Are the little cross shaped plastic tiling spacers you get supposed to be
left in situ and grouted over?

Nodge

Are the little cross shaped plastic tiling spacers you get supposed to be
left in situ and grouted over?

You can do either. You're supposed to put them in as corner pieces and grout
over. However, I find it easier to wedge them in the edges (2 per edge) and
remove before grouting. Otherwise, the tiles often ride up over the spacer,
wasting time as you try to remove it.

Christian.

"Nodge" wrote in message
...
Are the little cross shaped plastic tiling spacers you get supposed to be
left in situ and grouted over?

Yes


Nodge



At least I hope so :-)

The get fiddly sometimes and you have to cut bits off for teh edge ones but
the are WAY better than no spacers
at all. They automatically straighten everything up. Traditionally (I
think) folks used match sticks sticking out from
the wall between each pair of tiles which wre removed before grouting.

"Des Higgins" wrote in message
...

"Nodge" wrote in message
...
Are the little cross shaped plastic tiling spacers you get supposed to
be
left in situ and grouted over?
....snipped
Traditionally (I
think) folks used match sticks sticking out from
the wall between each pair of tiles which wre removed before grouting.


Some of us still do :-)

Dave S

On Wed, 8 Sep 2004 15:36:40 +0100, "Christian McArdle"
wrote:

Are the little cross shaped plastic tiling spacers you get supposed to be
left in situ and grouted over?

You can do either. You're supposed to put them in as corner pieces and grout
over. However, I find it easier to wedge them in the edges (2 per edge) and
remove before grouting. Otherwise, the tiles often ride up over the spacer,
wasting time as you try to remove it.

You're me you are. On even slightly uneven walls, they will get lost under
the tiles if used at corners, due to the thickness of the cement. Obviously
the key ones are at the bottom of each tile, as they are supporting some of
the tile's weight, and I always wedge these in, instead.

--
Never mind the facts - I know what I know!

Mail john rather than nospam...

Some of us still do :-)

I suppose I use the spacers, but use them like matchsticks.

Christian.

In article ,
Nodge wrote:
Are the little cross shaped plastic tiling spacers you get supposed to be
left in situ and grouted over?

It sort of depends. If you can remove them then do so. If they're wedged
so deep the grout will cover them then it doesn't seem to matter.

--
*The most common name in the world is Mohammed *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Christian McArdle" wrote in message
. net...
Some of us still do :-)

I suppose I use the spacers, but use them like matchsticks.

Christian.


Might be cheaper to use matches - bearing in mind that you could still use
them as matches afterwards.

Are the little cross shaped plastic tiling spacers you get supposed to be
left in situ and grouted over?

Funny, I never considered leaving them there! (although I see no reason why
not if they can be grouted over)

Des Higgins wrote:
Traditionally (I think) folks used match sticks sticking out
from the wall between each pair of tiles which wre removed
before grouting.

Matchsticks are not uniform enough... if your tiles vary much
in size this can be an advantage!


J.B.

Nodge wrote:
Are the little cross shaped plastic tiling spacers you get
supposed to be left in situ and grouted over?

Maybe. I never use them like that, as they can become displaced
and slip into the grout behind the tile, where they can be a
nuisance 'cos you can't level the tile by manipulating it. I
poke one "leg" of the spacer into the gap, using two spacers
per edge if need be. When the grout has gone off, I pull 'em
out, and can re-use them....


J.B.

Might be cheaper to use matches - bearing in mind that you could still use
them as matches afterwards.

I prefer to use the spacers. They're no more expensive that matches and can
also be reused afterwards, as spacers. They're less likely to burn the house
down if found by the kids, too!

Christian.

"Jerry Built" wrote in message
...
Des Higgins wrote:
Traditionally (I think) folks used match sticks sticking out
from the wall between each pair of tiles which wre removed
before grouting.

Matchsticks are not uniform enough... if your tiles vary much
in size this can be an advantage!


Fair enough; I like your suggestion to use the spacers instead of the
matchsticks but in teh same way (2 between each pair of tiles and sticking
out; one leg inserted).



J.B.

In article , Nodge wrote:
Are the little cross shaped plastic tiling spacers you get supposed to be
left in situ and grouted over?

The ones I've used have said on the packet that you can leave them in -
and thats what I've done - except at the edges when I've either removed
them or cut them off after the tile adhesive has set...

Heres is an intersting little funny tale ;-)

SWIMO chose tiles for our new bathroom from a local discount place -
so she went out to get them and I gave her instructions to get a big
bucket of tile glue and a small bag of spacers.

Back to skool time:

For 200 tiles, in a roughly 20x10 layout, how many spacers do you need?

The answer is appriximately one per tile plus 2 edges worth. So we're
looking at no more than 250 spacers.

SWIMBO comes back with a bucket of 3500 of the damn things.

What makes it worse is that I got a free bag of about 300 with the tile
cuter I ordered from Screwfix! Fortunately the shop saw the funny side
and refunded us for the bucket of spacers... (Although it has to be
said that the bucket was under a tenner)

SWIMBOs eh? What would we do without them... (Probably no bl@@dy tile
laying, thats for sure!!!)

Gordon

A tiler told me he used spaghetti (uncooked obviously !) as it is very
uniform and cheap.

Jerry Built wrote:

Des Higgins wrote:
Traditionally (I think) folks used match sticks sticking out
from the wall between each pair of tiles which wre removed
before grouting.

Matchsticks are not uniform enough... if your tiles vary much
in size this can be an advantage!

J.B.

Ric wrote:
"Christian McArdle" wrote in
message . net...
Some of us still do :-)

I suppose I use the spacers, but use them like matchsticks.

Christian.


Might be cheaper to use matches - bearing in mind that you could
still use them as matches afterwards.

I once saw a tiler using spaghetti (dry, not Heinz tinned - that wouldn't be
half as effective) for spacers. He reckoned a 25p packet lasted years.

Si

On Wed, 8 Sep 2004 15:46:14 +0100, Christian McArdle wrote:

I suppose I use the spacers, but use them like matchsticks.

Looks like most people use spacers but as matches.

I have used 'em in corners but getting one lodged under a tile is a
right PITA. Currently in match mode in the cottage kitchen but that
its partly down to thin tiles and there wouldn't be much grout over
the top of them. However I doubt I'll ever use 'em in the corners
again.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

I once saw a tiler using spaghetti

I like that idea; I reckon some of the plastic ones are a bit too thick.

Nodge wrote:

Are the little cross shaped plastic tiling spacers you get supposed to be
left in situ and grouted over?

Nodge


Up to you.

Whenever I'm tiling, I use the box that the tiles come in - chopped up into
about 20mm squares - they stick right out, but can be pulled out simply the
next day. AFAIK this is the method the pro's use.
I get (near) perfect results.

Hugh

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"Nodge" wrote in message
...
Are the little cross shaped plastic tiling spacers you get supposed to be
left in situ and grouted over?

Nodge