Floor tiling – start in the middle or at an edge?

Conflicting opinions / advice out there. I prefer the latter to have a datum point so  to speak.

Any thoughts?

Not the brightest, most dynamic thread but would appreciate some feedback.

Middle, then when you get to the edges and cut the last tiles they will be the same width and it wil all be symetrical.

Whatever suits the room. Might be better to centre on a doorway or line up with another feature (eg fireplace), but generally not one edge. That said I wouldn’t tile at all, better solutions out there these days.

You need to map out the pattern before you start. That’ll then tell you what you have wear.  Draw lines in the centre of the floor and then start from there building outwards.

When I tiled the kitchen floor a few years ago I used a laser level to setup a centre (ish) line. Although check your tiles against your room size as you don’t want silly little slithers of tiles at the edges.

Middle! Any conflicting advice is from people who don’t know how to tile!

Middle-ish. Choose a wall to keep parallel to if the pattern is geometric, tweak to centre on features

Use vinyl or vinyl tiles, so much easier 🙂

Middle. Measure room at quarter distances and Sharpie a straight line . Then work outward, unless you are very close to full tiles , then I would use a slightly larger spacer / grout combination and add a mm or 2 to get the grout gaps big enough to avoid a slither , alternative is to fit a slightly wider skirting or edge trim to get full tiles

Im with NickJB … what suits the the room, including any “natural” walk ways…. I have a small cut against a wall (you don’t really notice it) but the joints in the doorway are symmetrical and you’d defo notice them more if they were “off”.

Whatever you do take your time planning it (and you are, so that’s good) maybe even drawing out each tile with a marker. You’ll be glad that you did.

Have fun

Middle.

Important point is to make sure you have no stupid thin cuts at the edges. Work it out in both directions and use a chalk line to make a cross in the calculated centre of the room.

I have never tiled a floor – but every time I have had one tiled – they have started in the middle of the room – in line with a doorway and moved out to the edges.  They have avoided too thin cuts – as they have gone under the skirting board – and the skirting board was replaced over.

It entirely depends on whether the pattern has an edge or is on the diagonal, or is just plain tiles throughout, or what shape the room is. There’s no hard and fast really.

Convention is the middle, or 1/2 tile off centre of the middle depending on what gives the best (biggest) cut to the edge to allow for out of square or plumb corners (if walls).  However, depends what the room is and the focal points.   If a kitchen for eg. I consider what the cuts will look like along the front of the units, door openings etc. and don’t worry too much if there’s a small cut to an edge you can’t really notice.   Hallways, again stand at the focal points and look to see what will look the best, visuals are better than mathematicaly correct normally.  In Bathrooms, as tiles are getting so large, you need to consider symmetry and layout of other bathroom items, rather than just fitting to the area, for eg. 1200 x 900 shower tray might look best starting from the corner (if plumb) when using 600mm tiles, not so much with 450’s.

BTW, I make my living tiling, so hope I know something about the subject.

Start at the only doorway and work backwards into the room. 😉

The blokes who laid our hardwood floor in the living room spent an age getting it lined up with the fireplace, not quite the middle of the room but not far off.

They did a cracking job.

Other tip for when planning your layout is take multiple measurements, if you house is older it is very unlikely to be perfectly square and there can be quite a difference in one corner from the other which would potentially leave you with a sliver if you didn’t compensate.  (found out the hard way with wavy walls!)

For me, a focal point near the middle. My sink has a cupboard underneath, so first tile was laid to line up with the middle of the two doors underneath, just looks more attractive to the eye

If this is something you are uncertain about perhaps get a professional in?

A real professional, not one of the folks who pretends to be able to tile and produces results a DIYer would wince at. Some alleged professional results in houses, bars, and restaurants almost make me unwell with their wonkiness and asymmetry.