River Rock Tile with Interlocking Edges
When you think of tile, you probably also think of grout. That’s only natural since in most tile applications, you ‘re going to grout between them and the grout lines will end up being visible if not highly noticeable. Not all tiles are created equal, however, and I have recently discovered a kind of tile that doesn’t need any grout lines at all. I’m talking about river rock tile. It comes in pieces that have interlocking edges. You still have to prepare your floor area and put down something for the tiles to be stuck into so that they will be more or less “glued” down and can’t move around.
After that, though, it’s a simple matter to lay down river rock tile and align the edges so that they lock together seamlessly with no grout needed and no grout lines on display. Instead, you’ll just have a panorama of beautiful river rocks tumbled until they are smooth and glossy and have a flat edge that won’t dig into your feet when you walk on them. Now, you may not think that rocks sound all that intriguing, but just wait until you see the huge variety of rocks used in river rock tile.
A typical company making this kind of tiles uses as many as 40 different rocks which means you’ve got lots of different colors jumbled together into each piece of tile. In other words, these tiles really look like the bottom of a river, complete with all the natural variety you would expect to see there. When you combine that with the lack of any grout, it really does start to echo the look of a river. No grout lines also make river rock tile less of a hassle to keep clean. A lot of grime can accumulate in grout lines, but not when you use river rock tile. Of course, perhaps you like the look of grout lines – some people so.
For those people, river rock tile is available with traditional flush cut edges that will be joined by means of grout. You’ll find that many different grout colors will coordinate well with the natural shades and hues of the rocks in the tile. So why not try some river rock tile in your kitchen or bathroom? They make wonderful backsplashes and are a natural choice for the area surrounding a pool, sauna, or Jacuzzi.
Indoors or out, you’ll find that river rock tile lends a natural ambience to any area in your house. I personally like to surround my sinks with river rock tile, and then use neutral colors in the rest of the room so that the tile really stands out as something special. Which, of course, it is!