Trimming floor tile a smidgen

I’m not much of a carpenter and never laid tile so forgive my ignorance. Putting in new cabinets in the kitchen and the floor tile that butted up against the old cabinets has about a 16th that must be cut off for the new ones to fit. Can I cut this with an angle grinder with some kind of cutting wheel? Wife says it’ll bust. How’s the best way to do this? For a little bit I’d just bust it all out and install hardwood in its place. Thanks

yes you can use a cutting wheel on something like an air powered cutting tool or an angle grinder.

kytrapper,
you can definitely use an angle grinder, just need the right kind of blade.
What you want is a diamond blade specifically rated for tile. It should have a smooth, continuos rim/edge.
Just go very slowly, and only cut partially through the thickness of the tile with each pass. Also, be sure to irrigate with water from a squirt bottle, or even take a disposable plastic water bottle and poke a hole in the lid. Water will keep the cut clean, and the blade cool, both of which will make your job easier.

Just be patient, and get comfortable so you can keep your hands steady.

Harbor Freight has the diamond blades for an angle grinder. They are what I use.

Thanks guys.

Wheels, not blades! They also make flap wheels for Masonry.

It will be dusty as all get out so keep a spray bottle handy to keep misting the tile and area to keep at a minimum. Go slow and let the wheel do the work.

Give yourself a bit of extra room on the cut line, walls have humps in them and you don't want to cut twice. If it's a bit strong or you chip a tile some don't worry you can always run quarter round or shoe at the cabinet bases.

Osky

Build up subfloor under the base cabinets front and back with strips of wood so that its height is even or slightly above the tile.

If you have a Lowes in your area check out the dewalt brand 4 in angle grinder diamond blades. They run about 35 and up for a good one. They are fine to dry cut with, if you run a shop vac at the same time to handle the dust created. The wet method mentioned above will work as well. There are 10 dollar blades out there, but they suck. Not knowing if your floor is ceramic or porcelain, you'd be best to get a good one as porcelain is a much harder material. Good luck.

Chop saw . But if you don't have very many and you own a bench grinder you can do them on it. It will also let you allow for any "bend " in the cabinets. Finished a lot of corners and weird places with one

jbyrd63, I imagine the floor tiles are already installed and he's looking to cut them in place without removing them.

Appreciate each of your replies. Wife wants them in by Thanksgiving. What about a woman that get new cabinets five days before trapping season opens??

Let her know she's on probation. Any woman good enough to have you in her life should know better.

Osky

Tell her this qualifies as a change order and it pushes it out 3 to 8 weeks. Let us know how that works out. It kept my kitchen remodel on schedule. LOL

X2 Much faster, less mess, and no chance of chipping or cracking the tile.

X2 if tile are already down. 1/4 inch plywood...

This^.

I would never cut the tile. Way too much work and too much risk of breaking a tile.

Assuming you can live with the extra height, just pad the floor under the cabinets with wood strips as has been said before.

If electrical outlets, a window, or something else is in the way and you can't live with the extra height, I would trim the cabinet base before I would trim the tile floor. A router would be a quick, easy, neat way to notch a rabbit in the front of the cabinet to go around the tile.

Trimming a tile with a masonry blade takes all of a few seconds. Even porcelain tile isn't that hard to trim.

a diamond wheel on a angle grinder they are about 20 dollars , work great , makes a fair amount of dust , wear a mask and hold the shop vac next to it to suck up all you can.

That's a great idea, especially since he only needs 1/16". Take 1/8", and should be GTG. Prob want to finish it with 1/4 round, anyway.