Floor Tile With Small Grout Lines

Rectified tiles are perfectly uniform with precisely defined edges requiring the least amount of grout.

Floor tile with small grout lines.

When re modeling floors bathroom or a kitchen almost everybody wants to have the minimum grout lines between their tiles. The color of grout is also an important factor to complement the visual appeal of the tiles. Small tiles such as the 4 inch by 4 inch style commonly used on bathroom and kitchen walls often are self spacing. While there s no set standard for the width of grout lines between tiles certain commonly accepted practices prevail.

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. 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. Minimum grout lines the quick answer is nothing closer than 1 16. A tight 1 8 grout space will allow the pattern to flow nicely from one tile to the next.

Depending upon the texture and consistency of the tiles i may use 1 8 spacers on occasion. However with sanded grout you also need to pay attention to the type of tile material you re using. 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.

Grout lines for wall tiles. Mix unsanded tile grout with water in a bucket following the grout manufacturer s mixing instructions. 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. In some cases sanded grout might not react positively with these materials as the sandy texture can scratch the tiles.

If you prefer larger grout lines but have lugged tiles don t panic. All forms of ceramic tile use some type of grout to fill and seal the seams between the tiles. First the smallest grout lines less than 1 8 inch are ideal for rectified tiles. A rectified edge allows for smaller grout lines because the tile has been more precisely cut unlike our other handmade tiles.

For small batches you can mix the grout with a wooden paint stir stick. For small format tiles that do not have lugs i will usually use 1 16 spacers. There is less irregularity with rectified tiles so less spacing is needed between each piece. If you want to know why please keep reading.