Floor Tile Lippage problem?

UK Tiling Forum; Established 2006

Welcome to the UK Tiling Forum by TilersForums.com, built in 2006 by Tilers, run by Tilers.

View all of the UK tiling forum threads, questions and discussions here.

Tilers Forums Official Sponsors

A

Akhter

Does anyone ever have a proble with floor tile lippage?

Ive laid a few floor without to much problem but sometimes i think Lippage is a bit of a problem on some floors, I dont meen the floor looks like its got steps but a few lips im not hapy with.

I use a level, and timber to check it but still get a few lips even on nice new level concrete floors.

Anyone got any pointers, or know where ive gone wrong.

Much appreciated
 
Does anyone ever have a proble with floor tile lippage?

Ive laid a few floor without to much problem but sometimes i think Lippage is a bit of a problem on some floors, I dont meen the floor looks like its got steps but a few lips im not hapy with.

I use a level, and timber to check it but still get a few lips even on nice new level concrete floors.

Anyone got any pointers, or know where ive gone wrong.

Much appreciated
Press the tile into place...butt up to the next one you dont want it to lipp against....and run your hand across them to see if they are flush....if not take appropriate evasive action....Gaz
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Cheers Gaz,
thats what tried doing but dont know why that floor didnt go well still got enough lips on it to irritate the hell out of me.

Could it be possible the tiles in the row to the right as i was laying them werent sitting 100% level so the next left tile was protrudeing? if you follow me
 
Were you using a flooring or wall trowel...which type, and how big were the tiles mate ?
 
After lots of similar frustration I've come to the conclusion that there is only a very small amount you can do with adhesive to correct poor floors.
If you want a flat tiled surface, you've got to start with a flat substrate.
Large format brick bond is always going to present problems unless your floor is mirror flat (or you dot n dab:joker🙂
I HATE brick bond:furious3:
 
Always check with large level or straight edge how flat it really is in all directions...
 
I was using thick bed floor trowel, large format porcelain tiles and the floor looked flat as a pancake,
but id swear some tiles just wouldnt level out even after spending ages messing around with them and checking with level etc
 
I was using thick bed floor trowel, large format porcelain tiles and the floor looked flat as a pancake,
but id swear some tiles just wouldnt level out even after spending ages messing around with them and checking with level etc
Sometimes with this size of tile..(the larger the worse it gets) the manufacturing process slightly dishes the tiles one way or the other, so lining them up flush and attaining a solid bed are more difficult......
 
i had the same problem a few weeks back (some tiles lipped..) was laying large format brickbond method, tho after lifting and replacing ones i wasnt happy with all was well, teach me a lesson to check levels properly and self level beforehand! would have saved so much time :yes:
 
A few years ago a customer had bought some large format porcelain cheap at an auction and half the boxes were ramped as if the pulled them too soon from the mold and they had a nice little curve on one side.
It wasn't enough to warrant scrapping them, but it was tough to install.
I butted the curved sides together and used them in the bdrms and along the walls as cuts.

Brick bond is a tough go sometimes isn't it.

If you know the height that your tile will be bedded down to you could get a wee strip of plywood or something that is that height and put it on the side where you have no tile so as to get your height right on that side.
Make sure that you scrape the mud out from under the board before you use it as a guide or you will get a false level.
The other end you just butt the tile up against the other one and work it down until it is flush.
I've never used this method, but if your having troubles it might do the trick.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I used to find PTB was the best for laying large format tiles. Don't forget large porcelain tiles can suffer from distortion (Planimetric Tolerances) as well. Its always worth checking Large Format porcelain for flatness especially if they are cheapos:thumbsup:

Kev
 
Alberta Stone I like that method cant see how it could go wrong.
Tiling logistics what do you mena by PTB?
Thinking i need to go on another tiling course even though Ive been at an NVQ level 2 course.

