Grout Gap For Wall Tiles

If insufficient force is used while grouting wall tile it is easy to bridge the joint where the grout does not penetrate to the back of the joint.

Grout gap for wall tiles.

Grout lines for wall tiles small tiles such as the 4 inch by 4 inch style commonly used on bathroom and kitchen walls often are self spacing. Note that using the smallest grout possible will increase installation time. The tile council of north america recommends at least a quarter inch gap between the tile floor and the walls. Until very recently tiles needed to be installed with a minimum of a 1 16 inch grout joint.

Finished grout lines will vary from 1 16 to 3 16. Let s talk about grout size options. This is especially true if sanded grout is used in joints narrower than 1 8. Instead fill it with an elastic material capable of sustaining the movement of the floor and the movement of the wall.

This joint was required not only to help seal out moisture but to prevent damage from tiles rubbing against one another and to make up for uneven tile sizes. Had an absolute nightmare with mapei s large gap grout i found it too creamy and it was just slipping down the wall had to have it almost at a powder before i could keep it in the gaps. This most often occurs with wall tile. Never fill this gap with grout because tile grout is not flexible.

Grout that is insufficiently packed into the joint. I ve just grouted 6sq m of hand made wall tiles with roughtly about 10mm grout gaps. Tcna recommends a minimum 1 8 grout joint for rectified tile and minimum 3 16 grout joint for calibrated tile. They also suggest adding to this width the amount of edge warping on the longest edge.

If smaller spacers like 1 8 are used it will accentuate the size difference of handmade tile. 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. All ceramic and stone large format tile greater than 15 requires a minimum 1 16 grout joint according to ansi. For example if the edge warping of a rectified tile is 1 32 the minimum grout joint is 1 8 1 32 5 32.

Actual finished grout spaces will vary from 1 8 to 1 4 if 3 16 spacers are used.