Floor Tile With Small Grout Lines

Whether the tile is traditional ceramic porcelain or a quarry tile or natural stone it is critical that the seams between the tiles be adequately filled with a material that prevents moisture from seeping down to the underlayment to maintain this water proof quality all grout will need to be.

Floor tile with small grout lines.

If you re using small format tiles such as those 8 by 8 inches and smaller the tiles may come with built in lugs that make spacers unnecessary if you want a standard look tile installers recommend grout lines of 1 16 inch for walls and 1 8 inch for floors. If you prefer larger grout lines but have lugged tiles don t panic. For instance 8 inch slate tiles will usually look better with a slightly larger grout line. For small format tiles up to 8 inches by 8 inches the spaces between tiles will normally be either 1 32 or 1 16 inch.

A tight 1 8 grout space will allow the pattern to flow nicely from one tile to the next. A rectified edge allows for smaller grout lines because the tile has been more precisely cut unlike our other handmade tiles. For small format tiles that do not have lugs i will usually use 1 16 spacers. Small tiles such as the 4 inch by 4 inch style commonly used on bathroom and kitchen walls often are self spacing.

For regular format tiles between 12 by 12 and 16 by 16 inches you can stay with those measurements or go up to 3 16 depending on the. For small batches you can mix the grout with a wooden paint stir stick. First the smallest grout lines less than 1 8 inch are ideal for rectified tiles. Though it can be used in smaller grout lines just as well it s a lot easier to apply it to larger lines.

Grout lines for wall tiles. While there s no set standard for the width of grout lines between tiles certain commonly accepted practices prevail. In some cases sanded grout might not react positively with these materials as the sandy texture can scratch the tiles. Minimum grout lines the quick answer is nothing closer than 1 16.

All forms of ceramic tile use some type of grout to fill and seal the seams between the tiles. Mix unsanded tile grout with water in a bucket following the grout manufacturer s mixing instructions. The color of grout is also an important factor to complement the visual appeal of the tiles. They have small protrusions called lugs that fit against adjoining tiles and create an automatic space for grout normally 1 32 to 1 16 inch wide.

If you want to know why please keep reading. There is less irregularity with rectified tiles so less spacing is needed between each piece. Depending upon the texture and consistency of the tiles i may use 1 8 spacers on occasion. Rectified tiles are perfectly uniform with precisely defined edges requiring the least amount of grout.