Do you plan to use a rug anywhere in there? Plan so that it doesn’t cover your favorite tiles! beyond that, I’m sorry I can’t give a practical answer but I look forward to seeing the advice.

numbering is great, alson with the drawing but also take a photo after you dry fit the tiles.

For me it is taking the boxes opening them all in an empty space mark out the room they are going in to scale on the floor . Now mix all the boxes together and start playing until you get it as you like then you draw that patteren and number the tiles on the back to coresspond to the drawing which is also numbered . Get the tile to sign of too . The phot o is a perfect way to show orientation of each tile . Get the tiler to understand and sign off on the layout and be oon site the day of install.

10% is not nearly enough for a large tile like that in a small space with lots of cuts. The smaller the room, the more you need The bigger the tile, the more you need. The more chance of a discontinued seconds tile from a seconds retailer being carp, the way more you need.

You are going to need a different tile for this. Not from a seconds and overruns store.

If it were me, I’d meet the tile sub and show them the tile and first ask if they anticipate any issues (including sufficient quantity) - if all seems good with the tile, I’d mention that I had some preferences about placement and assess how game they would be for this approach. If the sub is game, agree that you should make it clear that you will tip well for the extra time & hassle -

If they are not into it - I would explore other options for installers w/ my GC and pay extra if it was super important to me (personally I'd likely not sweat the details for the laundry room but everyone is different)

Take the 25 % you hate and make a stack of "hate these" - Hide these please, as much as possible. They're 16 x 32, there could be some warp and they should be offset.

If you can't trust the tile pro beyond those instructions? Expect other troubles : )

A prayer that you have enough would be a good start. Leaving a tip on top of the hate pile is a very good idea.

Say something. Make yourself very clear. I have seen two jobs, one mine, where the tiles were laid out as wanted and the installer just ignored the request. Tell him exactly what you want and lable the boxes clearly and big!

"...I don’t want to be a pain in the rear for them..."

You are being so. I pray your contractor is savvy enough to pick up on this and charges accordingly, particularly when a few "misplaced" tile means a complete tearout do-over because there are no more in existence.

Ugh.

We’re going to grab a few more pieces since they weren’t all out before we bought them. Thanks for the advice everyone! Joseph Corlett, I’m not sure within what area you are a pro, but if I was a potential customer I would not pursue your business due to the attitude you have on most posts. :-)

You were given great advice, including Joe, who knows more about sinks and counters than you will find anywhere : )

" Our tile install will be subbed out so I don’t want to be a pain in the rear for them but also don’t want my least favorite tiles in the middle of the floor. "

Have your installer picked out before you go ANY FURTHER. If you want the right job, the pro installer has to be on board from step one and you are already past step one. And Joseph is correct, you are already being a PITA and will pay a premium for this install. The longer you wait to get the installer in board the higher the PITA charge will be.

The question wasn’t whether I should be able to layout the tiles for free or whether or not I would accept paying more. The question was how best to organize them for our installer. I will work with our installer and they can charge me more for the additional labor of getting certain tiles towards the more visible parts of the room if that’s what they find appropriate. I don’t think it’s being a PITA to buy natural stone with variations and have a preference for certain tiles to be more visible, especially when building a fully custom home.

If you do not have an installer on board and have him involved and approving your selections and patterns on the FRONT END you are greatly increasing the odds of the tile work going south. All I am saying is by selecting products without consulting with the person you expect to install you are limiting your pool if qualified installers. Not all installers are capable of installing all tile.

I'll offer this advice; get more pieces thank you think. The installer will cull more than you think. I know installers that when they are told where the materials are coming from want 30% extra due to quality control issues. Leave the sealing to the installer as well; your grout line could be affected depending how "clean" you are on the sealing.

That makes sense millworkman, and we did see that first hand when our builder vetoed any glue down “tiles” due to feedback from their tile guys on both work involved and how the project turned out. They were good with our choice of marble tiles but we should let them know the tile size and layout to see if there are concerns in case we need to find a different installer than whoever our builder has in mind (small town Iowa).

Skippack we ordered a bunch more this morning to pick up next week. It seems the general consensus was to get more than 10%, so we got more before they ran out. Luckily they had 85 16”x32” pieces still available for pickup in store. Thanks!

What Patricia advised, is the best way. I know they are heavy and can be fussy to move around, but it will be so worth it in the end. Layout, adjust, photograph and number the back with direction ( draw and arrow for which way the tile should face - especially when you are dealing with veining patterns ) then stack then up safely ( if you have the room - stack them by row ) .

