So you have your wall ready or the floor now how do you get around the pipes and things sticking out of the wall and deal with cutting end tiles to size?
If you are doing a show drain I suggest using the square floor drains that are available now and they look nice also. Save a lot of cutting time.
I have used wire coping saw to cut circles in the tile before. It works ok but you have to go slow or use water to prevent heating the wire cutter so it does not break.
Does any one use a Dremel for this and if so what advise do you have?
For straight lines I prefer the wet saw though a bit messier then a tile splitter.
Tile cutting is an art. Laying the tiles is also an art, a difficult one. I know the basics and could do a square room if I had to but wouldn't. I rather hire a professional if I want it done right. I've inspected buildings in the past where the tiles were done poorly, you could see jagged edges, large spaces filled with white cement and just a rough look that made it undesirable.
You are right Builder setting the tile too deep in pushes up the cement and then you can not put in a proper grout line. If that happens just quickly clean out the grout line with a knife blade. If you use your spacers your lines should always be consistent and straight. Also center your floor on the middle of the room so your cut tiles are his by the wall line. I measure from the middle of the walls and draw a calk line left to right and front to back so there is a cross in the room. Then you can tile each quarter separately. This ensures a nice even look to the tiles. The big one is NEVER RUSH take you time do a dry run make sure it is what you expect to see when done.
Well I am well on my way to finishing the tile work the uneven wall was fun but done. I ended up using a diamond bit hole saw One inch diameter. It was great used that in my dremel for some edge cuts and my drill press for the middle of the tile.
hole saw for tile.
I picked mine up at Home Hardware just wet the tile first and dropped water as I went. The bit did not try to wander on me as long as there was water on the surface. If the tile was dry it tried to wander far and wide. No chips took seconds and very clean to work with. Definitely recommend any one to try them.