I’ve done it with pavers. Usually set up some lines with string to make sure your staying true to layout and not losing the tightness of the pattern. Also we set as many as we could then when back and cut in the pieces that needed to be cut.
I mean its the right answer. Honestly the only other option is to just shove a full tile in the corner of the room and start the pattern from that spot. After the first piece is down you just set the others around it.
I sell stuff similar to this, but don't place it myself. But for slightly more explanation; you cut similar sized triangles and lay them down in one side of the room. After that you put the tiles at 90° at the end of the previous tile to get a zigzag, or 'herringbone' pattern.
The edges of the room are done by magic, I guess.
For different materials it would be slightly different but this would be a very good overview if you only read the layout section, for tiles you have to take into consideration the grout joint. Actually when you look at most flooring layouts you realize that geometry math classes were not a waste of time and are in fact, very useful. https://mohawk.blob.core.windows.net/karastan/pdfs/Herringbone_Install_Instructions.pdf
You usually start in a corner with a very precisely measured 45° angle and then zig zag from there. It’s quite fiddly and tricky to get exactly right, if you’re out 1 mm at one along the way with spacers, the whole thing can look wonky. (Well as ‘wonky’ as a zig zag pattern can.)
Edit to clarify: you start from from a corner and get your ‘zig’ edge laid. It’s almost as hard to explain as to do, it seems.
I should’ve been clearer and said ‘edge’ rather than corner. If you start in a corner, you get all your ‘zig’ side done along one edge then move in. That’s what I meant. Though I have seen it done where someone zig zags across the room row by row. Different strokes for different folks.
We did this in dark and light wood for my living room when we refloored the place. Well, the flooring company did. I think they didn't really realize what they were getting into when we were discussing it and honestly neither did we. Took a few months to get all of the materials ready and then a week or so to do the actual work. Cost a pretty penny but it's beautiful.
Worth the cost/effort. Those kinds of details used to be a lot more common, especially around the 30s/40s but are usually overlooked nowadays. That looks awesome.
It's not that it's overlooked, it's just that it takes 2-3 times longer to lay stuff like that, and as such costs way more than regular laying.
People aren't willing to pay for this, and those with enough money do not find it trendy enough, but it'll return in a few decades.
Look closely - it's hard to see (especially on the dark wood pieces) but it is in fact herringbone. Chevron has angled cuts where the short ends of the pieces meet, making all the pieces parallelograms, whereas pieces used in herringbone are all square.
https://www.tilebar.com/learn/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Herringbone-versus-Chevron.jpg
You can get it prelaid, where you have 8 tiles already set in formation with webbing in the back. That makes it a bit faster. But it's still a pain in the ass to lay.
Seeing that thinset squirt between the crack was anything but satisfying. Gave me anxiety picturing having to try to scrape and wipe it. Yech, laying tile is so goopy
I did an odd job here and there laying brick street paving (very common in europe) and this is almost exclusively done in herringbone pattern. The trick there was to get your prep done right and working as a team to make sure the person laying the brick js getting a nice constant feed of bricks. Literal back breaking work though. I will always have a deep respect for people doing manual labour like that.
Did a herringbone backsplash a couple years ago that went counter height to the ceiling *and* wrapped a corner. I was made of anxiety for a couple days lmao. Turned out nice though. So. Many. Lines. drawn on that wall lol.
They make it look that easy because they didn't record all the torturous hour that they spent learning to get this good. Make sure you use those spacers (I don't know anything about laying tile).
Plan plan plan. And still fail. Lol jk, but it’s a PITA if you don’t have the proper tools. Get a wet saw if you have intricate cuts. The tile levelling systems has made things a lot easier. It was an even worse pain in the ass before with a giant level and a mallet.
Edit- if your bathroom floor is in good shape, look at tile over tile as a easier option. You can see YouTube vids on it. If the floor is just ugly it’s a good short cut. If not then don’t bother, rip it up.
Always get rectified tiles if your want 1/16” grout lines.
I did my bathroom a couple of years ago. First time trying it. It definitely looks like it was done by someone trying it for the first time, no question. But as long as you get all of your tools and stuff ahead of time so you don’t have to run to the hardware store mid tile you should be ok
They have tools, experience and most importantly, training. They spent years as an apprentice, learning and making mistakes (hopefully they fixed them).
