Tile Spacers

[leo_098]

Hi Guys,

I am currently designing bathroom pods and have specified a 3mm grout spacing and have ordered 3mm spaces.

The tiler informs me they need 2mm spacers for a 3mm spacing, is this correct?

We have just received 60,000 spacers so this is quite important.

Thanks

[GirlRacerRed]

Doesn't sound correct to me. Get hold of a 2mm spacer and measure it in front of the tiler. If the 2mm spacer is only 2mm wide, it will only give a 2mm wide grout joint. It won't miraculously create a 3mm wide grout joint.

And, for further information, the smallest grout joint widths you can use are as follows:
2mm and over - walls
3mm and over - floors

[Stewart]

Maybe the tile has a bevelled edge on it, so the further you push the spacer in, the bigger the gap will be. You find this on a lot of cheaper ceramics.

[grumpygrouter]

I can see where the tiler is coming from as most ceramic tiles are tapered a little from the back to the front of the tile because of the mould (spelling?) used to manufacture the tile. I was taught to ensure a spacer is pushed right to the bottom of the tile for this reason. I always measure from the back of the tile too as that is where the dimensions are specified from.

[macten]

3mm spacer is giving me 4.5mm on the pilkington ceramics I'm working with now.

[GirlRacerRed]

wow, I stand corrected!

[Dave]

Your tiler is fine..

[Daz]

I've just completed a job with Johnsons 60 x 30 ceramics. The bevel was so bad that when using a 2mm spacer I ended up with grout joints around the 4 to 5mm width. I would have had to butt joint the tiles to achieve a 2 to 3mm grout joint .