I don't lay the spacers down flat. I stand them on end in the correct
orientation, use more of them, and they are easy to pluck out before
grouting. They don't have to be at the corners to properly align the tiles
if you use two per side. This way you can use them over and over again.
Placing them after laying the tiles lets you squirm the tile to seat and
level it to the others. I just finished grouting a bathroom this morning,
and used a flexible 3" putty knife, along with a drywall coumpound tray, to
force cuts of grout into the cracks to keep from scratching the marble tiles
with the normal method. After a little setup time, a damp sponge was all
that was needed to diagonally clean the grout lines. I tried this for the
first time on this room, and I really liked the process and the results.

RJ

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news:8Plme.1041$rp.233@fed1read02...
Hello,

this one sounds obvious but I've already seen differences between what I
read in books and what is common practice so I figured I'd ask.

Getting ready to install porcelain floor tiles. We're going to use those
little plastic spacers to establish grout lines. It clearly says on the
package to remove the spacers prior to grouting. There is a tool
especially
made for removing these things.

Installer (or perhaps soon to be ex-installer) says he plans on just
leaving
them in and grouting on top of them. This seems crazy to me. Is this
commonly done?

thanks for comments
ml