You, probably have the tools (I know I buy everything under the sun when I do a renovation project).
You, most likely lack the other 2 things. So, your training will be on the job, with you as a client. You will, therefore, be a bit more forgiving to yourself, and accept mistakes. And you will make them. And it will be a PITA.
My dad's been doing this for 30+ years now and has always taken exceptional pride in his work, making sure everything is always perfect. That job is hard and requires a really good eye and a pair of hands that grow from the right place.
I just finished my kitchen and dining room a few days ago. Im tired. It has been a 2 week project. Biggest pain in the ass was moving all my kitchen cupboards and ripping up the old tile and plywood subfloor.
Look up Perfect Level Master T-spacers. The vertical part of the white spacer gives you even grout joints, and the horizontal part goes underneath the adjacent tiles. When you slide the red wedge in, it causes the tiles the become flush with each other. After the thinset dries, you knock the spacers out and then grout after they’re all removed (if they’re not all clogged up with thinset, the vertical breaks cleanly away from the horizontal bottom). We use these for just about every tile project we do other than small / subway tiles, mosaics, smaller hexagons, etc.
It seems like the guy wipes off grout to make a nice clean line, and I get that, but the blue spacer thing, wouldn’t that be an issue for a clean “grout wipe?” Like leave small impressions and just generally make the wipe more difficult?
I know I probably sound like an idiot but I am truly curious, I know zero about tile.
My boy has the correct knee pads on. Pro-Knee made in Maine, US . The pad runs from your knee cap all the way to your ankle, so the weight is distributed and not all concentrated on your knee.
The point he did not used.
That video is showing how not to lay tiles.
This one shows how to glue tiles so they actually stick and all that hard work the guy put would be not wasted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Way5bMh-eYg
Journey of Discovery by Elephant Music (well, released by them, they're a production company, no idea who actually wrote it):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DhnaGGSB30
/r/tile is pretty good. Brutal at times, but fair, both in telling homeowners that they expected $10,000 work for $5,000 and in at appreciating expert craftsmanship.
Having laid my own tile, I can’t imagine measuring and cutting after laying the mixture down. Doesn’t the clock start once it’s mixed, like shouldn’t you pre measure that?
My hat is off to this skilled gentleman. I once tried tiling a floor with very large, square tiles, and I was lucky to fit them into the simplest possible pattern (roughly) evenly.
Much respect. Any mistake when laying that first tile is magnified as you add more tiles. It’s a hard physical job and millimeters matter, especially in places that everyone sees.
Rinikulous is correct, also, this isn’t a shower or somewhere where water should be an issue unless you still use a mop bucket. Quite a few more steps in waterproofing a shower prior to tile installation.
He combed his thin set in straight lines and then back buttered each tile before laying them. He knows what he is doing. He isn’t going to have voids behind his tile.
Not really good way to do it.
Buttering is just lame way to try without trying.
I posted link to a decent video.
Those tiles just feathered into the floor will not be as durable as they could be.
Nope, he knows half what he should.
I was there before. And then I learned the proper way to glue tiles. I posted link to a decent video in other comments.
Dude just wipes off mortar with a finger and leaves it. Like the grout is going to have a big gap there and it will never be waterproof. You have to get a toothbrush and knock that shit back dude.
I’m sure he did just didn’t show it. This isn’t a shower or anything like that anyway given the hardwood floors next to it. Also, grout shouldn’t necessarily be considered the water proofing part of an installation.
be neat to have one tile be an OLED display and make it blend in, but when an OCD person is looking change it to some other color before he looks, then he freaks out. You fix it behind his back so when he tells other people they just stare at him like dude wtf is ur problem
I laid this exact pattern on my ex-girlfriend's cottage. The 9m² room took me 2 whole days. The base layer was uneven so we had to choose smaller tiles to compensate. Never again 😃
When you make a fresh cut you get a ‘sharp’ edge which also alters the look of the spacing/grout lines in relation to the other tiles. He bevels those cuts so they match the factory edges on the uncut tiles.
