I found some really nice 6" x 24" tiles I want to lay for my bathroom floor and shower walls.  However, my research has informed me it is not advised to lay this size tile in a traditional pattern, where one row is offset by half of the row above or below (think traditional brick pattern).  Can anyone explain to me why this is?  They say a herringbone or random pattern is best.  I have no problem with a random pattern however this will significantly increase the number of cuts.

Thanks for any input.

I googled "6x24 tiles brickwork" and this was one of the first results. TL;DR: the tiles have a much larger tolerance for warp and the regularity of brickwork pattern accentuates it horribly.

because a long run is hard to keep strait, long lines really telegraph any out of square room or poor lines.

It can be done, you just have to NOT lay it like diy soccermom

I'm stuck!  I've been researching this for the past few days and what I've come up with is its really up to me what I want to do.  Brochures, pictures, and even calling a few tile installers and some say no 50% overlap and others state 33%.  I'm tiling a 5' x 6' bathroom, very small.  The shower walls are obviously bigger but excessive lippage doesn't really seem to be a factor on the walls.  I have seen both patterns in pictures and I'm truly stuck on what to do.

Also, this is my firs time laying large format porcelain tiles; anything special or different from a 12 x 12 or 18 x 18?

I put some 6x24 tiles down myself and staggered them 50% after looking at sections laid out in both a 50% overlap pattern and 33%.

I don't have a finished picture, but here is what the floor looked like in the middle of the project.

The John bridge tile forum has lots of info. A running bond of 50 percent will have maximum lippage. The industry recommends 33 percent .

They have tile leveling systems to keep the tiles level

Basically the lowest edge of the tile goes up against the highest crown of the nearby tile

I would go for it, especially an area that small.

Overlapping a third gives the least waste and the most even floor. You can run the tile any way you want I would check the tile for true ness (ie. Longer the tile bigger the bow) Since you have it lay a little out first and see what it looks like. I would say you could run it tradition straight lay. If they recommend on the box a third overlap it probably has some bows.

So here's what I was able to accomplish with these rectangular gems...




These tiles were made by Marazzi, and quite frankly, there must be zero quality control at their manufacturing plant.  I have never seen tiles that had this many faults; not square, not level, and were extremely bowed.  Even with a 33% overlap, the lippage is horrible and I had to pull almost 80% of the tiles after setting to make them sit flat in the thin-set or to have corners line up height wise.  Even though they sucked major ass to install, I'm very happy with the results.  And the tub is getting sprayed so never mind the color...

I've seen a lot of tile in my day and it's been a long time since a tile pattern has me studying it.

I really like how you laid the tile (especially the walls) and think you did a great job.

Now do something with the tub





Yep, I read about spraying it

Thanks for the kind words!  I was at a loss of how I was going to pattern the shower walls.  I spent about 2 hours looking at different stuff and my wife wondered why it was taking me so long.  So she simply states "just start in the middle of the wall."  Don't know why I didn't think about that but after I laid out the first row, I knew I had a winner.  As far as the floor goes, I found the exact middle of the floor then centered the first tile on that spot and went from there.  Some extra cuts that way but what the hell.  This was not my first tile job (nor the last ) but I don't think I will ever work with this type of tile again.  It was a pain in the ass and definitely tested my patience.

And the damn tub...this whole project started when my wife decided the tub shouldn't be a tub anymore, it should be a shower/tub combo.  So I cut the wall to shit to add the shower head and proper valve.  I contemplated hard about replacing the tub.  I never replaced one and wanted the challenge but didn't want the work.  Say a company at the fair that sprays tubs and showers and had them give me a quote.  Figured the cost of spraying was going to be cheaper than materials/labor/time for me to replace the tub.  Looking back, I should have replaced, but oh well.  Next time.

Looks Great!

I wish I would have seen this thread earlier. I have installed 1000's of sq ft of plank tiles. I hate them, my guys hate them, and I always charge more to install the miserable bastards.

Anyways, what I have learned about the planks, don't get the from Home Depot. I swear they are seconds, they always are as you described, bowed, cupped, out of square. Lowes is a little better quality, tile store stuff i usually the best.

Using a 1/2x1/2 trowel with medium bed mortar saves alot of headaches when installing floors. You can also stack weight on them to bend them flat when doing floors. Sounds strange but it works with most large format tile.

Walls just suck, but back buttering helps.

Good job on your first attempt! I know the frustration

You did a nice job of it OP

1/2" x 1/2" trowel was the first thing that came to my mind AFTER I completed the floor, thinking "one of those would have made this a lot easier!"  And I did have to stack some kettle bells on some more of the fucked up ones.  And HD is where I got these too .  For the walls, each toile was back-buttered and in most cases, a little extra put on to help make up for flaws in the tile.  I see now why you would charge more for installation of these bastards