They use a diamond wheel and supply water to the cutting area to cool and remove dust. The cheapest types of the amateur class can be found on sale for 3-4 thousand rubles.

How to choose the right disc by tile

For cutting, metal discs are used with diamond plating along its edges. But they are different: for concrete, brick, stone. Tiled discs do not have any holes, the soldering on them is uniform and smooth. Discs for concrete have slots on the solder, and will chip when vibrated. If you cut ceramic tiles with them, then these chips can fly into your face.

Tile cutter tongs

Tile-cutting tongs are the cheapest (200-400 rubles), and they are suitable only for small volumes of work with thin ceramic tiles at home.

After notching, press down on the tile with a cracking pliers

Mark all gaps and seams (–5 mm).
Attach a metal ruler to the mowing line and slide the cutter along the line once. The pressure should be moderate to form a visible streak. Lead him from the far end towards you.
Place the tongs with their feet along the mowing line of the crowbar near the edge. The sponges should be on top of the glaze and the straight part on the bottom. The line of the break should be right in the middle between the edges of the upper lip.
Press gently on the handles to break off the tiles. At the same time, do not lift it high, otherwise it will break after falling.

How to choose the right disc by tile

3 ways to cut tile at home

As you know, tiles are made of baked clay, which is covered with glaze on top. It’s hard to break it with your hands, but if it lies on any unevenness, then it easily cracks from a small load. To simplify this process and make the required break line, you need to loosen the top layer of the glaze. That is, cut it, and therefore make efforts to break.

There are 3 main ways to do this:

Special tool. Manual, electric tile cutter or special tongs.
Angle Grinder.
Other handy sharp tools.

Let’s talk in more detail about each tile cutting method.

Working with a manual tile cutter

The ceramic pre-soaked in water is placed in the instrument.
Along the marked mowing line, the cut is made with the cutting element of the tile cutter, pressing the cutter with effort. The movement on the material should be smooth without jerking.
We divide the tile into parts according to the formed mowing line.

Working with a glass cutter

This simple tool is in almost every home, and many also have experience with it. Over, the algorithm of actions when cutting ceramics is no different from cutting glass.

On the material previously soaked in water, mark with a pencil or marker the place of the future cut. On an absolutely flat surface, lay the tiles with the glossy side up, along the ruler set according to the marks, pressing hard enough on the glass cutter, we make a deep cut.

Cutting tiles with a glass cutter requires the least material costs and skills

Note that the furrow should be done in one pass. The next step is to tap on both sides of the tile with the handle of a glass cutter along the cut, and then, putting the tile on the edge of the table, press with your hand, while the tile is divided into parts along the made groove. If the required part is not completely broken off, the protruding edges can be trimmed with pliers or nippers, and then the cut line can be finished with sandpaper.

Working with a jigsaw

It turns out that you can cut with a jigsaw not only wood and materials based on it, but also successfully cut ceramic tiles correctly at home. You just need to purchase a special abrasive file. Cutting with a jigsaw allows you to make curly cuts on tiles designed for mounting sockets and switches, bypassing sewer and water pipes. Also, using a jigsaw cutting tile, you can make a fairly accurate cut.

The electric jigsaw is used for sawing, sawing, cutting shapes from various materials

And if you decide to work with a jigsaw for cutting, we will give advice on how to do it correctly:

Mark the cutting line with a pencil or marker.
Check the setting on the jigsaw of the diamond file.
Without much pressure, we smoothly start cutting the tiles.
To prevent breakage of the cutting element, do not push the tool forward until the tile is completely cut.
Make sure the jigsaw is always upright.

Jigsaw cutting is best used for medium-sized wall tiles.

In order to properly cut the floor tiles, it is best to use an angle grinder. This very popular tool is available in many households, which is a big plus eliminating the need to purchase a tool for cutting tiles at home. You only need to purchase a diamond-coated cutting disc.

Glass cutter

This hand tool is suitable for fragile tiles. The work will require a flat surface and a ruler. First place the tile on a table or directly on the floor, measure the desired distance and attach a ruler. In order not to get lost in the process, it is recommended to pre-outline the area to be treated.

Next, install the glass cutter on the front of the tile and, pressing on it, draw a clear line in one motion. The cutter must go deeper into the structure of the material in order to form a basting to break. Then tap the tiles along this mowing line. Press down with your hand or grab part of the tile with a special holder. The rift must follow the cut line of the cutter line.

The main difference from a mechanical tile cutter is that its wheel leaves a smaller indentation, and therefore the risk of making a poor-quality break is much greater, especially when working with floor tiles.

The tool is suitable for tiles of standard strength class

Tile cutter

The easiest way is to saw the tiles using this special tool. There are two options: manual and electric. Despite the same name, they differ.

Special tool for tiles

Any kind of tile cutter is like a large glass cutter with a work surface and a lever. The tile is installed at the bottom on the stand, and the handle is retracted to a position closer to you. The roller blade is then positioned at the start of the intended mowing line. With a confident movement, the pressed handle is pulled forward and pressed. In this way, the cutter wheel will make a groove in the tile, and then it splits under pressure into even parts exactly along the mowing line.

An electric tool has a different design. It resembles a mini version of a circular saw. The work is done using a diamond blade and water. The material is fixed to the base and then brought to the rotating element. A few seconds. And the tile is cut into the necessary fragments at the right angle. A huge plus is the absence of dust.

What tools are used

Before buying a tile for the floor at home, pay attention to its properties in order to choose the best option both in terms of external characteristics and technical indicators.

Strength. According to this parameter, as well as resistance to mechanical stress, floor tiles are selected of a higher class than wall tiles, therefore it will be more difficult to cut.
Thickness. For floor tiles, it is larger, since a considerable load is expected.
Structure. It is important that the flooring must not slip. When cutting the material, this will play into your hands.
Relief. It is much more difficult to accurately process a product with bulky details or a complex convex pattern than a simple one with a smooth surface.

Now let’s look at how and how to cut tiles directly at home. For this purpose, tools that are completely different in type, design and intended purpose are used.

The following options should be noted: