When installing wall and floor tiles, technicians place plastic spacers between each one to ensure the lines remain uniform. Tile spacers range in size from 1/16 inch to 1/2 inch. Once the tile mortar sets, the installer can remove the spacers but cannot change the spacing. Choosing correctly before installation is paramount.
Tile Spacers maintain consistent grout joints and align tiles when installing floor or wall tiles. These spacers are made from flexible plastic, which allows for slight compression as needed during tile installation.
tile leveling system make the installation quick and uniform. The Wedges and Clips are made in hard plastic material rigid enough to hold against the weight of the tile yet easy enough to removed with a simple kick.
These tile leveling system tools for floor/wall setting. The system ensures flatness between tiles avoiding inequalities.
The tile leveling system is reusable, it was easy enough to fix or remove with special wrench.
Tile spacer wadge tiler’s godsend, that’s what. In fuller terms though, they’re small bits of cross or ‘T’ shaped plastic that are placed between tiles when installing them to ensure that the joints between them are of a consistent width.
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Flexible, soft plastic design for easy maneuvering in tile joints
Evenly space tiles for uniform grout lines
For easy removal, use spacers vertically in traditional tombstone-style
Works with all sizes of ceramic tile, porcelain, stone and marble
Reusable spacers may be used over and over again
Remove all spacers before grouting
Tips for Selecting Tile Spacers
Probably you now know what tile spacers are for and how it can greatly help you in your tile installation. Since there are a lot of choices you can pick from, you may not get the right one if you don’t understand what each type is for. But, with our practical tips below, you will get to know simple ways so you can buy them without a worry!
Are you planning to start your tile installation soon? Or, maybe you’re still having second thoughts of using a tile spacer or a tile leveling system because you think that they are just a waste of money? This article will clearly and briefly explain the things you need to know before you head out to your hardware store or check out your order in Amazon!
How do you choose the right tile spacers? When you are deciding to get a tile spacer for your wall or floor tiling, know how much grout spaces or lines and put that in your estimation plan. Once you have decided what you envision and wish to see after the installation, it’s time to get to the right materials!
Getting tile spacers and using them appropriately will guarantee a professional and close to perfection outcome! When you want to achieve a symmetrical look with consistency in tile’s distance, these tile spacers will get the job done right for you.
We have put together these helpful tips so you will know how to get the perfect tile spacers:
Tip #1 Get the right size of tile spacers.
To get the right size of spacers, identify the size of grout line you would like to make and the size of tiles you will use. Remember that when you install it on walls, tile spacers are inserted or placed in horizontal position and then put it vertically when you are installing tiles on floors.
The different sizes of tile spacers are as follows:
- 1/16 inches
- 1/8 inches
- 3/16 inches
- ¼ inches
- 3/8 inches
Or you can get them in mm: 2mm,2.5mm,3mm,4mm,5mm,6mm
Commonly, when it comes to standard size of grout width and tile size (which is normally 8” by 8”), you need to select Size 1/16 for your wall tiles and Size 1/8 for your floor tiles.
Let’s say you want to pick other sizes of tiles like 12” by 12” or 16” by 16”- you can choose up to Size 3/16 of tile spacers.
But when you are using large-format tiles , avoid making tight grout lines. You can pick from the bigger tile spacers sizes that would fit your tile size.
Tip #2 Check on your floor variations and irregularities.
Take a thorough look or inspection on your floors and walls before buying. Look for uneven surfaces. Even the edges of the tiles matter when picking a tile spacer. For example, if you will use large-format tiles with irregular edges, you cannot use small tile spacers, or you’ll get an undesirable look. It will not create uniform patterns
Also, when choosing tile spacers, get one that would work for all types of tiles- ceramic tile, porcelain tile, stone tiles or marble tiles. This will avoid re-work when the spacers are only applicable for a specific type of tiles. Getting a flexible PVC type of tile spacers will help you to place it easily and adjust when needed and can be easily removed.
Tip #3. Determine the grout size you want on your project.
The grout size will always depend on the tile size and the design you want to achieve. If you want consistency in your pattern, then tile spacers are necessary.
Another consideration is the type of tile you will purchase and its thickness. Hand-made tiles that are bigger in size need a bigger grout joint. For your floor installation, consider a bigger grout size to avoid the tiles from being drawn or pulled out from the surface.
The best-sellers for tile spacer sizes are 1/8 inch, ¼ inch, or 3/16 inch. We suggest the following grout sizes for some types of tiles:
3/8 inches– the industry standard recommended for thin bricks
3/16 inches– recommended for ceramic tiles to balance the edges and variations
1/8 inches– recommended for tiles with sharply even edges
Once you determine the grout size, then you can pick the right size of the tile spacer for your tile installation.
Additional tips for Grout Sizes:
Grout lines for wall tiles do not go beyond 1/16 inch. Some tiles have lugs that can help with spacing. When choosing a gout width, you can refer to this guideline:
1/16 inch for small grout joints
1/8 up to ¼ inch for medium grout joints
3/8 to 1 /2 inch for large grout joints
Note: You can still opt to change it based on your preferred size and desired outcome. If you have done this before, you will know what adjustments to make. But if you are a first-timer, you can refer to these sizes for great results!
