Lippage clips... charge or not? - Tile Advice

[Italy]

Can I just clarify.......what are they actually for...?
Bent large format tiles.
Uneven substrate .
To avoid lips due to adhesive shrinkage.
Any more ?

try them, is now

 

[LM]

Can I just clarify.......what are they actually for...?
Bent large format tiles.
Uneven substrate .
To avoid lips due to adhesive shrinkage.
Any more ?

IMO they help straighten out bent large tiles, particular planks.
On a substrate that isn't perfectly flat you can have two tiles beside each other both with full coverage but there may be 1-2 mill of difference in height, by raising the low tile and pressing down on the high tile you split the difference and clamp it with a clip until the adhesive sets.
The same logic applies to adhesive shrinkage.
There are many other uses for them that you learn the more you use them, like clamping tiles above windows etc.
All of us professional tilers can lay tiles level with a solid bed, the correct use of clips simply speeds the process up with confidence that the tiles will be in the same place as you left them when you come back to grout them.
In the wrong hands they can of course lead to failures due to incorrect adhesive bedding etc, but a grinder in the wrong hands can be a disaster also.
For those of us who are defending they're use we are simply sharing what we find to be a positive advancement in tiling tools.
Personally my heart would sink at the thought of having to revert back to tilling large formats without them.

 

[Blunt Tool]

Another tool in a tilers tool kit is not going to make us all extinct, years of experience does not get replaced by a piece of plastic! If Joe Public buys them then good the more in demand , the more manufactured, the more the price comes down! If they disappeared tomorrow no big deal!

 

[Joe Clinton]

Correct, I worked with quality tiles - no bowing. Your answer on the bowed plank effect makes sense. It's the first time anyone has offered me a reasonable explanation as to why clips might be used. On the few occasions that I have asked, I've been shouted down. If you are referring to large, large format - no it's not a markert I have any intention entering - not for me, I've done my time. But I can understand their uses there. Mostly Victorian work for me over the last few years. But back to my comments about the clips. I see them sitting in prominent retail positions at the likes of CTD and I do fear the impact they may have on the trade. Plus there's the solid bed fixing issue on floors but that's another story. One prominent retailer said to me - 'yep, you are right to be worried about solid bed fixing but why should I care' - he was loaded with booze at the time

On larger format ceramics you cannot not use them and get a job you'll be happy with, we did some 1000x330's that were bendy as ote on the walls and use the clips and it bends the tiles into place while they set. Definitely no use and more time consuming on small tiles, but as you use them more they become second nature and it's just that guarantee that on a floor if your packing out a bit you know for sure it's not going to move or sink at all, (yes if your coverage is right it shouldn't anyway but we've all had a tile we weren't happy with the next day thinking I didnt leave it like that)

 

[Andy Allen]

IMO they help straighten out bent large tiles, particular planks.
On a substrate that isn't perfectly flat you can have two tiles beside each other both with full coverage but there may be 1-2 mill of difference in height, by raising the low tile and pressing down on the high tile you split the difference and clamp it with a clip until the adhesive sets.
The same logic applies to adhesive shrinkage.
There are many other uses for them that you learn the more you use them, like clamping tiles above windows etc.
All of us professional tilers can lay tiles level with a solid bed, the correct use of clips simply speeds the process up with confidence that the tiles will be in the same place as you left them when you come back to grout them.
In the wrong hands they can of course lead to failures due to incorrect adhesive bedding etc, but a grinder in the wrong hands can be a disaster also.
For those of us who are defending they're use we are simply sharing what we find to be a positive advancement in tiling tools.
Personally my heart would sink at the thought of having to revert back to tilling large formats without them.

An excellent explanation Lee ...

 

[Italy]

Another tool in a tilers tool kit is not going to make us all extinct, years of experience does not get replaced by a piece of plastic! If Joe Public buys them then good the more in demand , the more manufactured, the more the price comes down! If they disappeared tomorrow no big deal!

the tiles are evolving almost every year.
Sincerely after more than 30 years,
Only the basic rules remain.

 

[Andy Allen]

try them, is now

I would mate..... however I rearly fit anything above 600x600....... although plank tiles are popular now and the next job I get 800 or longer I will give them a go....

although I can't see the point of using them on every job for every tile ........ or do you use them for every floor you do ?

 

[Italy]

I would mate..... however I rearly fit anything above 600x600....... although plank tiles are popular now and the next job I get 800 or longer I will give them a go....

although I can't see the point of using them on every job for every tile ........ or do you use them for every floor you do ?

I use them on rectified tiles
Over 30x60.
normal tiles, depends on the tile and the subfloor.
but usually from 50x50 up, or planks from 20x80 up.
Not rectified.
ps. Here 80% of the substrates are sand and cement.
Self-leveling is hardly used, because usually, it is faster to use grinders
And lower the highest points. Otherwise the doors will no longer open.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

Can you not cut the doors down or is that not in a tiling apprentices job description?

 

[Italy]

John, you're asking too much for my English.
I try to explain, there are no doors when I start a job.
The entrance door of the house, has a stone slab,
And the tiles must respect that plan.
The inner doors, the ones that flow into the wall, have little room
in order to raise leveling the substrate.
Depends on how the counter-frame was fixed.
And then, just ask questions, I'm an apprentice
And I have to ask questions.
Ps. I will take photos at the first opportunity.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

Your doing great!

 

[Flintstone]

I have used clips only twice, once on 80x
80 rectified and once on 60x60 rectified and I will use them everytime for rectified tiles of that size and beyond. I've not had to use any bent planks thankfully but I would use them if I had a job with Bent planks! Some people do go ott and use them on all tiles

 

[Andy Allen]

Antonio..... in this country if you tile a floor and the doors don't fit , you get one of them 'multi trades people' to cut the bottom off the door...

 

[LJD]

Clients pay for everything I list in my materials list ..Nothing is for free .But if I forget, then its down to me

 

[Flintstone]

Listing each material item separate with prices is the worst thing you can do when quoting!