I need to get my bathroom tiled and I'm wanting to use medium sized tiles, say 20x25cm. To the side of the window is a stretch of wall about 52cm and the same on the other side of the window. If the tile's 25cm wide, is this a problem? Would the tiler just start with a part of a tile? Daft question now I type it!
Secondly, should border tiles be the same width as the main tiles?
Thirdly, the bathroom is about 7ft by 7ft. Do large tiles work in small bathrooms like 40x25cm?
I would start with a half tile for anything that would otherwise end up with a sliver at one end. Looks more balanced to have 2 ~1/2 tiles at each end than one full and a sliver at the other. Don't forget the grout line though
- that may be wide enough to make up the 20mm missing. In fact it probably will be at around 8 tiles along and 2-3mm grout line.
Don't have to be. But I would say (and I'm not big on the arty side, I just glue them, SWMBO designs the layout) that you'd want either same size or a lot different, so it looks like it was designed to be a contrast. 90% ratio would look rubbish. 30 or exactly 50% or 70% would look "designed".
No idea. Depends so much on the texture, colour, contrast between tile and grout. Eg plain white tiles with white grout probably wouldn't matter at all what you did as it all blends in to general whiteness. But colour tiles with a constrasting grout would emphasise the grid, then it matters much more.
My bathroom is a similar size (though L and not square) and I found 100mm tiles work very well. But they're a PITA in that you need so many...
Are your walls flat or lumpy? Bevelled "bumpy" small tiles can follow with the lumpiness and look "acceptably rustic" but massive flat marble tiles might be a devil to get all the edges to line up and they look rubbish if one tile is proud of another.
You're best best is to find the competent tiler first and ask his advice. I took some ideas from the chap who did out kitchen (too big for me and slate too...) and he and his boss had some excellent detail related ideas, as well as a choice of sealants (dry look vs wet look) as well as the grout colour.
They know what will and won't work and should be able to muse with you. If you have some initial ideas that's all good for a starting point, but they may steer you away if they think it won't work whilst coming up with something else that's still in the general flavour of what you think you wanted.
A tiler would start by marking a centre line and working out from there - you don't start at the wall join, everything is done from the middle of the wall outwards. With a wall with a window in it you start such that the tiles are symmetric about the window. The room probably isn't perfectly square so as you approach the junction of the walls you "lose" the asymmetry in the grout and by careful cutting of the junction tiles. It isn't difficult, you can apparently learn how to be a tiler with a two day course and 10 years practice.
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