Measuring for Floor Tiles

Adding floor tiles to your home can be done with a simple spot of DIY, but if you fail to measure the tiles correctly before laying them it could mean that the end result is all wrong. However, it is easy to master measuring for floor tiles when you know how; all you need are the right tools, precision and patience.

What you will need

• Your Choice of Bathroom Floor Tiles 
• Tape measure
• Line generator and square (optional)
• String
• Pencil
• Tile cutter or tile scorer

Preparation

Not all rooms in a typical home are rectangular, so if you are laying floor tiles in a trickier shaped room, you might find that you need more materials to complete the job. Before you start anything, it is important to work out your floor plan and ensure you have around ten to 15 per cent extra tiles to play with, before removing any furniture and getting on with the measuring.

1) Measure the room

If you are measuring a square or rectangular room, you generally only need to measure the length and width of the space with a tape measure before multiplying these two measurements. On the other hand, if you are measuring a room that is an awkward shape, you first need to draw out the rectangular areas of the room and mark them with string. You may want to use a line generator to make the job easier, as well as a pencil to mark lines on the area to be covered.

2) Mark the tiles

Whether you are tiling the floors of a simple or differently-shaped room, most rooms usually have troublesome areas that require more patience when measuring, such as edges and alcoves. When you have taken the measurements of these kinds of areas, you should mark the tiles to be used for the area with a pencil, using a tile cutter or tile scorer to cut the materials into the correct shape.

3) Prepare the floor

Make a note of your measurements for future reference and check whether there are any preparations you need to make to the floor before you start tiling. For example, some adhesives require primer before they can be applied.

4) Begin tiling

Once this has all been done, you will have the perfect foundations on which to start the tiling process.