Wouldn't it be great if the only areas that ever needed tiling were perfectly unobstructed and square? I don't think anyone would disagree, but the truth is it just never really happens. There is always some obstacle somewhere on the floor, or a wall that needs to navigated around and, let's face it, this is often half the fun!

Light switches are the main offenders, but it doesn't end there. You have to have a good look at the space you're tiling and identify any tricky spots before you start. A Tile Trim is often invaluable for this. With a light switch you're going to have to do your tiling as normal and get as near as possible to the tricky fitting. Turn off your electricity to this part of the house and then undo the screws of the fitting. The aim is to create a little space for the very edge of the tile so it can slip behind the box.

When you've prepared the switch box itself, you need to weigh up how many of your porcelain tiles or ceramic tiles you need to finish the job. For each tile, cut a piece of card to the exact same size and then mark on these pieces card the areas that need to be cut in order for the tile to fit. You can then cut those bits of card and use them as a template for marking the tiles themselves. You're now free to go about cutting the tiles and finishing off that troublesome wall.

This is the trickiest part of tiling but if you take your time, measure and cut carefully, you should be able to get excellent results.

Sockets/ light switches

First, tile as close as you can to the socket/switch. To make a very tidy job you'll need to get the awkward tile a few mm. behind the socket/switch.

Turn the power off at the fuse board to be extra safe. Then, carefully unscrew the socket/switch so that you have enough room to get the thickness of a tile with adhesive behind it. NB. You may have to replace the bolts which hold it in place with some slightly longer ones (Any electrical shop will supply these or good hardware shops)

For each tile which will lie behind, make a template out of a bit of scrap card the size of the tile and cut out a section so that approx. 5 mm lies behind the socket/switch.

In the picture shown above right 4 tiles are affected and each need a slightly different sized corner removed. If only 2 tiles are affected you will have to make U-shapes out of each one similarly.

Cutting the shape from the tile

There are several methods for cutting L-shapes out. You can either:

  • Use a hand tile saw
  • Using an electric tile saw makes this job easy
  • Use an electric jigsaw for which you can buy a tile cutting blade see section on cutting tiles

Curved or round shapes

Again make a template the size of a tile. Use paper rather than card so that you can easily form the paper around the object to copy the exact shape you need. Transfer the paper template to the tile to mark it then cut out the shape from the tile.

To help you get the curve right you may also find useful a profile gauge. This is a clever tool which is made up from lots of thin plastic strips which move to form the exact profile of the shape you want to copy.

To cut curved shapes use one of several methods:

  • Use a hand scribe and nibbler
  • Use a hand tile saw
  • Use an electric jigsaw with a tile cutting blade
  • Use an electric tile saw. You can get a curve with an electric tile saw with series of straight cuts.

Mark out the tile then, after making a series of straight cuts with the saw, use tile pincers to nibble off each strip. You should be able to nibble a quite tidy edge. If necessary get a smooth line by by finishing with a tile file.

Tiling round a small pipe

Tiling round a small pipe will depend on how the tiles are positioned in relation to it. You may only need to take a small section from the side. Or you may have to cut a tile in half and take a semi circle from each part using one of the above methods. Alternatively, you could cut out a slit in a whole tile the width of the pipe so the tile slides in.