How to cut tile

In this post, I will highlight one of the fastest and cheapest ways to cut tile. Hopefully this will help some DIY’ers looking to for some tiling tips for a great installation the first time.

Featured Products Mentioned:

Makita Cordless Griner: homedepot.sjv.io/jW36N0

4in Makita corded grinder: http://homedepot.sjv.io/4eGaNo

Ridgid Diamond blade: http://homedepot.sjv.io/NK9Gq2

Rubi Snap Cutter 21inch: http://homedepot.sjv.io/YgRVaj

Diamond hand polishing pads: http://homedepot.sjv.io/MXAKLo

Process:

Keep in mind that depending on what you are trying to accomplish, one of the tools I am mentioning below may be better than another and vice versa.

The first part is the snap cutter. Before using this tool, make sure you have measured your tile and marked where the desired cut must be. You will see on the cutter that there is a small scoring wheel and two legs that extended off the handle. The wheel will score the tile as you glide the handle up the tile and the two legs will apply pressure after scoring to snap the tile. When you lay your tile in the snap cutter, the handle should be closest to you so that when you are ready to cut, you are sliding the handle away from you as you score.

You can see here I have the scoring wheel lined up with the mark on my tile where I want the cut to be. Make sure you take your time as you do not want to score the tile in the wrong location!

Once the scoring wheel is lined up in the correct location, you want to apply even pressure and slide the handle across the tile. After you have reached the end of the tile, press the legs down onto the tile. The legs will snap the tile at the scored location.

You will see that the tile will have some rough edges from where it was scored, this is nothing to be alarmed about. The next steps can be used to even them out.

The next is the hand polishing pads. These pads come in a variety of grits just like regular sandpaper. You will want to use these similarly to sandpaper; starting with the lower grit and gradually increasing to get the smoothest result. The roughness should only be on the surface of the tile as the scoring wheel does not cut deep into the tile. Therefore, you should only need to use these pads to polish the surface level edge rather than the whole side of the tile.

The last is the grinder which is most useful if you have more intricate cuts. My grinder is a cordless one that I have linked, but I have also linked a corded version that is more affordable as well. I am using a diamond blade on my grinder which I have also linked. When using the grinder, make sure you are wearing the proper protection to prevent any injuries or inhalation of the dust!

Although this method is better for intricate cuts, it may be more challenging when starting out so make sure you take your time and have a few extra tiles as well. You can also use the polishing pads if you have any imperfections from your cuts as well.

If you would like more information on these tile cutting tips, watch my full length Youtube video here where I demonstrate all these on some porcelain tile.

Thanks for reading <3

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I'll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you.