ceramic tiles with mosaic pattern

[brinkley]

hi i have an en suite to do on monday with ceramic tiles that look like mosaics question is last time i used this type of tile i grouted the face as well as the joints is that wrong or is it only the joints that need grouting

[merlecollins]

Depends on what the joints look like on the face of the tile - 99.9% of the time they are scribed back for you to grout as well as the main joints so that they all look the same

[ad tiling]

if its tiles from a diy shed just grout the joints
the same colour as the fake grout lines on the tile

[brinkley]

its for a builder so probably not from one of those well known tool sheds

[Phil Hobson]

Depends on what the joints look like on the face of the tile - 99.9% of the time they are scribed back for you to grout as well as the main joints so that they all look the same

I agree ,most of these tiles are meant to be grouted all over.

[brinkley]

thinking about it if the whole tiles not grouted the whole mosaic look is lost ok then should it also be brick bond god i hate these tiles

[merlecollins]

Make sure you use the right spacer peg to try and give the impression that all the joints are the same width

[united]

I have them in my bathroom (not my choice) they are grouted over all joints including the 'fake' joints.

[Phil Hobson]

thinking about it if the whole tiles not grouted the whole mosaic look is lost ok then should it also be brick bond god i hate these tiles

Imho they are a lazy persons mosaic, I prefer the real thing. But customer is always right as merle says get the joints right otherwise you will see each tile

[Prem Tiler]

worst job I ever did were these from b&q they were horid. left 1mm grout line and it was still 1mm wider than the fake ones. There a pain to nip too. Good luck buddy. alow lots of grouting time.

[whitebeam]

They are cheap and look the same IMO

[shogun rua]

i had one in my hand yesterday for 0.5 of a second looks terrible and yes i would grout the hole tile good luck

[Richard Edwards]

Hi Brinkley and Members of TF

Theres a real good trick to laying these single tile mosaics - To get the effect of proper mosaics so you cannot see the main joint lines in the tiles themeselves.

Never install them on a simple block pattern, ie one above the other with ' cross ' joints.
Always install them so that the joints are alway 'T' joints ie 'not one above the other' and try to randomise the spacing - ie position the next row of tiles so that the spacing above the joint is - say 5 mosaics to the left and 5 to the right, then the next row - set the spacing 4 to the left and 6 to the right.

I use window fitters packers - 1mm Green, and sometimes use non and occasional use 1 + the edge of another to achieve the result

Its a little more work but very much worth the effort as the results will look great.

Enclosed - Attached the sort of results that this method produces.

Hope this helps

[mikethetile]

ive stuck these and found them a pain to get the joint to match the joint on the tile

like prem i found the joint didnt match a peg size , If I remember right they were from focus

got there in the end

and yes grout all over the tile

[brinkley]

ive got the 1-5mm red wedges from tt they should do for the joints

[timeless john]

We were asked to use this type of tile last year.
I showed the customer the effect after grouting and advised them that it would look a DIY job. In the end we changed the tile as it looked cheap and nasty.
If you want mosaic go for the real thing!
Now looking at Richard Edwards bathroom using this type of tile I would have to admit that he has done a very good job!
So prehaps I just didn't like the colour/type of tile that we were asked to fix

[Richard Edwards]

Thank you for your positive comments John

That said - they weren't cheap - Porcelanosa's best so probably unfair to compare them with DIY shed stuff

[Prem Tiler]

well heres the ones I fixed. customer was happy with them I was ashamed to put my name to them. ok the lighting is bad coz its just a hand held spot but you can see they clearly show the grout lines. I used wedges but only inserted them the min. 0.5mm to 1mm topps!!

[mikethetile]

thats the problem I had prem, in fact the tiles look identical

I ended up butting them and just slipping bits of card in to adjust them, it didnt really work well and you could still make out the grid

[timeless john]

Thank you for your positive comments John

That said - they weren't cheap - Porcelanosa's best so probably unfair to compare them with DIY shed stuff

Okay - if they were Pocelanosa I can see why you've done a good job!
With a 1mm joint and quality tile you can get the joints to flow.
But some of these 30x30cm tile 'mosaics' should be banned they give tiling a bad name.
I would rather walk away from a job than fix that style tile ( wrong choice of word) and yet some bathroom showrooms a couple of years ago maintained they were good sellers!!!!!!!!!!!

[Richard Edwards]

Prem - See what you mean - thats not so good m8

I guess, as John says, its down to the quality of the tile.
Blimmy Riley, that is rough, 'as a badgers arse'
Once again I hear myself say - you only get what you pay for - Tiles I'm talking about.

Prem - If you had been given Porcelanosa tiles, or similar high end manufacturers tiles to install, the result would have been much much better.