Ask Me Help Desk - Laying Tile in an open area.

hello all,

I'm about to tile over a concrete slab in my living room,dining room and eventually the kitchen. All these areas are connected. Part of the Living room is covered in carpet and the rest has a 8x8 tile.

I was going to start in the living room where the carpet is. Once the carpet is removed along with the padding and tack strips I could start. I was going to leave the tiled area for later as I have furniture in the way.

Is there a certain way to determine where the first piece should be laid?
Should I start in the one corner and work my way out? I'm assuming I need to determine if my starting walls are actually square (as in even). I was going to use a chalk line and lay out a grid every other tile to help keep me in line.

Does anyone see a problem with tiling part of a room first, grouting it, and then tiling and grouting the rest of the room?

I've tiled my bathroom before and have not had any issues. That was 4 years ago and no tiles have fallen off so I guess it was a good job!

Thanks for any advice.

You start in the middle of the room. Measure L and W and chalk that spot. Now measure your tiles and see how many will fit in a row. You want the tiles to bepartial tiles as they hit each wall so you can shift your chalk spot a bit to get partial tiles all around. If you are new to ceramic tiling I'd recommend spacers rather than trying to maintain a chalk line on cement with adhesive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ballengerb1

You start in the middle of the room. Measure L and W and chalk that spot. Now measure your tiles and see how many will fit in a row. You want the tiles to bepartial tiles as they hit each wall so you can shift your chalk spot a bit to get partial tiles all around. If you are new to ceramic tiling I'd recommend spacers rather than trying to maintain a chalk line on cement with adhesive.

The more I look at my room and the more I read up on other site, I'm thinking of laying out a diamond pattern instead of the regular pattern now. Basically, I want to turn the tile 45 degrees.

Any tips for that guys?