Look around at any commercial space and you’ll see brick set 12x24” that look horrendous. No size has a more pronounced warp than a 12”x24” porcelain tile. ‘Straight set” is more likely to produce a flatter finish.Īll porcelain tile is slightly warped. Looking to be young and hip? Go straight set.Ĥ. A ‘straight pattern’ will automatically make your space seem more modern, whereas an ‘offset pattern’ will make your space more traditional. What I notice when installing tile, there is definitely a generation gap between the people who want an ‘offset pattern’ and those that want a ‘straight pattern’. When I look at installer photos from across the pond I see the Europeans doing more ‘straight set’.
'Straight set’ is a more contemporary look. When an installer is doing an offset pattern sometimes a large portion of cut tile cannot be used anywhere else. The straight set tile job from the photos above had plenty of extra with no danger of falling short. As a homeowner you may think that is great, but for a tile installer it is a nerve racking experience, and not having enough tile has the possibility of throwing the schedule of a job way off. The first bathroom with the horizontal offset pattern above, we had practically no leftover tile at the end of the job. Unless we’re doing an offset pattern, we’ll get significantly more so we don’t fall short. Below is a perfect example of what I am talking about: When we’re putting in a ‘straight set’ pattern, we really have more flexibility in minimizing any small pieces on the project.
In a perfect world, the space you will be tiling is designed and built to accommodate the tile size and pattern. When shifting a pattern to try to reduce the instance of small pieces, the small piece will manifest itself somewhere else! Frustrating! “But Ben, just shift the pattern.” Easy for you to say! Like I haven’t thought of that! :P As CTI certified installers, our training advises us to never have any piece smaller than a half, but when we are doing large projects with patterns that are supposed to ‘mirror’ or ‘wrap’ sometimes it’s impossible. The question: Why do we consistently recommend a straight pattern over an offset pattern? Here are my four reasons:Īs a tile installer there is nothing more unsightly than small pieces of tile.