Tiling

The original pool tiles were real mosaic; small squares of glass in varying shades of blue arranged randomly. The tiler who applied them had no experience with mosaic tiling and used too much adhesive. The adhesive squashed out between the tiny glass squares leaving an inadequate depth for grout. Every year during pool cleaning the grout erodes leaving the adhesive visible and blocking the filter and every Spring Spousie has regrouted the pool. So this year we are changing the tiles. We have found a porcelain pool tile so large that there are only 9 per square metre and are printed with a pattern to look like small mosaic tiles. The problem is that each of the large tiles is identical and so randomness is lost.

The human brain is predisposed to looking for patterns and finding them. This is why we tend to see faces where there are none. It is nigh impossible for a human to lay repeating tiles randomly just as it is nigh impossible to walk out of step to a march beat. Therefore it has been my job this week to devise a tile layout that makes the repeating tiles appear to be completely random.

- Top left; all tiles the same way round
- Top right; pattern 1 but I am not happy with the repeating pattern of pale rhomboids
- Bottom left; pattern 2 This time there is an irritating dark shape that repeats
- Bottom right; pattern 3 is as inoffensive as I can make it.

It is possible that I am too picky but hopefully this tiling will be with me for the rest of my life and so it has to be perfect.