Recommended Tile Spacing For Floor

Once the tile mortar sets the installer can remove the spacers but cannot change the spacing.

Recommended tile spacing for floor.

A rectified tile is one which is cut or manufactured to a precise measured size. Normally the lugs will create grout lines that are 1 32 to 1 16 of an inch. When installing wall and floor tiles technicians place plastic spacers between each one to ensure the lines remain uniform. Common practice is 2 3mm for wall tiles and 3 5mm for floor tiles.

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 tile and the look you want. Actual finished grout spaces will vary from 1 8 to 1 4 if 3 16 spacers are used. For small format tiles that do not have lugs i will usually use 1 16 spacers. Use bal wide joint grout it s a little thinner than some of the other wide joints.

In your tiling project you ll need to choose proper tile spacers including 1 8 spacers and 3 16 spacers. The coach explains how to use the spacers and how. Taking british standards into consideration as well as common practice it is recommended that wall spacers are 2 3mm with 2mm covering the majority of requirements and floor spacers 3 5mm. Finished grout lines will vary from 1 16 to 3 16.

Floor grout specification starts at 3mm 2mm is cutting it fine but if it s a nice and solid floor it should be okay with a slightly sloppy grout mix. Choosing correctly before installation is paramount. For instance 8 inch slate tiles will usually look better with a slightly larger grout line. If smaller spacers like 1 8 are used it will accentuate the size difference of handmade tile.

Two inch tiles are factory spaced and sheet mounted. The key difference in tile type in relation to grout lines is whether you tile is rectified or not. Four inch tiles called 4 and a quarter in the tile trade feature built in self fitting nubs that give the tiles spacing between 1 16 and 1 8 inch wide. Note that using the smallest grout possible will increase installation time.

Depending upon the texture and consistency of the tiles i may use 1 8 spacers on occasion. Therefore the spacing is predetermined and usually averages 3 16 to 1 4 inch.