Is grout necessary? Also, glazed brick/ tiles.

[Suz on Google]

1. Can standard tiles not stay on without grout?

I was talking with my mum about tiles we had behind our range that had no grout. They lined a big old chimney breast and a wide circular shape at the sides of the chimney breast which was lovely to lean against as a child as they were always warm. These tiles were glazed and my mother said a couple were taken out to facilitate some pipework and they were actually bricks with a glazed surface. They were quite small, about 3" by 6", coloured either white or black, some with a gentle curve to make a wide curved edge on the wall.

1. Does anybody know if these "glazed bricks/tiles" are still available?

TIA Suzanne

Apologies for Google or if this is a duplicate, having trouble with my news provider Astraweb.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Grout doesn't keep the tiles on. Its purpose is to make the tile surface waterproof, and/or decorative. If you don't need either of these properties, you could leave it out.

[Guy King]

The message from [e-mail] (Andrew Gabriel) contains these words:

Though, in practice, without grout water gets behind the tiles and they don't stay up for long.

They'll look foul without grout, too.

[Andrew Gabriel]

If they will get wet, they need to be waterproof. There are cases where tiles are used and don't routinely get wet.

Some tiles are designed for no grout. Never used them myself, but they certainly exist.