Tiling Without Grout

[Alan M]

hi there
last year my mother and my neighbour went shopping and brought back tiles . both got the same tiles. they are about 12 " by 16" with a stone effect on them. . I fitted my mothers last year with a small grout line (1 mm I think could be more)
fast forward and my neighbour wants hers done next week.
problem is that she doesn't like the grout. she says its too noticeable. personally I don't think it is . you wouldn't notice. she wants me to fit them with no spacing between them,
I am trying to tell her it wont work but I think it might be easier to tell the grout line to disappear.

obviously its not a good idea but how bad would it come out .
im thinking that if the tiles are not 100% square then I will end up with dirty gaps

how do I get around this

alan

 

[Dan]

Hi Alan,

Not sure the British Standards has been updated to accommodate tiles that have no grout lines like some stone or porcelain, or if it ever will be (but I know some tiles are designed not to have grout lines in them these days - can somebody confirm?). But currently it states 2mm for walls minimum. 3mm for floors.

Not sure how one gets around this to be honest.

I do keep reading about tiles needing no grout lines.

 

[Spare Tool]

Mapie do 20 odd shades of grout surely one would blend in with the tiles better than yer mums..as Dan says minimum 3mm floor, 2mm walls

 

[Dan]

You say that but I do keep seeing threads mentioning no grout, experienced tilers writing it too! I just can't actually find one damn thread right now pmsl

Installing a new enhanced search through the night.

 

[Dan]

• Tiling with no grout !!!!!
• porcelain floor without grout gap????
• No grout in shower?????!!?
• Travertine Pavers with no grout
• marble stone tiles without grout?

Not sure if any of those are any good to you.

 

[Spare Tool]

Far as I'm aware it's only certain feature tiles and split faced that don't need grouting Dan..I've never butted a tile up, ever

 

[White Room]

Saw it done on a kitchen floor of all places and gaps all over, at least the food scraps had somewhere to go...

 

[Dan]

I'm sure I read somewhere the other day. Was it @DavidHoweTiling that said it? Doing a job with porcelain or stone or something and didn't need a grout?

 

[Alan M]

thanks guys.
I will get a pic of the tiles to show you

 

[AMC]

hi there
last year my mother and my neighbour went shopping and brought back tiles . both got the same tiles. they are about 12 " by 16" with a stone effect on them. . I fitted my mothers last year with a small grout line (1 mm I think could be more)
fast forward and my neighbour wants hers done next week.
problem is that she doesn't like the grout. she says its too noticeable. personally I don't think it is . you wouldn't notice. she wants me to fit them with no spacing between them,
I am trying to tell her it wont work but I think it might be easier to tell the grout line to disappear.

obviously its not a good idea but how bad would it come out .
im thinking that if the tiles are not 100% square then I will end up with dirty gaps

how do I get around this

alan

Hi , the porcelanosa rep here in Ireland was tellin me that all porcelanosa tilers are doin all the large formats without grout joints , butting them together , I'm headin over to there to Spain in September to the butech factory to see how it's done ( nice freebie from the rep)

 

[Dan]

Hi , the porcelanosa rep here in Ireland was tellin me that all porcelanosa tilers are doin all the large formats without grout joints , butting them together , I'm headin over to there to Spain in September to the butech factory to see how it's done ( nice freebie from the rep)

Get in!

See if you're allowed to take snaps.

 

[radim]

Hi , the porcelanosa rep here in Ireland was tellin me that all porcelanosa tilers are doin all the large formats without grout joints , butting them together , I'm headin over to there to Spain in September to the butech factory to see how it's done ( nice freebie from the rep)

houses in europe are made of solid concrete and brick therefore no movement and butted tiles are not a problem.
houses in Uk are wooden boxes with moving walls and suspended floors etc.with movement everywhere.

 

[AMC]

houses in europe are made of solid concrete and brick therefore no movement and butted tiles are not a problem.
houses in Uk are wooden boxes with moving walls and suspended floors etc.with movement everywhere.

Yeah , that's what I was sayin to the rep , you couldn't butt joint a 1000 x 315 tile in a bathroom , I think they'd either pop or crack

 

[AMC]

Get in!

