Expert: Jamie Yocono - 10/16/2005

Question
Jamie, I've seen your profile on the www.greatpottery website and have visited your personal website.  I really like your designs as well as your woodworking "philosophy."  I think you must be as passionate as I am about woodworking!  Anyway--to my question...I have made a coffee table of red oak (tabletop is six 3-ft lengths of 5/4 thickness, edge-glued).  I've invited my friend who makes decorative ceramic tiles to collaborate on this piece of furniture, and we've decided to inlay several 6"x6" tiles at random on the 36" square tabletop.  I've already figured out how to rout out the recessed areas to drop the individual tiles into, but am needing your advice on filling the "buffer area" (my terminology) around each tile to allow for the movement of the wood.  I have "practiced" on scrap wood, using 1/4 inch balsa wood (standing on its edge) to frame each tile--mitering the corners of the balsa wood. Do you think the balsa will "give" enough to take care of the wood movement problem?  I know you have said grout presents a problem with seeping into the pores of the wood and eventually staining it. Is there a type of grout that is better than others for this purpose, or is there some other available pliable "filler" for this space between tile and tabletop wood?  I can't seem to find the "perfect solution" I am looking for on the Internet. My friend and I would like eventually to make some tables with removable tile, or tile that can be flipped over to reveal yet another decorative statement!  Any suggestions for that process would be welcomed, but probably on this first venture, we'll glue the tiles in place.  Sorry I am so long-winded!  I get carried away with this woodworking business...especially when I know the other person (YOU!) is as fond of it as I am!  Thanks for your patience! It is very kind of you to welcome questions as you do, and to take part in this AllExperts site. What a blessing for those of us with the questions! Fondly, Ruth Archambault

Answer
Hi Ruth,

Grab a cup of coffee and put your feet up, this turned into a REALLY long answer. And before I forget- where did you first learn of my work? The Clay site?

First- I'm really flattered by the comments you wrote about my work, and I appreciate them. Sometimes I feel like I'm working in a vacuum and no one pays attention to my tiled furniture. So... thanks. :)

About 12 years ago, I wrote an article about inlaying tile for the trade magazine -Tile Design and Installation. It outlined some of the questions that you asked, specifically about avoiding staining during the grouting process, and about expansion/contraction problems. Since then, I've learned more, specifically about that pesky wood movement problem. It's an ongoing learning process, trust me!

Anyway- it's too old to get a reprint, and somewhere in my computer, I have a scan of all the pages, but for the life of me, I cannot find them. But I did locate the text.  It's about 8 pages long, and may be too long to post in the body of this answer, but if you respond to this with your e-mail address, I can send it to you directly.

That said- there's a lot more to inlaying tile that ISN'T in that article. So let me fill you in on some stuff I've learned. Wood wants to move, and tile doesn't, it's as simple as that.

You have to allow the tile to "float" a little bit, and I think it's best accomplished by using some sort of a flexible adhesive to glue it down. I like silicone caulk, and I usually don't apply a lot of it, usually just nice sized globs on the corners and one in the middle. You want it to be able to minutely move if the wood pushes on it.

The second part is the grout. My article goes into the process of masking off the wood to prevent staining. However, even with the variety of masks I've tried, there still can be some seepage under the mask. I've tried duct tape, latex mask, rubber cement, and just about anything else I could think of that would seal the pores and yet still be removable.

But still- even if you figure out the problem of seepage, you still have to settle the problem with the grout. Sanded or unsanded? I've tried it all.... I've even spray painted regular play sand and mixed it with clear silicone, thus making my own custom colored sanded silicone goo. I once made this very cool purple grout that a customer wanted, and it turned out fabulous.

The bottom line- you need a grout that stays somewhat flexible. Silicone works best, and these days, you can find tubes of silicone caulk in a HUGE array of colors. I just attended a big woodworking convention here in Las Vegas and there was a company that had like 300 colors of silicone caulk. It looked like a crayon display. (Oh course, I cannot locate the business card of the sales rep right now, why would life be simple like that?)

So my best suggestion for compensating for wood movement is letting the tile float just a bit by not gluing it down with an adhesive that's too rigid. You want it to be slightly flexible.

Next, you want the wood to be able to move around the tile. I don't like large grout lines, so I try to keep them narrow, like 1/8" to 1/16" wide. A flexible grout (caulk) works best, and usually is easier to work with. I've gotten good at masking off the border with tape, and then using a water based caulk so it's easy to clean up.

By the way, I just realized I use the word caulk and grout interchangeably. Grout is usually a powder that you mix with water or with acrylic additive, and caulk usually comes in a tube, already liquid. Either will fill the tile spaces, but they look different, so you need to decide if you can live with the look of silicone caulk (smooth and sometimes a little glossy) as opposed to that sandy, earthy, mortar looking substance called grout.

My advice - experiment! Rout some sample boards and inlay some sample tiles. I use a cookie cutter to make some 2" circles of tile, and then glaze and fire them. They shrink a bit, and I can use a 2" forstner bit to cut the recess for each tile. I glue them in, and then experiment with various grouts. Working in such a small scale doesn't TRULY give you the idea of how the wood will move, but it will give you an idea of various masking techniques and what the different grouts look like.

Your suggestion of Balsa wood as a "filler" for the gaps sounds interesting, and might work, since Balsa is so soft, it might compress. But it sounds like a great deal of work, and (to me) introduces an element to the table top that might detract. Also- say the wood shrinks and compresses the Balsa. It might not spring back, and you'll be left with a gap. Still....as I mentioned above- try it. See what it looks like, and how it reacts over time. Make samples and leave them in rooms where your table might be placed. Humidity and temperature changes will affect your samples, so you need to test the samples in places that are similar to where the table will eventually rest.

I loved the idea of you collaborating with your friend's tiles- that's so great. You'll need to make two tables, so you'll each have one!

Hey- I've gotten long winded too....I could type about this all night. Good luck, I hope this helps. Feel free to write back with any other questions you might have after reading this. And if you want a copy of that article, send me your e-mail address and I'll forward it to you.

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
www.wooditis.com
Las Vegas, NV

PS... I've been toying with that idea of removable tiles for years. I've playing with tiles that are actually containers with lids. So the lid looks like the tile, but when it's removed, you can put stuff inside. It's complicated and hard to do, but a pretty interesting project. We seem to be on the same wavelength... maybe we were related in a past life.  :)