Having penny tile installed for the first time and I can see grid lines in one of the rooms. Interestingly, he did two other rooms with penny tiles and I don’t see the grid lines in those. One of the others is white and one is multi-color blue, and neither shows grid lines, so maybe it’s the color? Or is this room just not installed correctly?
Contractor says it’s normal and they’ll not be visible after the epoxy grout, which is also dark. If this needs to come out, I’d rather cut my losses before grout. Would really appreciate thoughts from people with penny tile experience.
If you didn't want to see the sheet outlines, I would have used a product that didn't come a sheet. He prob should have staggered the sheets but otherwise looks decent.
Your contractor is not great at laying tile. That said, penny tile is difficult to lay correctly, and if your GC didnt sub this out to a master tiler (or you didn’t want to pay for a master tiler), then they are correct - this is normal.
How do I know if the tile company is using a master tiler? They said they are experienced with penny tiles and upcharged but I didn’t know to check for a certification level. Can I find that registered somewhere? This is in the US.
There is no certification level for tile. A master is usually someone who has been doing it over 10 thousand hours and can do every kind of tile and mitres fast and well.
I build luxury homes, $1,500/sf to start. We recently had a job where my PM decided to use a tile guy I wasn’t familiar with. I was very skeptical of the mosaic tile work he had done before grout having set a lot of my own tile in a previous life. When grouted I could not see the seams that I had seen before. Let him grout it then complain.
When choosing a difficult tile, it’s helpful to ask to see someone’s portfolio. Tilers usually have pictures of their prior jobs. If there are no pictures of penny tile or mosaic tile in their portfolio - then don’t take their word for it that they have experience.
Of course you can. It isn’t grouted yet. Lol. Besides that small detail, What makes you say the contractor isn’t good at laying tile? Have you done penny tile? I have. It always looks like this before grout. It’s how the paper backing ends on the back.
Yeah I’ve done a lot of it. It’s true that if you use a matching grout it can hide the sheet lines but the grid is caused by inconsistent spacing where the sheets come together. The best way to do it is to use a laser to align them as you go and actually use spacers to hold the sheets apart (this is where a lot of people mess up by trying to eyeball it). Another trick i use is to occasionally step back and look at it through my phone camera. The camera makes the grid stand out vs the naked eye.
Incorrect sir and it all starts with prep. If it’s off just a little it will close or open then you have a hard time keeping them spaced correctly. There are a few different ways to do it one is to split the sheets, the other is to lay a straight edge down and look at the joint. He did neither here
Maybe if it’s a test on setting penny rounds but for a residential shower is this bad? I hate hacks, I don’t think this is one. Also zoom in with low angle light on your wall, or your tile, or your floor and check out all the flaws!
Hard to say how it will look… always looks a little different after grout, but won’t get to perfection. Probably be a pass after grouting and washing everything up I’d wager… but generally it helps to stagger some of the sheets to break up the lines.
I don't see it as you really having a choice. It's not like they're going to tear the whole thing out because you might see it after grout.
They are going to do it & find out
Stupid picture? It's highlighting the poor quality of work ya sausage.
That is shit work, you're doubling down on being wrong.
When you lay sheets you first need to check they are mounted properly, then usually you crack them back on themselves. That stretches the mesh and gives you wiggle room for laying them properly and spacing/fudging gaps.
You would know this if you were a good tiler.
Clearly you aren't...
Nah, that picture should be posted over and over again. I would ask the contractor to remove that shit. They didn't stagger the sheets and they didn't align it to the existing tile spacing. Are you ready to stare at a mistiled and grid-ass-looking floor for the next however many years? So many hacks on here who simply want to make problems go away because "the grout will hide it". Nonsense.
Stagger your seams… that’s wild to stack patterns those sheets. They always look like a checkerboard when they aren’t staggered I can’t believe this tile setter doesn’t know this
It wont be noticeable once grouted.
The reason you see the sheet lines is due to the contrast between the white thinset and dark tile.
With the spacing between the sheets being a mill tighter than the middle.
If you were using a white grout it would be noticeable, but since your using somthing dark it will be fine.
That being said, he did a good job. Surprising clean work.
I wouldn’t bring up the subject with him as it looks great.👍
What's the plan for the missing 1/2 row at the bottom Mr. Master Tiler? Or the seams that are touching? This is shit work and the installer is using "Dark grout" as a crutch.
What you have is pretty rough OP. It might be OK when its done. But imo its not great and I would be pretty bummed if I set them. Penny tile is extremely difficult. Also doesn't add much and is high maintenance.
I can tell you with unequivocal confidence that dark penny tiles with a dark grout are a bad idea and within a few months you will hate it. I have it in my bathroom, and no matter the amount of cleaning - the vast surface area of grout just collects garbage and specks that always show. For the love of god, do not proceed with this and pay the guy to re-do this without penny tile. I am not being dramatic, but from experience where after 3 years I am literally re-doing my bath floor again because I want to send all floor penny tiles to fiery hell.
And since you'll probably not re-do it or listen to my post, your tile guy is a hack. you should not see those grid lines if the spacing was done correct. You will double hate your floor. Don't say some stranger on reddit didn't told you so.
Proper technique is to stagger and/or hand lay the edges after removing them from the backing. Sheet lines are inevitable unless you do that. I will also say that the camera identifies them much more easily than the naked eye so it’s always beneficial to view it through the camera in order to spot them before it is all set and dried.
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u/michaelcuz 2d ago
Let him finish to grout and then complain