Unpopular opinion: I was at a friend's house in Denver and saw a 'perfect' tile job that changed my mind about grout lines.

He had just finished his kitchen backsplash with those large subway tiles, and the grout lines were a tight 1/16 inch. Everyone was saying how clean it looked. But a year later, I was helping him fix a leak under the sink and saw the whole wall had shifted. The tiles had no room to move, so several had cracked along the edges. I always use a 3/16 inch line now for a little give. Has anyone else had a tile job fail because the lines were too small?

3 comments

3 Comments

hannahm3912d agoMost Upvoted

So when you saw the cracked tiles, was it just the grout that failed or did the tiles themselves actually split? I'm trying to picture if the stress made the whole tile snap or if it just pushed the grout out.

the_faith13d ago

My first DIY tile job in my old apartment bathroom looked amazing for about six months. I used those tiny spacers and felt like a pro, until the whole corner by the shower started popping and cracking. Learned the hard way that houses actually move and breathe, who knew. Now I leave a decent gap and call it a design choice to hide my fear.

emmawood12d ago

Maybe it's just me but I've never had tiles actually crack from movement. Usually the grout just crumbles out first.