Most of a tiled garage floor goes down in about an hour. The perimeter is what takes the time, because that is where you are cutting around door frames, steps, drains and walls that are not straight.
Done well, nobody notices the cuts. Done badly, they are the first thing your eye goes to. Here is how to get the first outcome.
The tools that work
A jigsaw
The right choice for curves, notches and anything you cannot cut in a straight line. Use a fine tooth blade intended for plastics or wood, and run the saw at a moderate speed.
Too fast and friction melts the plastic, which welds the cut back together behind the blade and leaves a lumpy edge. If you see melting, slow down.
A mitre saw or table saw
Fast and very accurate for long straight cuts if you have one. Use a blade with a high tooth count. Clamp properly and take it steadily.
What to avoid
- Angle grinders, which generate too much heat and melt the edge
- Blunt blades of any kind
- Tin snips on thicker tiles, which distort the material
Measure once, template twice
For anything beyond a straight cut, make a template rather than measuring.
Card is ideal. Cut a piece to the size of a full tile, then trim it to fit the awkward space until it sits perfectly. Transfer the shape to the tile with a marker, cut, and check before you commit to the second one.
For a really awkward profile such as a door architrave, a profile gauge from any tool shop copies the shape directly and costs very little.
Cut from the top, not the bottom
Score on the finished face. Any slight ragged edge then ends up underneath rather than visible.
When using a jigsaw, run masking tape along the cut line first. It reduces chipping, gives you a clearer line to follow, and stops the saw plate marking the surface.
Cut tiles slightly oversized
Aim to leave two or three millimetres extra and trim back to fit. Taking more off is easy. Putting it back is not.
The exception is the expansion gap at the walls, which is deliberate and covered below.
Leave an expansion gap
This matters more than the neatness of the cut. Interlocking tiles expand and contract with temperature, and a British garage swings through a wide range across a year.
Leave a gap at every wall, typically somewhere between 10mm and 20mm depending on the manufacturer's guidance and the size of the floor. A floor laid tight to the walls in January will buckle in July.
The gap is hidden by edge trim, which brings us to the useful part.
The trick that hides everything
Edge ramps and trim are the reason professional installations look clean.
Run trim along the perimeter and your cut edges disappear underneath it. That means your cuts only need to be accurate, not beautiful. It also covers the expansion gap, protects the edge from being caught by a broom or a tyre, and finishes the floor visually.
Order trim at the same time as the tiles. It is the item most often forgotten and the one that makes the difference.
Cutting around specific obstacles
Door thresholds. Template with card. Consider running trim across the opening for a clean transition.
Drains and gullies. Leave access. A permanently covered drain is a problem waiting to happen.
Downpipes and columns. Cut the tile in two pieces meeting at the obstacle rather than trying to thread one tile around it. The joint is almost invisible and the alternative usually cracks.
Steps. Template each one individually. Steps are rarely the same width across their length.
Order the right amount
Add roughly ten percent to your calculated area for cuts and waste. If the room is awkwardly shaped or has several obstacles, go to fifteen.
Keep two or three spare full tiles after the install. If one gets damaged later, a matching tile from the same batch is worth far more than the small cost of holding it.
Browse tiles, ramps and edge trim in the garage flooring collection, or send us your floor dimensions and we will tell you how much to order.