How To Install Zellige Tile

In a contempo article, Remodelista proclaimed zellige tile to be "the trendiest tile of 2022."

I usually don't care about trends. I like timeless, and zellige is anything BUT trendy. The laborious art of making these luminous, variegated tiles has been passed from generation to generation in Morocco by chief craftsmen called maâlems.

To make zellige tiles, natural clay is mixed with water, mitt-shaped, stale, and then kiln-fired. Artisans then apply enamel glazing, by hand, only to the front end. True zellige tiles must be made from a clay without lime or iron, both of which can impairment the tiles, and labeled accordingly.

3 Super Important Things to Know About Zellige Tile — The kitchen that started the craze. By Zio & Sons.

While the Remodelista article goes on to detail "ten Things Nobody Tells You Almost Zellige," I was surprised to find that there was nothing of practicaluse in the article — except for the bit about how it should definitely be installed by a professional.

And I would advise thatnon every tile installer is prepared to install zellige.

If yous read Thursday's update about my "Ain't No Obviously Jane Powder Room" for the Spring 2022 One Room Challenge virtually heating hard-to-reach spaces, you'll have noticed a teaser at the end almost the tile I chose for the floor.

green zellige tile — Fallen Citrus Zellige Tile

I got my zellige from a batch of Second Shelf (overruns or seconds or returns) at Cle last fall. I was thrilled to score it during a free aircraft deal, likewise! It'southward no joke to ship tile from the West Coast — even but a couple of boxes!)

Obviously, I've been thinking about this pulverisation room for a long time!! It's my favorite shade of green, so I jumped on it.

The color is a discontinued one, but it is very, very similar to Cle'southward current "Fallen Citrus" offer. In fact, equally yous can't go tile samples from Second Shelf, I ordered a Fallen Citrus sample. It's so close I can hardly tell the divergence.

Anywho! I'm VERY lucky to have a fabulous tile installer here in New Hampshire, Al diBicarri of Advertizement Ceramic Tile. While zellige is popular right at present the world over, trends normally hit a few years (or more than!) later on up here in the woods. I was thrilled that Al and his fabled team had feel in installing zellige.

And this was his very of import advice, based upon previous experience installing zellige tile:

one. Sand Your Tile Edges

Zellige tile is handmade. That'south the beauty of information technology. But because of that, you tin can't get an fifty-fifty flat surface if you're laying the tiles right up confronting each other. Edges may beetle rather than laying flush.

Moreover, the edges of zellige tile are pretty sharp, like paper cut abrupt. So, not only tin can that unevenness make the tiles trickier to wipe downwardly, those edges can take hold of on fabrics … or your skin.

In this close upwardly paradigm of the Zio & Sons kitchenette, yous can see how the edges are uneven.

Is in that location something you can practise?

Yes. Al and his guys sanded every edge of every tile they installed for me. I'm using this on the pulverisation room floor and they didn't desire Things 1 & 2 to cutting their tootsies on the tile!

3 Important Things to Know BEFORE You Install Zellige Tile — Soaking each tile after sanding the edges and then that they won't suck up the moisture in the thin prepare. This also enables them to be "movable" a piffling longer, considering the sparse ready won't dry out and harden as rapidly. (You can see the sander in the upper correct corner.)

Do youacceptto sand the tiles? No. Could it add to the cost of installation labor? Yeah. Simply, when Al suggested it, and when I saw that I couldn't detect any visible difference and could salvage our feet, I said, "Aye."

2. Don't Butt Joint Your Tiles

All the installation guides say that zellige should non use a grout joint, but should be butt jointed — right up next to each other. Wedge spacers tin exist used to let for variation in the butted tiles, simply the ideal is no spaces and no visible grout.

However, the trouble of the unevenness of the tile strikes again hither. Al recommends a very minimal joint — similar i/xvi″ — which volition vary bigger or smaller depending upon the edges of each tile you lay down.

This will let for smoother transition between each tile, again, minimizing the "edging" effect.

Over again, I was skeptical. I wanted that watery, undulating await of the tile, but I could besides meet how it was impossible to have every tile line upward finish-to-finish in a perfect butt joint. But Al and his guys said the thin fix would be wet for a flake, and we could move things effectually if we wanted the tiles closer.

This is what nosotros ended up with.

3. When White Won't Do

All of the guidelines for installing zellige tile say to use a grout that matches your tile. One of the reasons for this recommendation is considering the tile itself is so porous, that information technology could leach the dye from the grout and discolor the edges of the tile.

Only how often do you come across apple tree green grout?!?!?!?

Believe me, I AGONIZED over this one. While there aren't as many images of colored zellige tile (ok, there are lots of dark charcoals/almost blacks, but once again, that anlike shooting fish in a barrel match for grout), the few that I found used a white grout.

I didn'tdesire white. I thought it would make this dark-green tile look like a light-green apple candy cane, and that wasn't the vintage/erstwhile business firm look I wanted with my wallpaper. I'm going for interesting and quirky, and not blingy, in-your-face-funky in this particular room.

Not that I have a problem with blingy, in-your-confront-funky. 🙂

I besides wanted the greenish to be the shining star, not white grout.

I idea a dark grout would look better — call out the ghost-lady'due south night olive jacket (which I also reference in my chosen dark bronze wall sconces, actualization in the corner of the below image).

The guys mocked it up for me with the minor just visible grout joint.

Yeah, dark gray was the manner I wanted to become. But the guys warned me that the grout dye *could* leach into the edges of the tile (only because, even with sealing, the tile is and then porous), discoloring information technology not dissimilar in the prototype below, where they passed it over an unsealed tile face up.

UGH!!!! WHAT TO Do???

The reply was using something called "Crystal Quartz." Unlike cement grout, CQ is made of actual tiny crystals, themselves of which are colored — there are no dyes.

No dye = no leach effect.

It comes ready-to-use straight out of the container, but it tin can dry out pretty quickly. Definitely use a pro, or if y'all desire to effort it yourself, read A LOT nigh information technology before you do, and take some trial runs.

I used the "Charcoal" color, and I'm beyond THRILLED with the final results.

I haven't found these recommendations anywhere else on the web — believe me, I looked!

Whether you concord with them or not as a full general dominion, they worked very well in my particular situation. Simply I'd be really interested to know if anyone else reading this has worked with zellige earlier and what your takeaways are (if any) about the sharpness/unevenness/color-leaching factors. If so, please allow me know in the comments!

Recently I found this Etsy seller with Zellige for only $nine.00/sf!