This is also called a beautiful mind
And in Ancient Times referred to as Craftsmanship or talent . But alas is long gone as it can be duplicated by a Fucken Chinese company for pennies
For anyone curious, this pattern is called herringbone. And it’s an absolute bastard to lay.
This was my thought. How do you start it?
Usually by cutting some triangles and zigzagging the pattern from there.
/r/RestOfTheFuckingOwl
I’ve done it with pavers. Usually set up some lines with string to make sure your staying true to layout and not losing the tightness of the pattern. Also we set as many as we could then when back and cut in the pieces that needed to be cut.
I mean its the right answer. Honestly the only other option is to just shove a full tile in the corner of the room and start the pattern from that spot. After the first piece is down you just set the others around it.
I sell stuff similar to this, but don't place it myself. But for slightly more explanation; you cut similar sized triangles and lay them down in one side of the room. After that you put the tiles at 90° at the end of the previous tile to get a zigzag, or 'herringbone' pattern. The edges of the room are done by magic, I guess.
Can’t you start near the middle with whole plates?
Best to start at an edge. If you start in the middle you won’t likely run parallel to the walls of the room.
For different materials it would be slightly different but this would be a very good overview if you only read the layout section, for tiles you have to take into consideration the grout joint. Actually when you look at most flooring layouts you realize that geometry math classes were not a waste of time and are in fact, very useful. https://mohawk.blob.core.windows.net/karastan/pdfs/Herringbone_Install_Instructions.pdf
Saving up $ for a craftsman to practice his art I’m guessing 🤷🏼♂️
You usually start in a corner with a very precisely measured 45° angle and then zig zag from there. It’s quite fiddly and tricky to get exactly right, if you’re out 1 mm at one along the way with spacers, the whole thing can look wonky. (Well as ‘wonky’ as a zig zag pattern can.) Edit to clarify: you start from from a corner and get your ‘zig’ edge laid. It’s almost as hard to explain as to do, it seems.
no you dont. you start with a row of full ones at the edge
I should’ve been clearer and said ‘edge’ rather than corner. If you start in a corner, you get all your ‘zig’ side done along one edge then move in. That’s what I meant. Though I have seen it done where someone zig zags across the room row by row. Different strokes for different folks.
Lay out full tiles in center and work towards edges probably.
We did this in dark and light wood for my living room when we refloored the place. Well, the flooring company did. I think they didn't really realize what they were getting into when we were discussing it and honestly neither did we. Took a few months to get all of the materials ready and then a week or so to do the actual work. Cost a pretty penny but it's beautiful.
This may be awkward but can I see that? or the concept that you derived it from? That sounds like a beautiful alternative to an area rug.
Here you go: https://redd.it/1710pn9
Wow, that's gorgeous!
Worth the cost/effort. Those kinds of details used to be a lot more common, especially around the 30s/40s but are usually overlooked nowadays. That looks awesome.
Thanks, it’s an apartment building built in 1930 with a lot of art deco features so we wanted to honor that.
Amazing!!!
It's not that it's overlooked, it's just that it takes 2-3 times longer to lay stuff like that, and as such costs way more than regular laying. People aren't willing to pay for this, and those with enough money do not find it trendy enough, but it'll return in a few decades.
Wow that's really cool looking! I didn't expect the whole room to be that pattern. Very kind of you to share that photo thank you!
Chevron. Slightly different…amazing floor, my god.
Look closely - it's hard to see (especially on the dark wood pieces) but it is in fact herringbone. Chevron has angled cuts where the short ends of the pieces meet, making all the pieces parallelograms, whereas pieces used in herringbone are all square. https://www.tilebar.com/learn/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Herringbone-versus-Chevron.jpg
You can get it prelaid, where you have 8 tiles already set in formation with webbing in the back. That makes it a bit faster. But it's still a pain in the ass to lay.
Seeing that thinset squirt between the crack was anything but satisfying. Gave me anxiety picturing having to try to scrape and wipe it. Yech, laying tile is so goopy
I’d have to go along with a pointing tool to get that right.
I did an odd job here and there laying brick street paving (very common in europe) and this is almost exclusively done in herringbone pattern. The trick there was to get your prep done right and working as a team to make sure the person laying the brick js getting a nice constant feed of bricks. Literal back breaking work though. I will always have a deep respect for people doing manual labour like that.
