Subway Tile: vertical, horizontal, herringbone or basketweave?
I have decided to do wall of subway tile on the small wall behind my range and chimney hood, with no upper cabinets. Originally I had planned to do white subway tile with medium gray grout installed horizontally - the way you see it most often. And I really love that look. However, I got to thinking... what about installing vertically or in a herringbone or basket weave pattern? That might give it a little something different. The problem is that I can't seem to find very many examples of white subway tile installed in different ways, especially in kitchens.
Does anyone have any photos they can share?
I found this graphic that identifies some of the basic types of installation patterns, but I'd love to see real world examples.
Many thanks for any ideas and suggestions.
Comments (14)
lenzai
9 years agoHere's are herrinbone examples: note that it looks like "W"
Galley Kitchen · More Info
Berkeley Kitchen & Bathroom · More Info
Stack bond would be more modern I think
Nordquist · More InfoHere's a vertical stack:
Bright Green Kitchen · More Info
I got all these by typing "white tile backsplash" into the houzz search engine. Good luck!
elphaba
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Vertical Subways w/ Glass Tile - advice needed!
Comments (9)Thank you everyone for the very helpful input so far...I hadn`t really thought of the larger tiles, but now that you mention it I think they would look much better, since the patterns wouldn`t be competing so much with the larger tiles. I will have to look into those - hopefully they aren`t too expensive, as one of the main attractions of the subway tile was its low price. Then again, the tub surround is not a huge space, and tile is generally forever (hopefully!), so spending a little more wouldn`t be too tragic! Thanks again for the great idea, I will let you know what I find out about the larger tiles!...See MoreHorizontal or vertical outlets/switches with subway tile?
Comments (19)My outlets are also oriented horizontally, although I'm undecided on tile. I knew I needed outlets on my range wall to meet code and with the windows flanking the hood that would have been difficult so I tucked them under the windows. Here's a closeup of the outlet to the right of the cleanup sink for perspective. The bottom of the outlet is just less than 1.5" from the counter. Horizontal outlets are great. In fact, I barely even notice their positioning anymore. Can't wait to see your bs! Bahacca--moving outlets is easy enough. You'll need a cross-brace between the studs for nailing the electric box as boxes were meant to install vertically so the metal nailer is on the side, which then becomes the top. You can see it in my pics. Speaking of moving boxes, notice the lack of drywall around mine? I think the electrician didn't do the math correctly the first time. :(...See MoreBacksplash: basketweave or herringbone over range?
Comments (13)Glad to see i'm not alone - with so many others agreeing that the framed look is distracting and not attractive. I've never liked this look and surprised to see people are still doing it so frequently. I think it is one of those trends that people are going to regret in hindsight. If you must do it, do as simple as possible. Use the same tile as the main backsplash, and do as minimal a border as possible. I don't like the excessive frame in a couple of the pics above, and i really don't like the contrasted tile in the last pic above. The first couple pics are okay looking, but not nearly as striking as a simple backsplash without the inset....See Moretiles vertical or horizontal?
Comments (3)I prefer horizontal on the walls as it seems more "natural" and "relaxing" (at least to me), to have them flowing around the room rather than pointing upwards -- particularly if you are doing a brick pattern -- and I wanted a horizontal accent stripe. When I think of rectangular tile, even large format, I think about bricks...and you wouldn't lay bricks in an upright orientation. However, if you are set on a vertical accent stripe, then it would probably look best with a vertical tile pattern. Or you could flip to horizontal, like I did. For the floors, the easy way is to do squares so that you don't have to worry about which way they flow. Here is a picture of my master bathroom, which has 12" X 18" on the walls, 12" X 12" on the floor of the shower, and 24" X 24" on the floor of the rest of the bathroom; my wall tiles are laid in a stacked pattern rather than a brick pattern: A couple of points: 1. My tiles were all dead flat, so I could have laid them in any pattern. However, many large format tiles have some slight bowing which can cause noticeable lippage when laying them in an overlap pattern, and this is usually emphasized by the down-lighting from the ceiling fixtures which creates shadows on the walls of the shower along parts of the grout lines. You can test for bowing by putting pairs of tiles face to face and see if there are any gaps or rocking at the edges, or gaps (light) showing through the center. However, regardless of how flat they are, the best way to avoid lippage problems is by doing a stacked pattern because sets of tiles typically bow in the same manner (such as having a slight hump in the middle). The worst situation is if some of them are flat and some are bowed as you will have lippage unpredictably all over. 2. You talked about doing 2" X 2" mosaics on the floor, and that is about right for a standard drain in order to get the slope right, and have good traction from the grout lines. However, if you want to use a larger format tile on the floor, you can with a linear drain, either at one end of the shower or in the center because the floor can slope toward the drain in a flat plane. Here is my shower floor with the drain in the center: If you put a linear drain in the center, the total amount of slope the floor has to have is half as much as having it at one end. A large format shower floor also has the advantage of far fewer grout lines to keep clean, but it requires tiles that have a wet static coefficient of friction (COF) or 0.60 or higher so that there isn't a slipping hazard; the COF number should be on the box, or the spec sheet, or available from the manufacturer or distributor for the specific tile....See MoreNothing Left to Say
9 years agoediblekitchen
9 years agoediblekitchen
9 years agochristina222_gw
9 years agoediblekitchen
9 years agofishymom
9 years agoWe did stacked bone subway tile with a frame of herringbone behind the range. I actually started of with a traditional subway pattern and after a couple of feet, it just didn't look right to me, so we started over with the stacked pattern.
jlc712
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoI love traditional subways, but you do see it everywhere right now. Here's a few examples of subway tile in more unusual patterns:
Love this variation on herringbone-
Suburban Living · More InfoBathroom pic, but love the two sizes of subway together-
Street Car Lofts Bathroom · More InfoSkinny subway, regular and herringbone-
Scheinholtz Associates · More InfoI'm not a big fan of the "W' s" in regular herringbone, but think it's cool vertically like this-
Newlands new construction c · More InfoAnother bathroom pic, but love this green basketweave with black accents-
Helena 1 · More Info
PROSombreuil
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoUser
9 years agoediblekitchen
9 years agoSombreuil,
So, Flemish bond in subway would look something like this? Interesting, but a lot more work if the tiles have to be cut.
- PRO
Sombreuil
9 years ago
Jennifer Weinman