Whenever you are attempting the job of laying floor tiles, you will undoubtedly find that somewhere in your room has an awkward or irregular spot that requires a specifically cut floor tile to fill the area. Obviously this will not be in the center of the floor, but more likely around the edges of the room somewhere. This is normal, so don’t worry if you were thinking that all tiles should just “fit into place”. I think only once, has there been a time where the tiles worked out perfectly, and I didn’t have to cut them. Very lucky on my part on that one!

Still keeping your initial floor tile projection in mind though, and working from your line of sight found when you enter the room, these should actually be the first attempted spots in which to begin laying floor tiles. It are these ‘nooks and crannies’ with which you will find the most difficult to tile, so it is always best to do these first so that you don’t have to work over the top of freshly laid floor tiles that you will most likely disturb.

Following the ideal pattern of having pre-cut tiles for even your dry laying purposes, once you are happy with your direction and projection of tile laying to the point of these awkward spots from your foundation tile, you should begin to mark out and cut the floor tiles necessary for those particular areas. Before actually making any cuts though, you must certainly have to mark out the tiles first.

If ever you find you are working around a door frame for example, then you must measure the dimensions of the protruding frame and then transfer these to the tile. It can be quite a time consuming and confusing task, but with a little concentration, precise measuring, and the help of an adjustable angle tool, the job is not entirely impossible.

With any odd areas to tile, you may find that you’ll never get it exactly right for a snug fit, but then again it’s not exactly a snug fit you are always looking for. When working next to walls, always compensate for near to 1/8″ inch less in your measurements, as you will need this gap for either your cocking sealant or tile grout filler. Tiles should never be butted directly against a wall, and if you ever find that you are slightly off with your measurements, always remember that your baseboards will hide these ugly edges once they are fixed in place.