I've seen the workmanship of a contractor and the grout lines are very thin and uniform, as thin as 1mm, whereas that of an ID is about 3mm. I'd love to go for the contractor but my ID warn that grout lines if too thin, the tiles cannot expand and contract and may have tiles popping up later. Is he telling the true?

The contractor, on the other hand, told me that nobody can achieve grout lines as thin as his and his is perfect tiling.

Can some expert please advise what should be the ideal grout lines in between homo tiles?

but with 3mm, the grout lines turning dirty over the years would be very obvious. I'm in a dilemma if I should go for the contractor who can achieve 1mm grout lines.

my contractor is who did my tiles has 1mm or less grout.

I think 3mm is REALLY ugly especially when the grout gets dirty. Why will the tiles expand and contract??? temperature changes?? Singapore got no winter leh.

I've seen the workmanship of a contractor and the grout lines are very thin and uniform, as thin as 1mm, whereas that of an ID is about 3mm. I'd love to go for the contractor but my ID warn that grout lines if too thin, the tiles cannot expand and contract and may have tiles popping up later. Is he telling the true?

The contractor, on the other hand, told me that nobody can achieve grout lines as thin as his and his is perfect tiling.

Can some expert please advise what should be the ideal grout lines in between homo tiles?

Homo/ceramic tiles tend to have slight "slant" at edges, when put togethers and plaster over then grout lines become 3mm or so. Granite & marble is perfect L-shaped at edges, therefore grount lines can be as small as 1mm.

Tiles are not metals and within home should not sudject to sunlight/rain, etc ie, temperature variation is not much. Expansion & contraction are not really cause an issue, however, is with poor cement mix - usually too less cement & dried, would cause tiles to pop out in time.

Edited April 21, 201016 yr by bepgof

All tiles have a specification like this.. Water Absorption 0.19%

If tiles become wet, will bloat up a bit. If hot weather, will shrink.

Cement takes ard 10 days to fully cure/ dry out. Imagine the glue behind the tile is shrinking and u dun know the direction of the shrinkage.

Homo tile suppose to have the lowest water absorption figure.

Whether is 1mm or 3mm is subjective. If like in aircon room (Hotel/ showroom) all the time, then 1mm also no problem.

I prefer to be kiasu.. cos if use 1mm, and got crack problem, it will not just be 1 tile, but an entire wall.

I saw my contractor using roller, applying a thin layer of watery transaprent "chemical" on both sides of granite tile (600x600mm) & let dry before laying. Anyone can enlighten me what is that "chemical"?

Edited April 21, 201016 yr by bepgof

I saw my contractor using roller, applying a thin layer of watery transaprent "chemical" on both sides of granite tile (600x600mm) & let dry before laying. Anyone can enlighten me what is that "chemical"?

Click on the links related to "Stone Sealer", ie 630 or 117.

http://www.quicseal.com/www%20-%20proposal...ve%20system.htm

The dark gray granite floor at kopitiam at Plaza Sing level 6.. is what this sealer is trying to avoid. Moisture patches!