See if you're allowed to take snaps.

Get in!

See if you're allowed to take snaps.

ill do my best

 

[radim]

i was in porcelanosa factory last year.very informative trip, they know their stuff.
a lot to see and lot to drink.......

 

[AMC]

i was in porcelanosa factory last year.very informative trip, they know their stuff.
a lot to see and lot to drink.......

Ha ha that's the bit I'm lookin forward too

 

[Just Rizzle]

did a bathroom some years ago with white marble the customer wanted no grout so put a very thin layer of silicone along the edge of the marble and squeezed the tile flat till the silicone sqeezed out client pleased with the results and have had no problems hes a personal friend but don't think will do it again

 

[Dan]

did a bathroom some years ago with white marble the customer wanted no grout so put a very thin layer of silicone along the edge of the marble and squeezed the tile flat till the silicone sqeezed out client pleased with the results and have had no problems hes a personal friend but don't think will do it again

That sounds like a right maul. I hope he bought the beers for a while for that.

I'm pretty good with a silicone gun (used to install UPVC windows) but even I'd end up stuck to the tiles after a hour or so.

 

[SJPurdy]

I always refused to butt joint the porcelanosa tiles and used a small spacer and they looked fine.
Porcelanosa (although one of the best makes IMO) are not that accurate on size that they can be fixed with very tight (1mm) joints anyway (otherwise you'll get some butted and some 2mm).
On BS isn't the minimum for wall tile joints 1mm not 2mm?

 

[Dan]

Apparently 2 for walls and 3 for floors.
Perhaps stand to be corrected?

 

[Rizzle from the Portizzle]

well the bs is so out dated it belongs in a museum. most cut and pasted from out dated info 15mm ply need i say more .it needs to be completely brought up to date and this time with a major input from the people who fix tiles not those with a vested intrested in selling prouducts to you .that you dont need .

now as for grout joints in the uk with our build its a must just like surspion on a car these allow for movement now what size they need to be depends on many factors .but 2mm on a wall will allow a fair bit of movement.and is a very tight joint .but how many manage to get a 2mm grout joint is as rear as an MP telling the truth .so why do 2mm grout joints all ways end up looking like 4mm joints
well its easy realy you use 2mm spacer pegs on tiles that have a 1.mm to 1.5mm slope to the back of the tile you then grout and end up with a 4mm to 5mm joint with a 2mm peg now next time measure
the face of the tile and the back of the tile you may just be very surprized the thicker the tile the more slope .if you want a real 2mm joint use wedges only so you can allow for slope i will never use spacer pegs .best place for them is the skip .

 

[Rizzle from the Portizzle]

now this would move me on to my next point so BS gives 2mm grout joint is this from the back or front of tile who nows .and so it goes on joke after joke
so whats the biggest joke
every trade who have to work by them 95% have never read them
so all these trades have to pay to know what they have to do. realy you could not make it up
well they pay a huge amount of tax every year .for what ? dont forget to pay for updates
well my guess would be so lawyers who do not have a clue about building backed up by BS who do not have a clue can sue at a drop of a hat any trade they want backed up by no nots

so whats the answer for us

1 all BS standards should be free to trades who pay tax on there trade

2 all updates should be free to trade

3 updates should have a 3 mouth challenge period by the trades before approved

4 all BS should have 70% working trade advice or not approved

so many on this gravy train and we have to pay realy why?

our trade bodys need bringing to account

but they are on there own gravy train and dont give a fck about us

 

[Dougs Third Go]

I think in the "real world" BS can stand for more than British Standards, We've all exceeded the the boundaries they've applied, maybe gone home with a guilty conscience for doing so and never heard a peep about anything untoward about the job for 20-30 years plus. But tiling without joints just seems wrong to me, capillary action and all that just makes me think that those joints need filling.

 

[Dan]

Who's responsible for getting the BS updated?

@Phil Hobson ?

Doesn't he do a bit with it via TTA?

Let's pester him for it lol

 

[White Room]

My missus used to work at BS in Hemel and she was on the window side of it and they have to be tested every year paid for by the window company and if they just could'nt afford it and then they went down the pan, people used ring up with the Kitemark number on the windows to make sure they were upto date.