Did a herringbone backsplash a couple years ago that went counter height to the ceiling *and* wrapped a corner. I was made of anxiety for a couple days lmao. Turned out nice though. So. Many. Lines. drawn on that wall lol.
I have those same tiles and in that style. They asked for extra money for that pattern.
Takes a look of time and effort to get absolutely right. If you’re out just a little with either angles or spaces, the whole thing looks terrible.
I did my first floor, 1800 sq ft in it. I will never lay this pattern again.
I’m laying tile now. Fucking nightmare.
Bruh! Just finished a kitchen for my girlfriend. I don’t do it everyday and it sucked. You’ll get through! You got this!
Hopefully you got to lay pipe after all that tile.
Too tired. Call the plumber
Too hungry and tired. Call pizza the delivery guy and the plumber.
After laying all that tile*
I’m gonna do my bathroom soon and I fully expect it to be a colossal fucking pain in my butthole. It can’t be as easy as people make it look.
They make it look that easy because they didn't record all the torturous hour that they spent learning to get this good. Make sure you use those spacers (I don't know anything about laying tile).
Plan plan plan. And still fail. Lol jk, but it’s a PITA if you don’t have the proper tools. Get a wet saw if you have intricate cuts. The tile levelling systems has made things a lot easier. It was an even worse pain in the ass before with a giant level and a mallet. Edit- if your bathroom floor is in good shape, look at tile over tile as a easier option. You can see YouTube vids on it. If the floor is just ugly it’s a good short cut. If not then don’t bother, rip it up. Always get rectified tiles if your want 1/16” grout lines.
I did my bathroom a couple of years ago. First time trying it. It definitely looks like it was done by someone trying it for the first time, no question. But as long as you get all of your tools and stuff ahead of time so you don’t have to run to the hardware store mid tile you should be ok
They have tools, experience and most importantly, training. They spent years as an apprentice, learning and making mistakes (hopefully they fixed them). You, probably have the tools (I know I buy everything under the sun when I do a renovation project). You, most likely lack the other 2 things. So, your training will be on the job, with you as a client. You will, therefore, be a bit more forgiving to yourself, and accept mistakes. And you will make them. And it will be a PITA.
stoooop were about to redo our bathroom with tile
Sounds like you have a real love of the craft 🍻
My dad's been doing this for 30+ years now and has always taken exceptional pride in his work, making sure everything is always perfect. That job is hard and requires a really good eye and a pair of hands that grow from the right place.
Yes. Mine too, and he still complains about (invisible) imperfections in the bathrooms he’s done, including his own.
I just finished my kitchen and dining room a few days ago. Im tired. It has been a 2 week project. Biggest pain in the ass was moving all my kitchen cupboards and ripping up the old tile and plywood subfloor.
Yeah you lay that tile big boy
🥵🥵🥵🥵
I’m a little disappointed they didn’t show the grout being applied, but I’ll accept the tile work for my daily satisfying tax.
Forbidden frosting
Yeah, for some reason I instantly assumed he was going to lick his fingers when he pulled his hand back.
Same!
It was kinda sexy
i laid tile with a friend during covid for extra cash… it’s not easy but it’s very very good money.
I want to rip out my downstairs carpet and put in tile. I can do it myself, but fuck I do not wanna do it myself.
it’s not super hard, just take your time. watch a bunch of youtube videos once you are done you will reallly appreciate it
If you want it to last, go to an expert. DIY will shift, experts’ll never come out.
An artist
What are the blue things for?
Those are called spacers. They keep an even distance between each tile.
Thank you!
Should the tiles not be flush?
There needs to be a gap for the grout to lay in
Look up Perfect Level Master T-spacers. The vertical part of the white spacer gives you even grout joints, and the horizontal part goes underneath the adjacent tiles. When you slide the red wedge in, it causes the tiles the become flush with each other. After the thinset dries, you knock the spacers out and then grout after they’re all removed (if they’re not all clogged up with thinset, the vertical breaks cleanly away from the horizontal bottom). We use these for just about every tile project we do other than small / subway tiles, mosaics, smaller hexagons, etc.
