I think it is a combination of personal preference and the tile. I think I prefer the second.

I believe there's less lippage with the 1/3 offset. I like it better too.

I like a random pattern with a maximum 1/3 offset...but I vary even that a bit. Looks more like hardwood that way.

My tile guy said I needed 1/3 offset with this large tile. He laid it out dry for me to look at. This is my bathroom in this picture. Laid out two directions and asked my preference.

do you think the pattern looks like picture #2 above?

I actually may like picture #1 above better which he didn’t offer me.

thank you. I have to decide quickly.

Avanti....would that be picture #2?

if not do you have a picture?

thank you.

I think yours are laid out as #2. The marble tiles are more formal and I think #2 is perhaps slightly more formal as well.

I don't think it matters too much on a bathroom floor--it's probably not a large enough space to show. I'd go with it.

Your tile guy seems conscientious and likely knows to do this but make sure he notices any tile pattern repeats and doesn't put them next to each other. (Not an issue if they're real stone of course.)

No, picture #2 is a repeating "stairstep" pattern. I like a truly random pattern with no "repeats." I'll see if I can snag a pic.....

Here on John Bridge Forums, I found some shots that are a bit more "random" for you. They have some repeating patters...but are not the complete "stairstepping" ones you have pictured above.

http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=70412&page=1428 

scroll down the thread to post #21419. Last pic is probably the best example.....

I hate 1/3 offset! Don't have a problem with 1/2 offset. Not sure why, just a visual thing.

For my master bath with even larger tile I went with a straight lay pattern.

If you do 1/2 offset, it often goes against manufacturer's recommendations, because of bowing of large format tiles and resulting lippage. The tilesetter needs to be willing to take a lot of care and juggle tiles around and reject some in order to reduce the lippage problem.

I know this post is 5 years old but i came across it when i was researching tile patterns and I can't tell the difference between 1 and 2 and it's driving me crazy. Hope someone can update this.

I agree. They both look like 1/3 offset

Eld6161 - i see it now. One repeats every 2 rows and the other every 3 rows