70m2 extension grout colour/spacing advice - 75cmx75cm tiles

6 years ago

Hi,

Just about to get our rear extension tiled and unsure about a few points and looking for some advice.

The tiles are rectified 75x75 non-gloss finish, pictures below.

1. What spacing should we aim for between the tiles? small as possible I would have thought?

2. The extension is our family lounge, dining and kitchen. So what grout colour should we aim to go for which will be more effective of hiding dirt? Conscious of iit being high traffic area.

3, Any useful tips?

The extension:

The tile:

Thanks in advance!

Featured Answer

PRO

The London Tile Co.

6 years ago

I think Sand or Med. Grey would work best

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Comments (23)

A S
6 years ago
Hi
The tile colours on my device are coming up as 2 different colours, ones showing up as a beige / stone colour and the other as grey.

With the grey I'd definitely go for a dark grey grey grout. with the creamy one, I'd try to keep the grout colour similar to the tile or one or two notches darker, I'm not sure a dark brown will work.
parmsuk thanked A S
parmsuk
Original Author
6 years ago
Yes, 1st picture is one taken from my phone and the 2nd one is from the brochure. Must admit, the brochure pictures does not really reflect the true colour well. Its more of a light grey tile with hints of beige.
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A S
6 years ago
Well if it is grey I'd go for a dark grey grout.

No doubt, if it's a high traffic area, a lighter grout will end up discolouring over time.

We opted for a dark brown with our wood effect tiles as the space was high traffic and we've found this to be the best option.
parmsuk thanked A S
Juliet Docherty
6 years ago
Go for the smallest joints possible, if they are rectified you should be able to go very small. Take the tile to a good tilers and ask to see all of the grout colours, they will have kits that they open and allow you to see them. BAL is a very reliable make with few issues. Bal limestone is a great colour but make sure you obsess over this as bad grout decisions are common. I would pick out the darkest tone in the tile.
parmsuk thanked Juliet Docherty
PRO
The London Tile Co.
6 years ago
Agree with colourhappy - rectified tiles allow you to have a narrow joint which will give a sleek and modern look. Go for a grey grout as it will not show dirt as much and will go with your tiles.
Mark Riches
6 years ago
It's a big room.

I'd make sure I put in an expansion joint.

I've got friends who didn't and whose tiles popped up.

I did and have had no problem.
parmsuk thanked Mark Riches
PRO
User
6 years ago
Hi,

I agree with the grout spacers set at minimum, tilers as a rule don't like this as its harder to do but worth the effort.

I would use a dark grey grout as it hides the build up of dirt, make sure you specify a waterproof grout as it stops water ingress and helps to prevent staining.

I think from the photo your floor is concrete ?......this is good as there will be very little flex. If there is flex you need to put down anti crack matting.

You should definitely consider an expansion strip. (Brushed steel)

If your using underfloor heating ensure you mark out anything that needs drilling into the floor, furniture, uplighter, door stops etc.... ensure they don't put heating cables in the marked areas.

You would be amazed how many jobs I have been on where they don't do this and they drill through a cable. (A very expensive mistake.)

Have you considered using tile strips with a metal top edge as skirting, looks really modern and is very practical..

In like your black window frames, very cool..

Hope that helps,

Martin
parmsuk thanked User
parmsuk
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Thanks all, below are the 3 dark colour grouts that pick out we feel some of the darker tints the random pattern tile. See pictures below:

So any opinions on which one???

Floor tiles progress:

In sequence if cannot see the fonts (top to bottom)

Anthracite

Volcano

Mud

Oh, and just for being maybe a bit silly, but here are them against our kitchen worktop (HAHA...don't laugh)

2mm grout lines (even though he did mention BS says 3mm?) but he is happy to go with that and says it will look better. He will install a expansion joint as well, but this was in the door way into another room?

Also to answer the type of floor, its a liquid screed that taken nearly 7 months to dry (don't ask!)...but moisture level is low enough as per recommendations.

Thanks in advance.
Daisy England
6 years ago
Difficult call but not Volcano as that's really dark. Either of the other two.
parmsuk thanked Daisy England
Juliet Docherty
6 years ago
I think they are all a bit too dark. Is there another option of a slightly paler one?
parmsuk thanked Juliet Docherty
parmsuk
Original Author
6 years ago
Hi,

I've uploaded two more pictures, depending on area of room gives different colour shade. I've picked out 4 lighter shades...

What do you think?
A S
6 years ago
sand or medium Grey

we used silver grey or medium grey (not too sure which one, pretty sure it was silver grey though) in our bathroom with plain white and white patterned tiles and it does look darker in person than on the samples but creates a lovely contrast.
parmsuk thanked A S
Juliet Docherty
6 years ago
Much better. Sand or medium grey.
parmsuk thanked Juliet Docherty
parmsuk
Original Author
6 years ago
Thats the other issue I was thinking...will it dry lighter or darker!!. Thanks for your opinions so far really helps. Such a large space so don't want to get it wrong. Also, the tiles have some lovely detail so don't want to distract to much from that, feel that darker grout we originally were looking at will just do that, These are shades lighter (medium).
Juliet Docherty
6 years ago
I wouldn't take any chance. For the price of a small bag of grout, buy it, mix a bit up and smear it on the tile. It's the only way to be sure.
parmsuk thanked Juliet Docherty
A S
6 years ago
I definitely agree, get a small bag and test it out...alternatively, if you are using a tiler, he'll probably have some left over from previous work which you can get him to test up for you. Grouting is the final job so it wouldn't delay the process of laying.

Here's what silver grey (most likely is) looks like put next to Matt white tiles
parmsuk thanked A S
PRO
J C Tiling
6 years ago
Hi

If i were fitting these tiles i would recommend a 2mm grout joint and also use Kerakoll Fugalite Liquid Ceramic Grout. It comes in a range of colours that you can complement these tiles with and also it has the added benefit of being stainproof so is perfect for high traffic areas.
parmsuk
Original Author
6 years ago
Okay, appreciate the advice given so far. Went to the local tile shop with medium grey and sand grout samples and found that sand was a different shade to the sample in the shop. After taking newer samples out it looks to be my tiler samples had discoloured. So in the end sand was much browner than I wanted. Below is medium grey and also a lighter version (manhattan). Also size of the job. Now wondering if I should go lighter?
A S
6 years ago
I think both colours would work well. The lighter colour fades into the background of the tile whilst the darker colour sort of lifts the veins in the tile. Just to put my mind at rest out of fear of discolouration, I would personally opt for the darker shade.
Victoria
6 years ago
I like the medium grey. Do you have UFH? It's just I don't see any radiators but also I don't see decoupling matting under the tiles and that's normally recommended to allow movement and prevent cracking.
parmsuk
Original Author
6 years ago
Yes, we have water based UFH which as been covered in liquid screed and not sand cement. It's been lightly sanded down to get rid of the shiny finish after being dried for over 6 months. Take on board of using a lighter colour to be in the background and slightly darker one to pick out details of the tile. Thanks for everyone's input so far.
PRO
J C Tiling
6 years ago
Sounds like anhydrite screed, hence the long drying time. If it's been sealed right and the right adhesive used you'll be fine. Go for Fugalite tho!!