I was convinced some of the tiles had a bow/curve on one side,theyveeen on sale at the tile shop for well over a year. I know because I fitted the same ones in my folks house with a lot less hassle about a year before, maybe the shops buying in cheap batches cause there isnt mutch chance of the same tiles being sold a year later with new styles comeing in etc.
 
Start with a good quality non-slump floor addy and follow the directions to the letter in regards to water you add then when you start fixing you simply have to be fussy as you go. there is no real easy way just lots and lots of patience and practice. and soon you will get your first mirror flat floor.:thumbsup: If your laying large format tiles don't get greeding in thinking about how much you can fix work on about 5-7m2 per day and get them perfect.:thumbsup:
 
Alberta Stone I like that method cant see how it could go wrong.
Tiling logistics what do you mena by PTB?
Thinking i need to go on another tiling course even though Ive been at an NVQ level 2 course.

I was convinced some of the tiles had a bow/curve on one side,theyveeen on sale at the tile shop for well over a year. I know because I fitted the same ones in my folks house with a lot less hassle about a year before, maybe the shops buying in cheap batches cause there isnt mutch chance of the same tiles being sold a year later with new styles comeing in etc.

PTB = Pourable Thick Bed

I explained this in my previous post about the bows and curves on large format tiles! It becomes a real headache if you have to lay brickbond:thumbsup:

Kev
 
when im doing large format tiles brickbond i price for twice the amount of adhesive and lay with solid bed levelling each tile thus avoiding any high spots mind you them 600x600 porscelain are hard work
 
After lots of similar frustration I've come to the conclusion that there is only a very small amount you can do with adhesive to correct poor floors.
If you want a flat tiled surface, you've got to start with a flat substrate.
Large format brick bond is always going to present problems unless your floor is mirror flat (or you dot n dab:joker🙂
I HATE brick bond:furious3:


AKA the basket weave effect.:mad2:
 
Press the tile into place...butt up to the next one you dont want it to lipp against....and run your hand across them to see if they are flush....if not take appropriate evasive action....Gaz

thats exactly what i do on, i had the same problem in a way when i first started tiling but eventually i got rid of the lips nothing worse than seeing lips in tiling

try and make sure your floor is flat as possible to prevent any problems ive worked on rough floors before and its much easier to get it flat with prep work its all about prepartion
 
hi mate , i am qualified to level 2 city & guilds wall and floor tiling and also have a technical nvq level 2 in tiling , ive just laid 60 sq mts of porceline tiles and have been called back due to the customers not happy with 5 / 6 lipping tiles, even though i told the builder that unless the floor is 1000% flat and level , and i mean like a plaster finish level, l that there is a high chance of slightly lipping tiles, the builder then asked me to lay them brick bond even though i advised against this. he didnt listen and just said , "its ok mate just crack on". everything has a tolerance level and most porceline tiles have a 0.03 of a mm tolerance so if you pick an odd 2 tile you could possibly have a 0.06mm difference, aswell as having a bad substrate which never helps. also brick bond is the worst thing you can do with large porceline tiles anything above a 12"x12" really takes a lot of time and checking . even with all my advise and qualification some people just will never be happy eg🙁 the customer thats just called me back even though i have advised against everything the builder wanted) , the only thing i have found is to use weber adhesive , some of webers floor adhesive is none slumping so it stays exactly how you put it on the floor. i find mapia is one of the worst adhesives to use, but thats my own opinion. i also find that using a triangle serator gives you 100% tile coverage and helps elimination with lipping tiles hope this helps mate
 
also be careful of air lock..The thicker the adhesive gets the more chance you can trap air that causes lippage when tiles are compressed etc.make sure adhesive is all notched in the same direction.
 

Advertisement

Thread Information

Title
Floor Tile Lippage problem?
Prefix
N/A
Forum
UK Tiling Forum
Start date
Last reply date
Replies
28

Advertisement

UK Tiling Forum

Thread statistics

Created
Akhter,
Last reply from
tilerjason,
Replies
28
Views
26,629

Thread statistics

Created
Akhter,
Last reply from
tilerjason,
Replies
28
Views
26,629
Back