The simplest way to choose the right size tile is to choose a tile relative to the size of your space. A large area like an open floor kitchen and dining room, or a large living room will be able to handle large tiles.
Diagonal Tiles Work Best
For instance, a diamond pattern creates the illusion of a bigger room than a checkerboard pattern. In a diamond orientation, the widest section of each tile faces the entrance. This prevents you from measuring the space in terms of tiles across or tiles down.
Use a tape measure to learn the square footage of the floor space. To do so, measure the width and length of the room then multiply the two together. Small to medium-sized rooms typically work better with larger-sized tiles. Remember the larger the tile size, the bigger the space appears.
Larger tiles will trick the eye and make a room look bigger,rather than smaller. The main reason for this is that larger tiles reduce the 'busy' factor, whereas smaller tiles, such as mosaics (with comparatively more grout lines), will increase how busy the design looks.
The darker the floor tile, the more spacious the room looks!
Darker shade floor tiles can make your room appear spacious and bigger. But the fact is you need to have light coloured walls for the combination to work well. The dark and light combination can make any space look classy and bigger.
Multiply the tile length by the width to figure the area that one tile will cover in square inches. Divide the result by 144 to convert it to square feet. Then, divide the area you're tiling by the square footage of one tile to determine how many tiles you need. Again, round up to the nearest whole number.
A larger tile means less interruption of the flooring surface, which makes the floor look more streamlined and open. They also tend to have more movement and colour variations, making them more consistent than smaller tiles.
Generally, it is easier to install large tile. Large Format Tile that is around 1′ square, 1'x2′, or 5″x36″ in size is usually faster and easier to install than small tile and extra large tile.
Laying ten large tiles is much easier because you only must do a little measuring and placing. Smaller tiles, on the other hand, require you to repeat the same process over and over for a considerable amount of time. Bigger tiles only require leveling of the four sides, which may quickly multiply to 24 or 32 sides.
Big floral patterns make a room appear larger. Install wallpaper with horizontal stripes to make a room seem wider, or commit to vertical stripes to stretch the room visually and raise the ceiling. A busy pattern featuring chevrons, simple geometric designs, or a texture that mimics marble can make a room seem bigger.
One camp says that the wall and floor tiles should complement each other but should not match. This is because matching floor and wall tiles make a room feel smaller and more closed up.
Dark floors will not automatically make your room look smaller. While overloading a small space with dark colors will absorb light and make the space feel even smaller, dark floors can actually help to open a space up, if done correctly.
Thin, grade 1 tiles are not necessarily lower in quality than higher grades, they just have different uses. You might want a thicker, more durable tile for a floor with high traffic, while a thinner, lighter porcelain tile is better suited for wall application.
For paint colors, whites, grays and pale blues are most popular both as they go with the most popular tile colors and also because they are light and neutral.
Floor tiles will last for many years so it is best to choose a neutral colour that will stand the test of time. The amount of natural light in your room may determine whether your floor tiles need to reflect light (lighter colours) to make the room feel larger or if a darker colour will suit.
The bigger the tile, the more the tile will feel the effects of deflection in the subfloor, and as a result the stronger the subfloor should be in order to use large format tile. As for the thicker tile being less prone to cracking, yes, you're correct.
The three toughest tiles are granite, ceramic, and porcelain with porcelain winning hands down as the toughest. However, porcelain can be hard to work with when installing, so it's possible you'll have uneven cuts in some sections.
Installing 12×24 tile can be a little tricky compared to smaller tiles, but with a little planning, and a few tricks up your sleeve, this can be a great DIY project even if you don't have a ton of tiling experience. 12 x 24 tile is everywhere lately.
One way to save on tile installation is to buy the cheapest material, but there are other ways to save without compromising quality. Use bigger tiles. Larger tiles cost less to install than smaller tiles since there is less labor involved.
Choose the Tile Direction Well
Its direction is similar to a brick wall, where the longer side is across the surface. This creates a more pleasant layout and makes the room look wider. For a much smaller space, such as the bathroom, it's best to lay down the tiles the long way, where the longer side is set vertically.
A large format tile is great for small spaces. The reason has to do with grout joints. The larger the tile, the fewer grout joints you'll have and the greater sense of spaciousness you'll feel. Take this notion to an extreme and you might have just one very large format tile in that small space.
Use a tape measure to measure the distance from one corner to the corner in the diagonal and write down the measurement. Take the tape measure to repeat the process for the remaining two corners and write down the measurement. If the measurements match, you have a perfect square.
However, as most tile installers will tell you, it is always best to buy 10% to 15% additional tile for any project as a general rule of thumb. This is because when taking on a tile project, there are numerous reasons why you will need that extra stock of tiles ready to go. For instance: For rooms that are oddly shaped.
The major difference between porcelain tile and ceramic tile is how it's made. Both tiles are made from a clay mixture that's fired in a kiln, but porcelain tile is made from more refined clay and it's fired at higher temperatures. This makes it denser and more durable than ceramic tile.