Bowed porcelain flags - Bowed porcelain

[LozaYozaBoza]

Hi, I am a building contractor and for our client we are having 1200mm x 600mm light colour porcelain patio slabs laid in a brick bond pattern. It appears that the slabs are slightly bowed (within tolerance). Although this is not a problem aesthetically, it appears water is pooling at the joints due to the bond. My question is, over time will this cause a problem with staining? And if they were laid straight would the pooling still happen?
The patio is currently a third complete, with no joints filled yet. Should we stop and change the bond?

Many thanks for your advice and thoughts.

Loz

[Tony McC]

It shouldn't lead to staining but good quality porcelain is NOT bowed - it's as flat as the proverbial Shrove Tuesday flour-and-egg based treat.

I've seen porcelain at the factory of a leading Italian manufacturer, 3600x2400mm as single piece, and it could be used as the base for a billiard table. There's a reason why the very best porcelain costs that bit more - because they take the time and technology to ensure their product is not bowed!

The usual iffy advice is to use quarter-bond or even one-eighth bond to avoid accentuating the surface curvature, but that's not usually what a client wants to see, so it becomes a trade off. Can they live with the obvious lipping?

[GB_Groundworks]

They Advise on big floor and wall tiles to do 1/3 bond etc because of this I found this out after struggling with retailing my bathroom with some 600mm tiles