That one tile spacer trick that saved my kitchen backsplash

I was laying subway tile in my kitchen in Phoenix last month and kept fighting with lippage no matter how many leveling clips I used. An old tiler named Joe who was working on a house three doors down came over to borrow my chalk line. He saw me struggling and said, "You're using too much thinset on the back, try a 1/4 inch notch trowel instead." I switched to that smaller notch and suddenly my tiles sat flat without any rocking. Those clips went from fighting me to just holding things steady. Has anyone else had a random neighbor walk over with a tip that completely changed their process?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_fiona17d ago

That 1/4 inch notch tip is gold, I read somewhere that most DIYers go too big on their trowel size and it causes nothing but headaches... I think I saw it on a tile forum actually.

gavin_kim317d ago

Hold up. People are actually using a 1/4 inch trowel and getting good results? I've always run a 1/2 inch square notch for everything. That 1/4 inch sounds tiny, feels like asking for zero coverage on big tiles. But if the coverage is good then I guess I've been wasting thinset for years. That is a legit headache he's talking about. Too big a notch and you're fighting lippage and clean up forever. Might have to try the small notch on my next backsplash just to see.