I want to put up a wainscoting of slate tile about 3 feet high on one
wall in my TV room.Because of the "look", I'd like to install the tiles
with the edges butting up to each other instead of having a grout line
between.

Can this be done or is the grout necessary for strength or?

Any drawbacks with doing this?

Willi

Willi wrote:

I want to put up a wainscoting of slate tile about 3 feet high on one
wall in my TV room.Because of the "look", I'd like to install the tiles
with the edges butting up to each other instead of having a grout line
between.

Can this be done or is the grout necessary for strength or?

Yes/No...grout is only cosmetic, not structural...

Any drawbacks with doing this?

Not if you want the open look...

Slate is often uneven in thickness and you may need the grout to make up the
difference in surface texture or edge imperfections. If you can find slate
with uniform thickness and perfect edges you should be able to butt it up as
close as you want. Make sure to use a strong cement backer board and
polymer modified thinset for maximum strength (slate is heavy). You still
may need to use a very thin grout line.

I recently did a slate foyer floor and chose a grout that was on average the
same grey as the tiles but later decided that a darker grey would have been
nicer to set off my pattern. I took weeks to decide on a grout color.



"Willi" wrote in message
...
I want to put up a wainscoting of slate tile about 3 feet high on one
wall in my TV room.Because of the "look", I'd like to install the tiles
with the edges butting up to each other instead of having a grout line
between.

Can this be done or is the grout necessary for strength or?

Any drawbacks with doing this?

Willi

On Wed, 02 Mar 2005 08:59:16 -0700, Willi wrote:

I want to put up a wainscoting of slate tile about 3 feet high on one
wall in my TV room.Because of the "look", I'd like to install the tiles
with the edges butting up to each other instead of having a grout line
between.

Can this be done or is the grout necessary for strength or?

The grout's just cosmetic. You'll want to get polished slate though
because slate doesn't usually have a uniform thickness, which grout
helps to conceal. The only problem I can see is that it might make
the wall look a bit like a blackboard. But that could be a nice look
too.

Steve Manes
Brooklyn, NY
http://www.magpie.com/house/bbs