How Do You Place Tile Spacers? A Beginner’s Guide to Using Tile Spacers Effectively
Whenever you’re taking on a home renovation job, the finer details mean everything to your finished product. This is especially true when discussing items like tiles, as having unevenly-placed floor or wall additions can make a space feel quite disjointed. This is why tile spacers exist, providing you with a simple way to create a completely uniform tiled space without the hassle of more manual methods. That said, it is still important to know how to get the most out of your tile spacers before your project begins, and that’s why we’re here.
At Tileveling, we think tile spacers are enormously important. After all, we based our entire business around providing people with a simple, easy way to get perfect-looking tile installations every time. So, how do you place tile spacers? And what do you need to get the most out of their usage? Without further adieu, let’s get into it.
What Are Tile Spacers?
This is a completely natural question for those that have never needed to take on a tile project. They’re very niche items with a specific use that they happen to be fantastic for. Tile spacers are small, often t-shaped objects that are made from plastic, and can come in a variety of sizes to suit different styles and jobs. With the use of tile spacers, you can ensure an even gap between all of your tiles, which will ensure the cleanest results when it comes time to grout.
Whilst their small size and plastic manufacturing would perhaps lead you to believe that they are a single-use item, they can generally be removed after installation and used again in later projects. Just make sure you look out for any damage that may compromise the sizing of these items, as breakage could potentially lead to inconsistent results.
Why Are Tile Spacers Used?
Depending on the type of tile that you’re looking to put down, tile spacers can end up actually providing a number of different valuable results. For example, with mosaic tiles that can be of different shapes and sizes, manually keeping all of your tiles evenly in place can be nearly impossible without tile spacers. Alternatively, if you’re working with more traditional square tiles and want to keep them completely uniform, then tile spacers are practically a necessity to avoid any human error. In other words, if you want to make sure that you have the most control over your tile spacing possible, you’ll want to make sure you’re using tile spacers.
How Do I Get the Most Out of Tile Spacers?
Whilst they may seem quite self-explanatory, there are things you can do to make sure you’re getting the best experience out of your tile spacer usage. These include:
Buying High-Quality Spacers
As we mentioned earlier, you can absolutely use the same spacers across multiple projects, but only if you’re getting spacers that were made to last. So, do what you can to ensure you’re getting a higher quality product, even if that means spending a little more.
Try to Estimate What You’ll Need
While we said spending a little more is good, that doesn’t mean you should be overbuying. Based on the number of tiles you’ll be placing, you should have a good idea of how many tile spacers you’ll need. So, try to aim for approximately that number, if not a few more for those “just in case” moments.
Time Your Tile Spacer Usage
There will be a time in which it is ideal for you to remove your spacers, approximately twenty or thirty minutes into your adhesive beginning to set. The reason this is so important to remember is that there will be time earlier in the setting process in which removing the spacer will also allow your tiles to move around. Alternatively, if you’re trying to remove the spacers too late, you’ll likely find that they are stuck, which is then an issue you’re going to need to deal with. This leads to our next major point:
Never Just Decide to Grout Over Your Spacers
This may seem like a desirable choice, especially if you’ve already left the spacers in for too long, but just grouting over the spacers will likely damage your floor and lead to very amateurish results in terms of your tiling’s overall quality. It might be annoying, but sometimes, it’s best to take the long way and do it right the second time rather than simply dealing with the mistakes of the first. You don’t want a bathroom or kitchen feeling off forever just because you are waiting too long to take out your spacers.
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Having a perfectly tiled bathroom, kitchen, or outdoor area is always going to be the work you have to put into getting it there, and with tile spacers, that work becomes so much easier and more manageable. So, focus on quality, time your spacers, and don’t cut corners, and you’ll be thanking yourself once it’s all over.
To learn more about tile spacing and levelling, stay up-to-date with the Tileveling blog, where we post helpful tips, tricks, and information on our industry regularly.
