Lippage control systems– a toy or a tool for tiling?
Helping to understand the tile installer’s perspective on lippage and how it can be mitigated
A novice to tile work looking at a new tile installation today might comment, “When did LEGO* pieces start being used to install tile?" Yet we see these little plastic devices being used more frequently for porcelain and stone tile installations. What are they and why are they important for our industry?
First, we have to understand why they are used. I can remember that back in the early 1980’s a large tile was 8 x 8 inches. Today, tiles are being produced in 2 x 2, 1 x 4, 2 x 4 feet, etc. There are even large porcelain panels up to 5 x 10 feet being produced. And manufactured tiles are being rectified (natural stone has always been cut to precise size), so grout joints can be minimized to 1/8 inch or even 1/16 inch. With such narrow grout joints in the field of such large tiles, it becomes very difficult and time consuming to eliminate lippage between tiles.