Have your tiler look a the layout and the way they will be labeled so he understands.

You are doing most of the work and saving them the headache of figuring out the design.

Keep in mind - there may be tiles that can't be used. Sometimes you can't tell until you actually try to install them. So have back up tiles in a pile and be readily available to them to answer questions or make snap decisions.

Good luck!

You must do a TON of laundry. : )

D Michael:

I call 'em as I see 'em, even when it's not what the OP wants to hear. I will continue to do so whether I'm boycotted or kicked off the island. I have an obligation to myself and to readers. You get to pick your questions here, not your answers. It's what makes the site valuable.

Speaking of picking, customers aren't the only ones who get to do it. If I taught a class to young contractors, Picking Customers 101 would lead the rest. I can smell a PIA when I pull up in the driveway, but i've been at this for over 40 years.

My second class would be Taking Your Beatings 101. Here they would learn how to mitigate the damage from not being able to implement the teachings of the first class.

We just had a long thread on ContractorTalk where the old farts like me attempted to impart this knowledge to the whippersnappers coming up. Knowing the red flags they're waving helps homeowners too; thanks for the example.

Beyond direction of layout? All I ever need say to my PRO tiler is " I know you'll make this look awesome". He'd be insulted if I said more. Iowa might be more difficult. I know well, Des Moines and Cedar Rapids from two previous clients, both with luxury tastes.. I'd ask every dedicated tile shop whom they refer to high end designers needing a pro. I'll bet six million, you're the only one with marble in a laundry. A bath? different discussion. Find the guy who has done those and then don't hover.

Jan Moyer - We cloth diaper our baby so it’s minimum one load per day, usually 2 with towels/bedding/clothes and also indoor hang dry when needed (Iowa weather). We have our laundry in a tight corner of the bathroom today, so I’m looking forward to having more space (and a home for our vacuum - our filter queen canister vacuum is always somewhere ready to be tripped over).

If I had a bunch of tile that needed to be installed by someone I didn't know well without my involvement, and I had varying preferences for the tiles, here's what I would do:

• Sort into groups: tiles I love (A), tiles I like (B), tiles I tolerate (C), and tiles I hate (D).
• Hopefully I have enough overage that I can just hide all the D tiles in the basement (or wherever) and not tell the installer that they exist. I might leave them a small stack "to be used for small cut piece and obscured locations (like under the laundry machines.)"
• Next I would set aside a couple B or C tiles for replacements ... reserve those with the hidden D tiles for potential future use.
• Mark the pile of A tiles clearly and make sure to explain that these are tiles that are to be used whole and prominently. (I would also define where prominent is, e.g. "in front of sink and by the door" or "on the right side" because if I'm being this particular up to this point, then I'm not leaving "prominent" up to interpretation.)
• Mark the piles of B and C tiles accordingly. (This could be as simple as labelling pile A "best", pile B "better", and pile C "good" ... pile D, if applicable, could be labelled "scrap.")

And then I would probably enlist my mum and do it ourselves rather than risk things going sideways with random tiler #3.

Put $100 on top of each tile, and just maybe they will get a ”created” layout just right. This is worse of a pain than a double charge for herringbone upcharge. Only an excellent, and very expensive tiler, would touch it to begin with.

Joseph Corlett- One of the things that makes me the maddest is when I discover ( after the job is done) that the tile installer broke some of the tiles or maybe found some broken, and installed them anyway! Please, please, tell me, then we can discuss how to deal with it, and I’ll get some more tiles if I need to. I know things happen, I’m okay with paying for some more to get the job done right. Instead, when the inevitable happens and the grout eventually becomes obvious where they attempted to hide the break, I’m left with an ugly reminder of their incompetence.

I had to stand there with a shower tiler to make sure the patterned tiles were installed right. He couldn’t be bothered with my map, and I had to pay him more to stand next to him and hand him the tiles as he worked!

Unless you are hiring bottom of the barrel people, I have always worked with tile installers that insisted on discussing the layout, pattern, position of cuts, etc. before starting any job.

Why wouldn't you ask your client what they want as the final look? Then explain if it can be done or show how to improve the ideas.

In my previous house, laying out a patterned tile with the tile installer to come up with a pleasing layout ...

Chispa - sometimes subs act like they give a hoot pre-install, but then when the time comes it seems they want to slap things up and get the job done, get paid, and move on ASAP. Frustrating. My GC was a bit of a pushover too I think, nicest guy, but a bit too trusting. He was the type that just stepped in and did the job himself when the subs were having tantrums.