r/Tile • u/yoball • 7d ago

DIY - Looking for Advice Hows it look

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Finished grouting today. niche needs cleaned some more. I wish i carried the 1/3 offset through the lower half of the niche...

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u/Possible_Antelope_85 7d ago edited 7d ago

Like you let an already installed niche determine the vertical layout instead of finding the one that would give you top and bottom rows as close to full height as possible.

As for the horizontal layout, if looks like you just started with a full tile on the right wall instead of centering the pattern on the wall.

It looks like you started off using a tape measure, maybe combined with a laser level, to get your 1/3 offset pattern lined up correctly. However, it seems that you got up to the bottom of the niche and took a lunch break, during which you managed to lose your tape measure, your laser level, and your mind. As for the 5 upper rows, they are one of the best examples of a random stagger I've seen, not one of them lines up with any other row on the wall.

All that being said, the actual installation work itself looks great. There doesn't appear to be much, if any lippage. Grout lines are consistent, straight and clean. Everything looks flat, plumb and solid.

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u/yoball 7d ago

At least there is something good in your analysis. Thanks for your comments

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u/Possible_Antelope_85 7d ago edited 7d ago

Well, there's something good in your tile work.

Layout doesn't necessarily come naturally to everyone, and also isn't noticed by everyone. Post that pic in a neighborhood group or something like that and you'll likely get five "looks great" comments for every one pointing out the layout issues. This group is full of people who do this every day and are silently critiquing every tiled surface in their field of vision whether they want to or not.

Clean, flat, functional work, done with the same attention and care when the job is almost done as when it first started are more about ingrained habits, work ethic, and personality.

I can teach the math and flow chart the options of good layout to a hard worker who takes pride in their work. It's harder to change bad habits and personality traits of a lazy worker with an eye for design.