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Do I need to grout?

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  • 22-12-2006 10:52am
    #1
    noby
    Registered Users Posts: 2,114 ✭✭✭


    I laid some 4" floor tiles in the hall lastnight (black and white), and butted them up against eachother, instead of leaving a gap. To me it suits the look better.
    So now is there any need to grout, or is there a different method I should use?


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    #2
    Avns1s
    Registered Users Posts: 3,422 ✭✭✭Avns1s


    It might look better but this is not the way to lay tiles. The grout performs a basic function of sealing the tiles and not allowing the water to penetrate to the backs of the tiles. You wont have this seal and your tiles may come away. Even if you do grout, there wont be enough to make the seal and hold firm for any length of time.


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    #3
    viking
    Registered Users Posts: 1,504 ✭✭✭viking


    No grout means no seal. Therefore if water gets between your tiles then the adhesive will eventually break down and its very likely you will find yourself with loose tiles.

    As Avns1s says, grouting now will probably not work as grout requires a minimum gap in order to dry and bond correctly otherwise it will just break away.

    I'm not sure if there's a quick solution to this... sorry. I know this is stating the obvious but you should have asked this question before you started laying the tiles, it took all of 4 minutes for Avns1s to reply to your post.


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    #4
    SonOfPerdition
    Registered Users Posts: 348 ✭✭SonOfPerdition


    i laid floor tiles about 4 months ago. It was quite a big job and half way through it i realised i had made a mistake. The tiles were slate and the error weasn't that obvious (out of line with each other).

    I knew it would take me 2 days to take up the problem tiles, clean them, clean the floor (this took the longest) and relay the tiles to fix my error. I contemplated leaving them as is and living with it.

    In the end i spent the two days rectifying the problem.

    Basically . .what i'm saying is now that you know you should take them up, lay them properly and then grout them . . it'll be a pain . . but do it.


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