You sweated and grunted for hours laying tile. But as you admire your finished work, you realize something is off. Your tile isn’t level. It’s because you didn't use a tile leveling system.
What is tile lippage?
When embedding your tile into the adhesive, there may be irregularities in the tile or the substrate below. If there are any peaks or valleys, there is an opportunity for the tile to either shrink into the floor or be bowed up creating a lip at the edge of the tile. Any settling into the floor can cause breaking because there is no bond between the tile and substrate. If there is a lip above the tile, it can be difficult to maintain and also looks unsightly.
With all these possible irregularities in substrates and tile, the best way to ensure a properly bonded tile and flat surface without lippage are with a tile leveling system. These complete systems will prevent tile lippage (especially with large format tile), ensure a smooth surface, eliminate settling from shrinkage, and create a secure bond with the substrate by promoting full coverage of adhesive, all while saving you time and money!
The benefits of using tile leveling spacers.
• Helps prevent warping
• Uniform flatness
• Identical tile gaps
• Limits tile lippage
• Install tile faster
• Saves on redos
How To Use A Tile Leveling System?
• Spread thinset, paying attention to keep trowel lines going in one direction only and lay a tile as usual.
• Slide a tile leveling clip/base underneath the tile until the base is sitting flush with the tile. Generally, four clips are recommended per tile. This is to ensure all four corners are flush with the neighboring tile. You may position the clips near the edges of the tile or in the centers.
For longer tiles like wooden plank tiles, you may use up to six or eight tile leveling system clips per tile if needed.
• With another tile laid next to the tile with the clip, you can slide a wedge into the clip and use the adjustable pliers to crimp the wedge tight into the base.
The general idea is that your wedge/base pushes any high edges down and makes a flat surface across the tiles. The tile leveling system also helps keeps the tile flush and smooth while the thinset cures overnight, effectively eliminating any slump caused by large format or plank tiles.
• When you are ready to grout, you can use a mallet to knock the disposable clips away, thus creating a clean grout joint without any protrusions.
Be careful to clean up any excessive mortar/thinset from the tile leveling clips and leveling wedges as this will make removal more difficult. Keep your grout joints between the two tiles clean as well. A wet sponge can clean everything up easily. The cleaner you are on setting day, the easier grouting will be.
How many clips and wedges will I require per square meter of tiling?
The useful chart below will help you to calculate how many clips you will need per square meter of tiling when using our leveling kit. Simply find your tile size via the vertical and horizontal black rows, where the two lines intersect this will give you the number of required pieces.