Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Mar 16, 2011 9:36 am I've found a floor tile I like, it's a glazed ceramic tile, 450x450mm. I want narrow grout lines and the saleswoman told me these tiles could be laid 3mm apart. She said this was the same width recommended for rectified tiles, too. This sounds a little strange to me - why would people pay more for rectified if you wind up with the same grout line as with a cheaper ceramic tile? Anyway, my question is: can you lay glazed ceramic tiles, 450x450mm, with a grout line of 3mm between? Is it the sort of gap most tilers would be able to manage or is it asking a bit much? (The tiles will be laid on a concrete slab which is having the existing tiles - 90x195mm with 10mm grouting - removed) Any advice much appreciated! Re: Grout width between rectified and non-rectified tiles 2Mar 16, 2011 3:38 pm The width of a grout joint does not matter if a tile is rectificated or not. A rectified tile give you the illusion of a smaller joint as the grout ends up flush (well pretty much) with the tile surface. On a non recitified tile the joint seems larger because it is rebated in further to the begin of the cushion (radius) edge of the tile. But remember rectified tiles have very little tolerance on how they are laid. An exposed square edge is more noticeable then a cushioned edge. It is imperative you have a nice flat base to work on...remember little tolerance with these tiles.....thats why I not a big fan. Cheers Re: Grout width between rectified and non-rectified tiles 3Mar 16, 2011 4:08 pm Thanks Zedman, I'm definitely leaning towards the non-rectified tiles. Do you think a grout line of only 3mm wide is easily achieved with non-rectified or is this asking a lot of a tiler? I just don't want to get my hopes up and then find the grout lines are much wider than expected. Re: Grout width between rectified and non-rectified tiles 4Mar 16, 2011 5:07 pm Hi Pippi Long Stocking (yeah, one of my fav characters ) Anyway, don't know how true this is, or even if it helps you, but I think there are tile 'spacers' of different widths (or whatever the correct name is - the little plastic bits that tilers use before grouting to, I suppose, keep the same distance and possibly for some other functionality). If my understanding is correct, I can't figure how can they not achieve very similar spacing and a uniform grout width - whichever it may be specified by the client. Well, if they are consistent in using the spacers Also, an unrelated question. With rectified tiles, one salesman explained to me that 'rectified' means that the tiles are cut to the same size, effectivelly rectifying them from some size irregularities (therefore the term rectified). So, if tile sizes are truly rectified during production, how come they can still be different sizes and people end up with different grout widths in the same job, in order to compensate for size differences? Or did I not get reliable info here My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Thanks again for this information. If you do hear anything different, would be great to know 4 8242 Any structural alteration to your home requires building permit. Before you get it you will have to supply plans with structural assessment, you will also be removing… 2 4111 From a pure legal perspective, if you've signed the variation, it is a very high bar to have it set aside. No-one can give you legal advice on a forum, but you would need… 3 5477 |