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sapphireriver

Moroccan Tile Backsplash Uneven Spacing

sapphireriver
10 years ago

I posted this in kitchens too, but thought that more tile people might be in this forum.

I had a moroccan tile backsplash installed in my kitchen on Monday. It is this tile on 12x12 mesh backed sheets from Overstock. The spacing between the tile is very uneven and very wide in some areas. He showed several sheets of the tile laid together on the floor before he installed them and asked if the spacing was okay. The spacing was a little uneven, but not a lot so I said it was okay. Now that it's installed, there are some areas with really wide grout lines that stand out a lot that weren't like what he showed me before he installed the tile. You can see it in the middle of the photo below. I asked about it and the tile installer said it was because the tile wasn't laid out evenly on the mesh backing.

I read through the reviews on Overstock and some people were talking about their installers using spacers while installing the tile. I didn't see him use any. Should he have? Is it the fault of the sheets of tiles not matching up well that there are some really large grout lines? Could he have fixed this during the installation? Also while reading the reviews, people talked about it taking a long time for their installers to put up. My installer had it all up on the wall, but not grouted, in four hours. It was 36 sq ft of tile that was installed. Did I get a rush job?

The photo below shows the finished backsplash with the dark gray grout that I chose.

Comment (1)

  • divotdiva2
    10 years ago

    if it were uneven on the mesh backing, there is nothing stopping the installer from cutting the mesh with a utility blade and re-aligning a few tiles to even them out. You wouldn't want to do that for the whole sheet but I can see three or four where the spacing could definitely been better orientated.

    My installer took all of the trim (on mesh sheets) and laid them out on a perfectly flat surface upside-down and applied a thin coat of mortar and let it dry, to stiffen them. Then when he is hanging them on the wall, they aren't flopping around. From your photo, it looks like these may have "drooped" during installation causing those larger gaps.

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