Adjoining Rooms - Tile Advice

[inspecta72]

Hi guys, I have a question regarding something that's driving me nuts! We have just had a friend (he being a tiler by trade) lay 60 X 60 porcelain floor tiles in the kitchen and hall - these being adjoining rooms. The guy laid the first tiles in the kitchen along the longest straight wall opposite the kitchen units and kept everything nice and straight from thereon. However, we have a pretty old house and nothing (and I mean nothing) is straight and when he attempted to 'flow' the tiles into the hall, he realised they would not be straight according to the hall room/walls. Therefore he laid the tiles straight according to the room and so now the grout lines, although adjoined at the doorway, angle off to the right to the extent that it can be immediately seen. Now unfortunately, the tiles are set and on being questioned about the issue the tiler said that he really had no option because the rooms are totally out of line with each other. My question is, is the guy trying to pull one and is it really such a problem? I need to add that I WILL be using a transition strip at the door.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, Steve.

 

[peteablard]

Do you mean the tiles are running square down the hall so in effect he has cut a tile at an angle in the doorway to swing them round?

 

[White Room]

Hi and welcome.....I sometimes find the eye tends to be the best way for the layout with your kind of walls, if it's running into from the hallway into the kitchen I follow the line from there....more so if the front door opens to the hallway and the tiles follow straight into the kitchen.

 

[beanz]

Maybe you could post some photo's, so we can get a clearer idea of what he's done. These situations are difficult, because if he came through the door straight, obviously either the hall tiles, or the kitchen tiles wouldn't be straight.. As Whitebeam says... Better to get the line by eye, but depending how far out it is, it may have looked terrible somewhere in the layout..

 

[John Benton]

I generally work square off the longest wall if possible as this would be the one that would show the most deviation if adjacent rooms are out of square. But then again that might not be the wall where most people would notice it. It could be that the kitchen is the most used room so therefore you would try to make that room the most pleasing to the eye.

It's difficult but I always explain to the customer before fixing how the tiles will look, even dry lay them, and let them decide.

 

[Diggy]

As the guy who taught me to tile always used to say , know where you're finishing before you start , in other words setting out is the key.
99% of the time it should be an outside wall that is used to take the parallel from , but sometimes - as in your case - it's not so simple. As above in such situations I always involve the customer by laying down straight edges etc.

Asthetics is also key in this type of situation , what does it look like when you walk in from the front door on a hallway for instance and how would this affect the look in the kitchen should you set out from the hall. All part of the job of a good tiler and grist to the mill when your told tiling is easy or not considered a skilled trade.

Diggy