The ceramic tiles on one end of the house are 3mm, the other end were 5mm but they agreed to change them to 3 but the wall tiles in the same room are 4mm??

the square edge have been laid so unless they pull them up which I doubt they will for a mm differnce, I’m just disappointed as I had an idea in my head after spending so long picking tiles....

What size tile have you used?

OK absolutely spot on with advise. An agreement is an agreement, and the job needs to be rectified. My best wishes in however this goes for you. Be firm.

Would you be able to post some photos of the tiling to show how it looks, can't understand a Pro getting things so screwed up with everything thats available to do the job. After planning your bathroom and to have it changed is so upsetting, photos and tile size will help us see what you are having to look at cheers

I think they’ve done a great job but the space it pestering me, maybe I’m being too fussy and had an unrealistic imagine in my head! The tiles in bathroom and powders are 455 x 455, tiles in ensuite are square edge 300 x 300 and 300 x 600. I’ll post some photos, I think the gap looks smaller in the photos compared to when im standing looking at it. I just know the builder will say 3-5mm is standard..... so I probably don’t have a leg to stand on

The grouting most likely was changed to suit the tiles different sizes?

I have a similar situation, though we just asked for minimal spacing with no exact specification. The spacing is over 4 mm in some areas, and we had a lot of tiles left over.

The grout seems impossible to keep clean. In my old bathroom I never cleaned the grout in 20 years. Does the spacing make a difference or is it just poor ventilation?

Also, we had asked for the tiles on the corner of the shower bench to be mitred. Can anyone tell me if putting a metal strip on the bench instead would be necessary or just a short cut?

Like Northstar, I'm disappointed after the effort to pick beautiful tiles.

Hi Cattie,

its very disappointing isn’t it, even after our latest discussion our other square edge tiles went in at 2mm but when I measure its 2.5, I can’t understand why I paid more for smaller grout spaces for them to be .5m difference between paying extra and not!

Sometimes they can use a sanded grout which isn’t smooth, I didn’t realise this until the tiler told me that there’s two types, the sanded one lasts longer he said, but when I googled it, it seems that it is coarse and traps dirt, I don’t know how true this is but maybe it might be something to do with the issue?

We had white grout in our last house and poor ventilation in the ensuite caused it to turn black in the shower ... but the grout in our kitchen was fine...

sorry im not much more of a help! I read that if the tiles are different sizes they will use a bigger gap to make them look even....

Here's some interesting reading. Hope you both find it helpful. Cheers!

https://www.thespruce.com/sanded-vs-unsanded-tile-grout-1822584

Cattie

I am not a tiler, however, I renovate bathrooms as a business

A times tilers have problems with walls, Your tiler can only tile to the wall lining/cement rendering he is given, were the walls plumb and square? Did you ask for the grout lines to match?, this does cause a problem, as Australian standards for grout width in floor tiles is different to that of wall tiles., Another problem is at times with the tiles, tiles vary in size an example 600 x 300 ceramic tiles can vary from 299 x 599 to 601 x 301, the less expensive the tiles usually the less quality control in their manufacture, there are a lot of cheap ceramic tiles 7 to 8 mm thick much cheaper than 9 to 10 mm on the market at the moment that are often of a very poor quality.

There are Australian Standards, ( Building Code of Australia ) for spacing between tiles, your State Dept of Fair Trading usually have acceptable tolerance publications

I agree. 3mm should be the max. size for gaps for grouting. Only have wide gaps on an outdoor porch for effect. I'd get him to retile it. He is trying to save time and tiles.

Thanks Steve and Ken. We didn't think of this. I'll look for the standard (it's unfortunate that the building standards are no longer available for free; we have had to find several standards to make our case for rectification). The tilers have already had to dig up and re-do the floor because it did not fall to the waste pipe!

Interesting question, but I would be asking the tiler the reason why he laid them so differently to what you engaged him for. Has he stuffed up, or is there a technical reason? I think a 5mm grout line for wall tiles sounds really ugly.

From the Beaumont Tiles website "

What grout spacing do I need between tiles?

We usually recommend between 3mm and 5mm for floor tiles and no less than 1.5mm for wall tiles. Grout spacers are a fantastic way to ensure your grout lines are level and even, and are available from all Beaumonts store.

http://www.beaumont-tiles.com.au/Tile-DIY-Info/How-To-Tile/FAQ

there is also a difference between ceramic and porcelain tiles - often these issues come down to a combination of (a) tile batch size/consistency (b) tiler's skill/capacity (c) communication in that if the tiler opens the tile box and he can't practically achieve what he thought he might because of the general discrepancies in size then they should at least speak to you before they start. So often with many issues in this game, it's about managing people's expectations and having open/honest discussions at the right time. When this breaks down, problems and disappointment is more likely to occur......so coming back to it, if you have high quality porcelain tiles that are millimetre perfect, square and flat then the capacity to lay them with minimal spacing is higher. Also the substrate/prep plays a part as if it's all out of whack and not perfectly straight/plumb/square then you'll be in all sorts trying to achieve the minimal tolerance detail.

Thanks again Steve and Ken. I have looked at the Fair Trading publication, which says that wall tiles should have up to 1.5 mm (if I am interpreting it correctly).

"Joint widths for wall tiles should not exceed 1.5 mm for pressed tiles and 6 mm
for extruded tiles (clause 5.4.6(c)(ii) of AS 3958.1)."

http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/biz_res/ftweb/pdfs/Tenants_and_home_owners/NSW_Guide_to_Standards_and_Tolerances.pdf

I'm Jan. The picture with all white bathroom tiles. It looks as if the grout is not flush with the tile on top. Correct me if I'm wrong. Otherwise it would look better. It looks like he used the max width too.

The Fair Trading document provides the answer to this too.

The top surface of the grout may be tooled to provide a contoured depression
of no deeper than 1 mm for up to 6 mm wide joint and up to 2 mm for a 6-10 mm
wide joint (clause 5.7(e) of AS 3958.1).

They certainly look minimal grout to me, Jo. Very beautiful reference pics. Best wishes.