I will be tiling the girlfriend's bathroom floor with 8mm porcelain textured tiles. Sub floor is solid, secure and covered with hardie backer board.
Tile pattern is established with 3mm spacing.
I am looking for some advice on the best method of cutting the tiles. I have one of the budget B&Q own brand electric tile cutters which did the whole of my bathroom in travertine and marble. I remember having to cut the travertine upside down as when getting to the end of the cut they occasionally chipped a little on exit, which when turned over wasn't visible.
I have read that porcelain is tougher though and quickly dulls the blades. I did the whole of my bathroom on the original blade without noticing any reduced performance.
I haven't got the luxury of having spare tiles to have a practice on unfortunately, due to buying a cheap end of line job lot.
My questions are :
1. Is my budget electric wet tile cutter up to the job? Should I buy a new blade? What's the best way of keeping the blade sharp?
2. Lots of threads here advocate using an angle grinder. Again I have a budget B&q angle grinder that I could use (I will just add that I have a large collection of Makita 18v and Bosch 12v tools, so I don't just buy the budget tools! I'm also quite prepared to upgrade my angle grinder to a better one if need be). Is an angle grinder the way to go and if so any recommendations for blades? Also, how do you get straight cuts? Steady hand or is there another method or guide you can purchase?
3. Should I hire a manual tile cutter? Do these work ok for a textured tile?
Many thanks in advance for any advice.
Daz
Tile pattern is established with 3mm spacing.
I am looking for some advice on the best method of cutting the tiles. I have one of the budget B&Q own brand electric tile cutters which did the whole of my bathroom in travertine and marble. I remember having to cut the travertine upside down as when getting to the end of the cut they occasionally chipped a little on exit, which when turned over wasn't visible.
I have read that porcelain is tougher though and quickly dulls the blades. I did the whole of my bathroom on the original blade without noticing any reduced performance.
I haven't got the luxury of having spare tiles to have a practice on unfortunately, due to buying a cheap end of line job lot.
My questions are :
1. Is my budget electric wet tile cutter up to the job? Should I buy a new blade? What's the best way of keeping the blade sharp?
2. Lots of threads here advocate using an angle grinder. Again I have a budget B&q angle grinder that I could use (I will just add that I have a large collection of Makita 18v and Bosch 12v tools, so I don't just buy the budget tools! I'm also quite prepared to upgrade my angle grinder to a better one if need be). Is an angle grinder the way to go and if so any recommendations for blades? Also, how do you get straight cuts? Steady hand or is there another method or guide you can purchase?
3. Should I hire a manual tile cutter? Do these work ok for a textured tile?
Many thanks in advance for any advice.
Daz