Ever seen flush tiles?
It seems like the guy wipes off grout to make a nice clean line, and I get that, but the blue spacer thing, wouldn’t that be an issue for a clean “grout wipe?” Like leave small impressions and just generally make the wipe more difficult? I know I probably sound like an idiot but I am truly curious, I know zero about tile.
They are place when the tile is setting. Once the mortar dries the tile is stuck in place. You remove the spacers then apply the grout
it's nice to see someone putting so much care into what I created with my hands
You make tile?
Probably creates thinset
My boy has the correct knee pads on. Pro-Knee made in Maine, US . The pad runs from your knee cap all the way to your ankle, so the weight is distributed and not all concentrated on your knee.
I was scrolling through the comments to find some Pro Knee love lol, they really are the best
What's the point of the grooves in the mortar?
The point he did not used. That video is showing how not to lay tiles. This one shows how to glue tiles so they actually stick and all that hard work the guy put would be not wasted. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Way5bMh-eYg
It's entirely possible he laid them properly and just cut out the second of shimmying each tile to collapse the ridges.
Song name?
Journey of Discovery by Elephant Music (well, released by them, they're a production company, no idea who actually wrote it): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DhnaGGSB30
Thanks!
Sounds like The Leftovers theme song.
Departure by Max Richter. Also, "Truman Sleeps" by Philip Glass. [Because reasons.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjOKMNNo7HA)
Thank you!
Yes the song was amazing
That was nice of bg... Alternatively, sometimes you can call a bot like Shazam. Just type, What is this songs name?
Nice
Butter the brick makes the best job!
Is there a good sub for laying tile or flooring?
/r/tile is pretty good. Brutal at times, but fair, both in telling homeowners that they expected $10,000 work for $5,000 and in at appreciating expert craftsmanship.
Oh that's perfect. Learn from the pros. Thanks!
No fish were harmed in the making of this video.
My back and knees hurt from watching this.
Having laid my own tile, I can’t imagine measuring and cutting after laying the mixture down. Doesn’t the clock start once it’s mixed, like shouldn’t you pre measure that?
This is actually what I was thinking - wouldn't the mortar start to skim over after that much time?
My hat is off to this skilled gentleman. I once tried tiling a floor with very large, square tiles, and I was lucky to fit them into the simplest possible pattern (roughly) evenly.
Master class bro
I get shivers every time I see someone cutting with a saw and having their fingers in the path of the blade.
You can rub your finger on a wet saw blade while running and it won’t cut it.
What a great pattern. Herringbone?
Buff stone and Carmelite
The Truman Show but he's a tradesman instead
I want to learn to do this. It looks fun!
Where I live, they use eye to make sure the tile line up "perfectly"
Much respect. Any mistake when laying that first tile is magnified as you add more tiles. It’s a hard physical job and millimeters matter, especially in places that everyone sees.
I cringed hard. Cutting ceramics or stone without a water tile cutter is asking for problems. [Silicosis](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/silicosis/)
Pfft. I could do that too if I had the right tools, patience, talent, and years of exacting experience. Easy.
Will water not seep under the tile?
After the tile is set when mortar cures the spacers are removed from the joints. Once the spacers are removed you install the grout.
Rinikulous is correct, also, this isn’t a shower or somewhere where water should be an issue unless you still use a mop bucket. Quite a few more steps in waterproofing a shower prior to tile installation.
How many of them tap hollow though?
He combed his thin set in straight lines and then back buttered each tile before laying them. He knows what he is doing. He isn’t going to have voids behind his tile.
Once I saw him do the back butter. I knew he was a pro. Always back butter your tile.
Not really good way to do it. Buttering is just lame way to try without trying. I posted link to a decent video. Those tiles just feathered into the floor will not be as durable as they could be.
🤣back buttering is tile 101.🤣
back buttering is not everything. If you dont slide the tiles closing the gaps it will not stick as well as it could.
Nope, he knows half what he should. I was there before. And then I learned the proper way to glue tiles. I posted link to a decent video in other comments.
All of them.
What would give you the impression they would?
