Ceramic Tile Patterns

Before you purchase your ceramic tile you must decide which ceramic tile pattern you want to use. There are many different ceramic tile patterns to choose from or you can make up your own. If you are going to use a non-standard pattern, or make up your own tile pattern, you may want to make a detailed scaled sketch so you will know the sizes and number of each piece you will need. For standard patterns you can determine the number of pieces simply by dividing the square foot area you want to tile by the square footage of the piece of tile you intend to use. When you compute the quantity of tiles you will need keep your computation in feet or inches, don’t mix them or you will have an inaccurate result. For example: if the area you want to tile is 36 sq. ft. and your tile measures 4 X 6 inches, equaling 24 sq. inches for each piece of tile. The 24 sq. inch tile piece must be converted to sq. feet, which is 24/144 = 0.17 sq. ft. For your 36 sq. ft. area you will need 211.76 or 212 pieces. That is: 36 sq. ft. / 0.17 sq. ft = 211.76 pieces of tile rounded up to 212. Always check your measurement and computation to insure you buy only what you need.

Whether you’re laying tile flooring, installing a bathroom wainscoting, a kitchen backsplash or a walk in, don’t be afraid to get creative in designing your own unique pattern. The most common patterns are indicated below. Personally I prefer the horizontal or herringbone patterns, either on a wall, walk in shower, or floor. These patterns give a unique design to the finished room.  

The Straight Course Pattern

 This is the most common standard tile pattern. It is made by stacking square tiles with the grout lines running vertically and horizontally. Not to exciting.

Diagonal Course or Diamond Pattern

This is more exciting. Us the same tile as in the straight pattern run but the grout lines run on a 45-degree diagonal.

Brick Pattern

The brick pattern looks great on sun porch floors. Stack the tiles in a stagger vertical grout lines like a brick pattern. This can be done by using either square tiles or rectangular tiles.

Herringbone

The herringbone pattern looks great on walls or floors. Stack rectangular tiles in a horizontal zigzag pattern with each one at a right angle to the previous one.