What to ask your architect about tile layout

Stereotomy for homeowners — coordinating tiles with everything else

Why coordination matters

A tile layout shares the room with doors, windows, outlets, plumbing, furniture, and lighting. When these are positioned without considering the tile grid, you get awkward cuts — a thin sliver next to the bathtub, a grout line that almost aligns with the door frame, an outlet sitting right on a joint.

The best time to coordinate is during design, when your architect can adjust outlet and fixture positions by a few centimetres to align with the tile grid.

Questions about walls

• “Can we adjust the partition wall by 2-3 cm for full tiles?” Easy during construction, impossible after plastering.
• “Which wall is the focal point?” Start the layout from the most visible wall. Cuts go on the less visible side.
• “Are walls plumb and square?” Out-of-square walls mean uneven cuts on opposite sides.

Questions about doors and windows

• “Can the window sill height align with a full tile course?” A sill that lands mid-tile creates an ugly cut on the wall.
• “Will tiles continue through the doorway?” If yes, the grid must be continuous across both rooms.
• “Where exactly is the door centre line?” The grid should be symmetrical about the door opening.

Questions about electrical and plumbing

• “Can outlets fall in the centre of a tile?” An outlet on a grout line requires cutting two tiles instead of one.
• “Where will the shower valve go?” Centre it on a tile for a clean cut-out and better waterproofing.
• “Can towel rail fixings avoid grout lines?” Drilling into grout can crack adjacent tiles.

Questions about fixtures

• “Can the bathtub position align with full tiles?” A 170 cm tub in a 175 cm alcove leaves a thin cut. Can the alcove be adjusted?
• “Will vanity positions be finalised before tiling?” Visible edges must be perfect; behind furniture less so.
• “Where do pipe penetrations come through?” Centre them on tiles, not on joints.

The bottom line

Moving an outlet 2 cm during first fix takes 30 seconds. Discovering it is in the wrong place after tiling means demolition. A detailed layout plan is the communication tool that makes coordination possible.