oops double posted. erasing this one.

This post was edited by kompy on Tue, Aug 6, 13 at 13:03

Did you specify grout thickness? That seems to be thicker than what is usually asked for. Thicker grout lines need sanded grout....I thought. I am not a tile pro.

The grout looks sloppy too.

How does it look overall with the tops and cabinets?

I would not be happy with that installation or grout thickness. I would have that re-done.

Here is a link that might be useful: tips

How big are the tiles? It looks like they are probably pretty small. Grout does shrink a little when it drys, but this looks like it probably wasn't pushed into the voids enough.

Looks like the joints are too large for unsanded grout and sanded should have been used. Sand is what gives it "body" and keeps it from shrinking so much.

Did you specify 1/3 offset or 1/2 offset for the layout? I agree about the grout. Did you sign off on a sample board?

If the joints are larger than 1/8", sanded grout should have been used.

I thought sanded grout shouldn't be used with glass tile because of the scratch potential. Thus the grout lines need to be narrow enough for nonsanded. Plus narrow lines have a more contemporary look, as does glass, says me pretending like I know what I'm talking about. :p

Our tile guy used a mix of sanded and unsanded grout for our glass mosaic tile backsplash (I might have the proportion written down somewhere if you need me to look). I know they were very careful when grouting and there are no scratches on the glass (tile).

Here's my bs where he used unsanded grout. He had to go over it several days later since the grout shrunk a bit and a few pits formed. He just put in some extra grout with his finger in all the places where it looked like it needed it. They waited a few more days and then sealed it.

Hopefully they'll come back and fill it in in places where it's shrunk.

Good luck, it's lovely!

I also keep reading unsanded for glass tiles.
I think your grout goes beautifully with your tile, if it's any help.
Maybe let it dry then pick up some Haze to carefully use on the little bits on the tile. Carefully.

Step away from the tile and take a long look. As long as the grout lines match up, I'd be happy.

(Simply because my ex-POC didn't care about that in 1/2 of the shower he did. Makes me crazy.)

Could you post a longer shot so we can see the whole wall with the tile?

Thank you for your help. The tiles are 1x3 glass with a 1/8 inch joints that came on a sheet. I really wish I had the GC do a sample board but had used him before and loved his work on glass tile. The joints look much larger now with grout. Is there any way to fix this?. GC said he would add more grout to voids but am worried it will look even worse. I should add he did my 13ft backsplash in 2.5 hours, start to finish
GC said it looks fine and any imperfections are due to tile. Any all advice is appreciated.

It does not look "fine" to me either. The puckering grout would not be the tile. Not sure about the edges.

Curious how much he charged you, if you don't mind sharing. There was a discussion on this recently.

Here is a wider shot. Sanjuangrl: beautiful tile work! Snookums2: the tiling was part of a larger project so I am not certain how much was aligned to backsplash work. Thanks.

It's hard to tell from the tight angle, can you post a wider shot?

To me, it doesn't look like the grout is puckering, it just looks like shadows cast where the glass tiles are slightly wavy. My glass tiles are wavy and my grout looks like that if you put your face up right up to it like in your close shot, but standing back it's not noticeable at all.

Are your tiles in fact uneven or are they perfectly flat? If they are uneven tiles then I think the job looks great. If they are perfectly flat tiles then I'd have him back to add some grout like sanjuangirl's guy did.

It looks pretty from farther back. Maybe you can get him to come and touch it up a bit?

mdwstgrl, what a pretty tile! I don't notice any imperfections from the wide shot, but if the grout is shrinking I'd get him to touch it up. Nice looking splash!

Looks great with a wider shot. I would ask them to come back and touch up the areas of concern.

Pretty kitchen!

Agree, looks much better on the long shot! The close up made it look like huge, 1/2" grout joints. Sometimes we zoom in and dwell on the smallest details, when we just need to stand back and look at the big picture...very pretty backsplash. Now I'll add my two cents - consider the Lutron "Claro" screwless switch plate covers, they look so clean, especially in the kitchen...

I love it! Just have them clean the grout off the tiles and fill in the gaps. It looks beautiful with your counters!

Backsplashes are tough as many on this forum know. Good job getting a great one!!

Thank you everyone. I do love the tile, I have had it pinned up in our kitchen for over a year. It was hard to find something to go with our Verde Butterfly granite. We are going to have the backsplash skimmed with more grout to fill in all the voids. I will check out the Claro switch plate covers too!!

ooo! I was right.
Stepping back and looking at the whole picture is sooo different.

I think it's beautiful.