DIY bathroom tiling advice needed

Bathroom tiling project. As an accent tile, we have selected penny round tiles in sapphire blue, like this. As you can see, the tiles are offset so they fit together more closely. We are doing a horizontal row of four tiles, plus the back of the soap niche.

My problem is at the end of the run, where the tile comes up against a solid surface like a door casing. I can’t figure out how to cut these little tiles in half to make a straight line. I have tried dealing with the tiles individually but they are too small to saw; nippers and grinding I have not been able to make work. If I try to saw a sheet the tiles just come off the backer material.

I have thought about attaching one sheet of tiles to a cement backer board with mastic, letting it dry, and then using that to slice a couple rows of half rounds that I could stick in where needed (I don’t need all that many). I have severe doubts that this will work.

Any other ideas? Any professionals out there who might have had to deal with this before?

I hate tile work and learned to avoid it. Does that help? :smiley:

If I understand what you mean, I’m afraid you’ll have to stop the penny tiles at their straightest line and then fill to the door w/ grout (that’s only a few mm, right?). It will look good and be far less frustrating.

Can you grasp the tile with a pair of pliers and use a Dremel tool to cut them? Or even use a grinding tool to remove half the material.

Maybe this thing? How to cut mosaic tile with a wet saw - YouTube

Home Depot has that Tilesizer gizmo for thirty bucks, but the reviews on the Home Depot site are mixed (worked for some people but not others).

I tried it already, it looks bad and unprofessional to me. There is no “straightest line” really, you have to choose between running the straight line horizontally or vertically. Horizontally is better, but it leaves this problem at the end.

I tried grinding, it took a very long time for one piece and the result did not look good. These things are very hard and also hard to hang onto.

Yes! This looks like the kind of thing I’m looking for. I had never seen this, don’t know how I missed it. Thanks both arseNAL and Dewey Finn.

p.s. this is one reason why I love the Dope.

I’ve done a fair amount of tile work. I would use an angle grinder with a 1/16" thick cutoff wheel.

Dennis

How would you hold the little tile piece (note that they are 3/4" round)? In a vise?

I do the tile before the casing and use my tablesaw to notch the casing edge so it goes over the tile.

That actually occurred to me while composing the OP, but it is now too late. It would probably have been far the cleanest approach. Unfortunately, I was coordinating with a somewhat stubborn and uncooperative contractor, who was doing all the carpentry, so it would have been difficult anyway.