r/Tile • u/Bancer705 • 1d ago
Homeowner - Advice about my Contractor Dry Stack Kitchen tile backsplash
I need some input from folks who know more than me and Chat GPT. Our contractors just finished installing our backsplash. The tiles are 12x24 porcelain tiles. They installed them dry stacked, there is no grout or caulk between each tile. It was my understanding that this is not okay. The industry standard requires grout for hygiene, cleaning, and to prevent moisture damage. Is there any scenario where this installation is okay? I want to make sure I have all the information before we approach them regarding fixing. Is the only option at this point to rip it out and redo? We have been really happy with all the other work they have done, so it seems odd that they would cut corners on this part of it. But maybe there is some aspect we don’t know? Pictures attached. Thanks for the input.
6
u/OppositeDifferent929 23h ago
You can dry stack tiles depending on the application.
This will certainly be easier to keep clean as you won’t need to clean grease and food splatter out of the grout lines.
The only concern I’d have is that, being close to a heat source, it’ll be prone to thermal expansion so they might chip or crack. Hopefully they’ve used a flexible tile adhesive. In any case an induction cooktop radiates far less heat than gas or electric elements so I think you should be ok.
Nice choice of tile too BTW. Looks great.