Once you have decided to remodel the floors in your home with new tile, the next step you have to make as a homeowner involves which type of tile want to use. To most people, that means carefully selecting the type, size, shape, and color of each tile. But there is also another decision that you will need to make with the help of your Tampa Bay tile contractor, and it’s a choice you may not even know exists. That choice is between non-rectified tile and rectified tile, and your decision will have a major effect on the look of your floor, the installation process itself, and the cost of your job. But in order to know whether your home remodeling project would come out better by using non-rectified tile or rectified tile, you first need to learn some basics about each type.

Non-Rectified Tile

For a long time, non-rectified tiles were the industry standard, making them incredibly common in homes that are not newly-built or haven’t been renovated in a while. Basically, a non-rectified tile is any tile that has natural edges that have not been mechanically straightened after cutting, which results in each tile having a plain, square edge. Because of this imprecise process, each tile is not the exact same size. From an installation perspective, that means larger grout lines will need to be used in order to correctly fit these tiles together, fill in the gaps, and hide their little differences. This works fine, but the resulting large grout lines are not as aesthetically pleasing to most people, and also require much more cleaning and maintenance.

Rectified Tile

The major difference between non-rectified tile and rectified tile is that rectified tile has gone through a mechanical process that ensures that each edge is precise, straight, and uniform. The resulting crisp, 90 degree edges allow for a perfectly level installation with the use of almost no grout. This type of installation will give your home a much more polished, modern, and aesthetically pleasing feel, as opposed to the non-rectified tiles with their large grout lines. The downside to rectified tile is that it is both more expensive to purchase and more difficult to install. In fact, the average tile installer is not even trained in the correct methods of installing rectified tile.

Poor installation of rectified travertine tile

Because of this, it is extra important that you search out an experienced Tampa Bay tile contractor that can show you examples of top-notch rectified tile jobs they’ve done in the past. That way, you’ll know that they will be able to avoid common rectified tile installation issues such as uneven edges that stick up, so your brand new floors will come out just as you pictured them.

If you’d like to speak to an experienced Tampa Bay tile contractor to discuss whether rectified or non-rectified tile is the better option for your home, please contact Jack O’ Trades here.