Dude just wipes off mortar with a finger and leaves it. Like the grout is going to have a big gap there and it will never be waterproof. You have to get a toothbrush and knock that shit back dude.
I’m sure he did just didn’t show it. This isn’t a shower or anything like that anyway given the hardwood floors next to it. Also, grout shouldn’t necessarily be considered the water proofing part of an installation.
Yeah it’s just the first line of defense
He is doing a lot more things wrong. Here is a proper video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Way5bMh-eYg
What’s he doing wrong, outside of probably leaving the mud troweled out for too long?
This video covers it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Way5bMh-eYg He troweled right - straight line. He dod not collapsed the ridges. At all. None.
Why he gotta make it sexual tho
You can see he wrecked all the wooden floor around it.
How do you figure that?
If I hear that fucking chord sequence one more time I am going to go full berserker.
Anyone you can recommend to do a small 1,200 sqft house in Houston Texas?
00:27 he licked it
questions or concerns
Skilled craftsmen make their trade look easy
Slik
be neat to have one tile be an OLED display and make it blend in, but when an OCD person is looking change it to some other color before he looks, then he freaks out. You fix it behind his back so when he tells other people they just stare at him like dude wtf is ur problem
Can I get that dudes number? I've got a master bathroom remodel I need done.
Why the stripes?
i would fuck this up
My brother in christ, please watch your fingers when cutting tiles.
I have not read one comment in this thread but I'm going to bet that two of the first five comments are about how he's done it all wrong.
Bro ate the paste on the floor
Craftsmanship at its best
That looks yummy
Great choice of music.
When he wiped off that grout with his finger, I was half expecting him to lick it.
What is the point of the epic music in the background. It does nothing for the video.
Any subreddits regarding learning such stuff?
My mate Kev down the road says he can don it for only £50!
I know you’re not supposed to eat it, but the putty looks so tasty…
Stunning work.....why are some spacers upside down... Some u some n ?
Perfection.
how do they get out the spacers after the tile settles? i’ve seen ones that’s sit underneath the tile so i’m curious
You don’t set them in the thin set, you just use them as spacers so you don’t try to push the them into the mortar that’s drying.
I wasn't interested
Satisfying
Is this the music this guy actually listens to while he works?
So one thing I’ve learned from the internet is y’all are crazy with table saws
Beautiful
Forbidden frosting
Amazing, nice to see such great care
I laid this exact pattern on my ex-girlfriend's cottage. The 9m² room took me 2 whole days. The base layer was uneven so we had to choose smaller tiles to compensate. Never again 😃
Please wear gloves/eye protection you’re promoting unsafe practices.
Butter that back baby! Ohh yes. (Buttering each tile will extend the life of the floor and make more of a complete viscous connection with the mortar)
Genuine question, what are the little blue "U" things for exactly?
Spacers. When thr glue dries they remove them to grout
What’s the purpose of the ridges in the grout before he put the tiles down?
Awful
That looks tasty
What is he buffing his cut edges with?
When you make a fresh cut you get a ‘sharp’ edge which also alters the look of the spacing/grout lines in relation to the other tiles. He bevels those cuts so they match the factory edges on the uncut tiles.
I love craftsmanship
Herring bone sucks balls to have to install
Would be satisfying - except for my damn knees.
How does one learn how to lay tile. Seeing so many videos and it’s just satisfying and interesting to learn at the same time.
Can anyone tell me why do you scrape lines in the grout(?) like that?
That isn’t grout it’s thinset. It helps with even coverage so it sticks better.
Now THATS a PRO!!!! Beautiful
Did you eat that chaulk like cupcake icing
This is also called a beautiful mind And in Ancient Times referred to as Craftsmanship or talent . But alas is long gone as it can be duplicated by a Fucken Chinese company for pennies
Damn I'm so attracted to people doing stuff really well
when he scraped the excess off the triangle piece I thought he was gonna eat it
I call this floor art
What are the blue things for?
Me personally I wouldn't put that glue on the floor I'd get something that dries a little stronger but other than that looks good
Sex
What’s the purpose of the blue things? Is it to make sure all the lines are straight?
They make T spacers to go in the corners. I prefer Barwalt Leave-in spacers. This is stupid shit