How To Cut Tiles
When tiling around your kitchen sink or bathroom you are inevitably going to reach a point when you will need to cut your tiles, whether this is to finish the edges, tile around taps and pipes or to butt up against mouldings.
Measuring
There are a couple of ways you can make sure your cut tile fits. The easiest cut is a straight line; here you simply hold the tile back to front in the gap you intend to fill allowing for grouting and mark off the cut line.
Cutting Straight Lines
Using a sharp tile cutter and a straight edge, score the line in one smooth motion. Place the tile on top of a thin lathe of wood or two used matches to slightly raise it up and apply downward pressure to crack the tile.
Cutting Round Corners and Curves
Make a paper template for awkward shapes and use a lead pencil or china graph pencil to mark the cut line. You can then score a line across the curve and using pliers nibble out the excess tile to create the curve. Alternatively you can use a tile saw to manually cut around the shape or an electric saw fitted with a tile cutting blade will allowing you to follow the required shape effortlessly.
If you use a saw – either manual or especially electric – make sure the tile is properly supported as they can be easily broken by the vibrations and stresses from the saw.