Significance of Offset on Tile Flooring

Offsets are crucial especially when you are installing extra large format tiles or elongated tiles (which are also known as planks or plank tiles). These are the most common tiles these days, and there are chances that you will find only these tiles at your nearby tile shop.

These tiles require a special tiling technique as they are thicker in the middle and thinner towards the edges. So, you will need to be careful while applying thin set on subfloor and tile back. Otherwise, there will be lippage issue on your tile flooring.

By choosing a different tiling pattern (which is - up to 30% offset) you can avoid lippage on your floor. It won’t affect the overall look of your floor pattern much.

Do not choose 50% lippage.

With 50% offset, there will be lippage all over the floor. A tile floor with lippage does not have a uniform surface. But when you place tiles in a maximum of 33% offset pattern, you will be able to manage lippage and fix the unevenness on your floor.

Avoid narrow joints.

If you are choosing elongated tiles (with not a perfect flat base) for your flooring, then you should avoid narrow joints.

Most important, the space between tiles should be same throughout the layout.

To hide the joints or grout lines, you can consider matching the color of the grout with that of tiles.

But, the way to deal with lippage is maximum 33% offset tiling. This is the only way you can create a perfectly level floor surface.

If you need advice on tiling or choosing the right tile, contact WallAndTile expert now. We would be happy to help!