Ceramic Tile Layout

Insert tile spacers between the tiles.

Ceramic tile layout.

Begin the dry layout of a tile row. This layout is a popular flooring pattern especially with ceramic tile or in small bathrooms. Spacers also serve to show the minimum distance you ll need to leave between each tile for your grout lines. After you have reference lines use them to establish layout lines which actually guide tile placement.

Do not apply grout as this is only to determine the spacing. After you lay down a tile place a tile spacer at either end before putting down the next tile in the row. This is why conventional centering advice isn t always the best way. If starting with the edge of a full tile in the center of the back wall leaves a skinny strip in the corner shift the plumb line by half the width of the tile.

Technically it s still the same centered layout but most people won t care to look behind the toilet at the cuts of the tile and notice how centered they are with the wall on the right. Lay out the tile on the floor and use the back wall measurement to determine how wide the corner tiles will be. The subtle pattern created by the pinwheel layout offers the opportunity to incorporate an accent color or tile into another area of the room tying the whole look together. Take a look at the layout of the tile.

If the last tile in a row would be less than half a tile plan to shift the first course to be centered on the reference line rather than next to it. The spacers will ensure that your layout remains neat and even and that no 2 tiles are set too close together.