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If I have to buy only one tool between a manual tile cutter and a wet saw, I wonder which one you would recommend.

I have never done tiling before and this is my first DIY tile project for a small bathroom. The floor tiles I bought are 1 ft x 2 ft porcelain. I do not want to buy an expensive tool or multiple tools, since I do not think I would do another tiling project in the near future. When I check the prices of the two, they seem to be more or less same in around $100.

Thanks in advance,

DSKim
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    Tile cutters don't typically do well with porcelain. It's too hard. They work by scoring the glazing so regular clay/ceramic tile cracks on that line. – isherwood Feb 22 '17 at 19:33
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    Wet saws do everything tile cutters do and more (narrow strips, partial cuts, all materials, etc). Better ones tend to be a bit more expensive, and are a bit more complex (and messy) to set up, but not much. For me, wet saw every time. – bib Feb 22 '17 at 19:55
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    I agree with both bib & Isherwood , wet saw is the way to go. – Ed Beal Feb 22 '17 at 20:08
  • I would avoid cheap saws. You might be better off renting. I had a $100 wet saw with the blade suspended over the bed, with a carriage you'd put the tile on to push it through the blade. There was so much flex in the thing that the blade would ride up on the tile and then instead of cutting, it would grab the tile and shoot it out of the back of the saw. – Sean Feb 23 '17 at 17:39

4 Answers4

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I do not think I would do another tiling project in the near future.

It may be best to rent or borrow a wet saw; Buy one on eBay; or sell your new one on eBay afterwards as a used item.

(community wiki because an unanswered question with answers in the comments is like a faraway tap dripping in the night.)

RedGrittyBrick
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If you can, buy a new or used wet saw, it will give you the ability to make more than just straight cuts, an L shaped tile around a sink vanity or a u shaped cut around a toilet water supply pipe for example.

You will need one with a big enough bed to accommodate the size of the tile you are laying. It will make the job less aggravating. you can sell it on craigslist when you are done.

Or you just rent one for not much compared to the cost of a new one.

Alaska Man
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I just finished my 1st bathroom floor tiling, 2 days ago.

The only tool that I bought was a super cheap HDX (Home Depot) 14-inch manual tile cutter. My tiles are Porcelanosa "Porcelanico de Elite" 9mm-thick Porcelain.

The porcelain tiles are premium quality, and REALLY HARD. I had a VERY DIFFICULT TIME scoring and cutting them with my cheap manual tile cutter. I had to score several times and break the tiles by standing (jumping a bit) on them with my full body weight (150lbs).

If I had to do it all over again, I will buy a bigger, "premium" manual tile cutter, with a nice scoring wheel, fluid smooth rails, and a solid base. Still not a wet saw. The reason is because a manual tile cutter produces no dust, no water mess, and no noise.

Rollo R
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Manual tile cutters are a lot faster and less messy than wet tile saws. As long as you only need to do straight cuts across the whole width or length of a tile, I would recommend it as the choice for ceramic tiles.

However, for your particular situation of porcelain tiles, I'll quote from a comment from @isherwood:

[Manual] tile cutters don't typically do well with porcelain. It's too hard. They work by scoring the glazing so regular clay/ceramic tile cracks on that line.

AndyT
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