Tip #4. Measure the tile size for a more professional finish.
We find this tip helpful for those who purchased tiles from manufacturers who recommended a certain brand of tile spacers. So that you can determine the precise tile spacer size, you can do the following:
- Get a measuring tape and see if there are irregularities on the tiles. For tiles with irregularities like marble tiles, you can use ¼ inches tile spacers. For clean-cut and smooth edge tiles, you can choose between 1/8 or 1/16 inches.
- If you are using vitrified tiles (tiles with very low porosity and mostly used outdoors due to their resistance to water or frost), you will find that their edges are straight and smooth. Tile spacers with size of 1/16 inches can be used.
- If you will install tiles on your floor and walls, ,do not use the same size. For walls, use smaller tile spacers. If you get 1/16 inch for walls, get 1/18 inches for floors.
Tip #5. If you are a DIYer and you are still confused, these factors can help you identify what size you’ll get.
One of our customers asked what size in mm should he get for his ceramic floor tiles. Typically, the required size in mm for ceramic floor tiles is 5mm and get 2-3mm for wall ceramic tiles. But in other cases, this did not become accurate due to these factors:
- Area Contours– when there are curves, outlines or angles in one corner of the area. Best example would be in the bathroom where the toilet base or shower area is.
- Unequal distance of walls in the room– if there are walls with different distances from each other, tendency is you’ll never have the same grout size. To make it look balanced, use a bigger grout size to make an odd-shaped area look proportioned. Either way, if you want to install it based on the wall size, you will get separate sizes of tile spacers.
- Movement joints- A movement joint is defined as the interruption of the surface to allow for movement. Tiles expand when there are temperature or moisture changes. You must consider movement joints when determining the tile spacer sizes. Using them will ensure accuracy of your tile alignment.
Tip #6. Buy tile spacers in small packs than in bulk.
You can purchase tile spacers in small packs starting from 100 pieces or in bulk for thousand pieces. This is to avoid frustration in case you found out you need to get another type of tile spacer.
If you are not sure if you’re buying the best one, you can buy some trial packs and do a pre-test before you finalize your purchase. If this is your first time to do a tile installation, it is recommended to do a trial run so you can visualize what the outcome would look like. To do this, you need to get some few pieces of tile spacers to test. If you find it hard to use and you got a not-so-good brand, you’ll save money by not disposing them. You now can get another brand which you think is better that what you first purchased.
Tip #7. Get tile spacers that have good quality.
Good quality spacers will save you time, money and effort. Low-quality tile spacers can ruin your installation because they can break in the middle of the job; causing you to do re-work and start over. The best tile spacer is one that you can quickly install and can be easily removed. If you bought it from an online shop, some stores would offer returns but often times, the return shipping fee is more expensive than the bought items.
Reusable or Disposable tile spacers?
It depends on the purpose. If you have upcoming projects and you would like to save, chances are, you’ll get reusable ones. However, breakage is not controllable for most cases. Since you can get tile spacer for reasonable prices, you can opt to get disposable ones. Sometimes, even if they are bought to be disposed after usage, highly durable brands are still capable of being re-used because they do not break easily.
To get a good quality of tile spacers, you can buy from reputable manufacturers. Top brands can ensure you’ll get the best quality and are always the number 1 choice for construction companies and professional tilers.
On the other hand, there are reputable online brands that can supply you with high-quality tile spacers. If you are eyeing an online product, you can look at the reviews of the buyers and take time to read through some of them. You can also get some tips and good points from those simple reviews!
This online tool will calculate a good estimate of how many tile spacers you should purchase for your project. We also recommend that you buy an extra pack after determining the right amount. This will serve as you buffer in case wrong estimation happens or some of it will break during installation. You can also see some damaged items in a pack, so getting some extras handy will save you from these common problems.
Want an even simpler tip? For every tile you will install, multiply it by 4 tile spacers and once you get the total, add an additional 100 pieces for your buffer.
Tip #9. Get help from professional tilers!
If you are lucky enough to know someone who does this professionally, do not hesitate to ask them for guidance and tip. They can tell you the exact size of tile spacers you need to buy based on the information you give them about your tiles and other tiling concerns. They can recommend which type of tile spacer or tile-levelling system is applicable for your room or spaces.
No professional tiler around? You can check YouTube! Let us share with you these 2 videos that you can watch so you’ll get the best tips for selecting the tile spacers and how you can use them efficiently:
Does this really work? Of course! When you pick the right size of tile spacers, you’re sure to have:
- grout lines with the same width
- tiles that are equally and symmetrically lined up in all corners
- pleasing and professional-looking finish
- get uniform pattern in your designs
- efficient and successful tiling installation
Tile spacers are really excellent and amazing! As simple as their looks can be, they bring numerous benefits in your tile installation projects with ease, convenience, and with practical approaches. What can we do without them!
We hope that these tips we gave you will help you in selecting the best tile spacer!
