tiling questions

[Homerboy]

I'm replacing some floor tile that is in a fake fireplace (old fake fireplace box)

If my space is exactly 63.25" and the tile is 8" wide, how wide are my grout lines (assuming no grout on the left and right outsides of the field)?

Also , since this is going to have to be level with existing HW floors, how do I calculate how thickness the mortar? and I guess worst case is I will have to take out some subfloor. The good news is it only has to look good.- no foot traffic etc.

 

[Greenman]

You're approaching it backwards. You layout the tile with the grout lines the size you want, then trim the first and last tiles to fit. Your layout will end with less than a full tile, or huge grout lines. 1.2" wide is what you end up with if you want to avoid cutting.
The depth is easy, it's the thickness of the tile plus thinset. You can vary the the thickness of the thinset to make the tile flush.
You can't just remove subfloor without a plan on how you're going to put it back x dimension lower. You'll also need to consider how much you'll be taking out of the joist and how that will effect the rest of the floor system. 3/4" lower is easy, beyond that it's a pain in the behind to do.

 

[Homerboy]

You're approaching it backwards. You layout the tile with the grout lines the size you want, then trim the first and last tiles to fit. Your layout will end with less than a full tile, or huge grout lines. 1.2" wide is what you end up with if you want to avoid cutting.
The depth is easy, it's the thickness of the tile plus thinset. You can vary the the thickness of the thinset to make the tile flush.
You can't just remove subfloor without a plan on how you're going to put it back x dimension lower. You'll also need to consider how much you'll be taking out of the joist and how that will effect the rest of the floor system. 3/4" lower is easy, beyond that it's a pain in the behind to do.

yeah since it's patterned tile I guess I was hoping to approach it backwards and use full tiles and adjust the grout accordingly to fit the space. After I posted this I did my own back-of-napkin-math and realized I was pretty much screwed and will have to cut the tiles. It's almost like I ended up with the worst case scenario.

as for the thickness, I figured that was going to be the easier part.

 

[skyking]

Tile is relatively cheap. dry fit it and if it does not please you, try another layout.

 

[pete6032]

You will have to cut the tile. Find the least conspicuous place to lay the partial tiles. Before you lay the tiles all of them should be pre-cut and checked for layout and fit. If you want very small grout lines <3/16 inch you will want to go with rectified tile. Also if you are using large format tile you will need special mortar.