Raked joints vs flush joints on a wet wall in Portland - which one held up better for you?

2 comments

2 Comments

Lived through a rainy winter with raked joints on my wet wall and honestly it was a disaster. My tiling job looked like a toddler's art project after the first freeze-thaw cycle. I feel like I should have just stuck with flush joints because at least when water gets behind them it doesn't have those deep grooves to hide in. But hey, I'm the same person who glued their finger to a tile spacer last week so maybe don't take my advice too seriously. The raked joints just collected gunk and moisture like crazy, while the flush ones my neighbor did are still holding up fine after two years of Portland drizzle. If you value your sanity and don't want to be scrubbing mold out of tiny crevices every month, go flush all the way.

pat_hall8720d agoProlific Poster

Oh man, "glued their finger to a tile spacer" - that's too real, I could totally picture that happening to me honestly! I had a similar mess with raked joints on my bathroom wall last year. The way you described them collecting gunk and moisture is spot on, I was scrubbing those grooves every weekend and it still looked grimy. My neighbor did flush joints on their shower and it's been smooth sailing for over a year now, not a single mold spot. I'm totally with you on going flush all the way, those deep grooves just seem like a magnet for trouble in wet climates.