Best options for DIY tile cutting

[STEVEROG]

I will by attempting to tile my bathroom in a couple of months time. What are the best DIY options for cutting porcelain tiles? I believe cuts will be mainly straight cut.

Thanks.

Steve

[burncross]

a good quality tile cutter such as Rubi, available in different sizes to accomadate different tile sizes

[marc1106]

i have 2 wet saws First is a large plasplugs table type, cost me about 75£! second is a overhand slide type able to cut 600mm tiles with it! cost a couple of hundred quid and mainly use it for large format tiles! both cut porc tiles with no issues other than going through discs at a rate of knots! so i guess it depends on the size of your tiles and budget really!

[365drills]

Steve as I always say on this type of post please dont forget that professional tilers can often make a dramatic difference to your project both in cost savings (efficient use of tiles) and saving you the purchase cost of equipment and will help you achieve fabulous final results.

Many fully qualified tilers are available to you especially at this time and you may find getting a price quote negotiation with them for a job cost is worth the time.

Just a thought!

[david campbell]

go with the plasplugs as suggested,at roughly £75,its a great wet cutter at the price and wont be too much money spent on something you might not use for a good few years again

[cornish_crofter]

It all depends on what size your tiles are, and whether or not you're doing walls or floors.

You can get some really neat cutters for anything up to £350 for a snap cutter. Or spend about £20 for something that you'll use once then forget about it.

I have a number of cutters. I have about 3 diy quality snap cutters and a Belle minitile 230 that sels for around £450. I recently bought a Rubi TS 60 plus that cuts porcelain wonderfully on the straight.

If you were near me I could give you a cheap snap cutter and a wet cutter that I'm about to put on freecycle.

[Dave]

Hi steve.....if you do decide you need a tiler...pm me and i will sort you a good one out in your area...

[doug boardley]

if you do decide to do it yourself why not look into hiring a cutter, from a plant hire depot?

[cornish_crofter]

Depending on whether or not you need to drill any holes, May I suggest you PM 365 Drills (who replied earlier in your thread) to see if he can still offer forum discounts on his drill sets?

Pricewise they are aimed at the DIY market but most of the pros on here use them as well.

[STEVEROG]

Thanks to all for some excellent input. Not sure which way to go yet on this one. I would like to have at the tiling myself.

Would I be correct in assuming that the finished edges using a wet cut method will be far better than with a snap version? Further to this I also assume that maybe I can get away with snap cut edges if these are only around the perimiter of the room which is the case with my small floor. I will then hide the rough edges around the perimiter with a tile border. Not being as tiler (Christ does it show!) I bet you pro's are having a good chuckle at my post!

Also many thanks for the offer of the cutters from over in Cornwall - Lovely part of the country.

Thanks again.

Oh, finally I posted a question on the adhesive forum section regarding BAL Fastflex. I got one reply on that forum, maybe you fine people would care to tell me what the difference is between

(a) BAL Single Part Fastflex (ready mixed, one tub of gunk)
(b) BAL two part Fastflex (two containers: a tub of powder and a bottle of liquid)

The data I have found suggests they are the same. If thats the case then why offer two products. I am slightly confused?

Steve

[graybags]

Before my Mrs pulled me off the job.................too slow for her (!) I was getting great results with a Rubi TS60 Plus L and a 6mm wheel, perfect cuts every time, cost me £180 from Trade Tiler.The pro (?) prefers a wet cutter which I can't help noticing dosen't create quite such a clean cut,albeit hardly noticeable. I just preferred a dry cutter 'cos of less mess.

[cornish_crofter]

I can vouch for the TS60 plus. I too have one!

It all depends what tiles you are fitting. When you're doing this for a living you get the best you can afford/justify in terms of the work you're doing. When it's a one off job you buy the cheap stuff that will take a while longer to use but after you've used it twice, maybe it will sit in the garage until you move house and you'll use it twice more

[simhopper]

Buy a rubi, use it, keep it clean then flog it on ebay,rubi products hold there value so you will only loose approx 20%

[cornish_crofter]

Buy a rubi, use it, keep it clean then flog it on ebay,rubi products hold there value so you will only loose approx 20%

.....or offer it on this site, you will most likely find a buyer without much of a problem.

[cornish_crofter]

Depending on whether or not you need to drill any holes, May I suggest you PM 365 Drills (who replied earlier in your thread) to see if he can still offer forum discounts on his drill sets?

Pricewise they are aimed at the DIY market but most of the pros on here use them as well.

Just re read your post, these drills will get through porcelain no problem. I've used them with porcelain.

The cutters I've got would be no good to you, they're too small.