Tile leveling clips - GIF

[Jon]

Tile leveling clips.



Previously:

Space shuttle thermal tile - GIF and video
Traditional tile manufacturing by hand - GIF
Tiled access panel - GIF

[olderdan]

O Boy I could have used those a few times in the past, with floor tiles getting bigger and bigger these days less that a perfect base is a real problem. Certainly beats the tread boards I used to use.

[Drew1966]

Lash clips, such as those shown here, have the major problem that they tend to lift tiles up to level them which creates voids under tiles, leading to a much shorter life for the floor.

[Jon]

Is there a way to use them so the lifting action is minimized? Also, it looks like there's a piece of plastic left embedded in the mortar; do those cause ghosting?

[Drew1966]

Is there a way to use them so the lifting action is minimized? Also, it looks like there's a piece of plastic left embedded in the mortar; do those cause ghosting?

I have tried them before many times and the only way I have ever found to not have tiles lifting is to not use lash clips. As to the remaining plastic foot, if you grout them correctly, the client won’t know they are there as only the foot remains.
Like most jobs, do it properly or pay a skilled professional.

[Drew1966]

If the surface to be tiled is prepared correctly in the first place (liquid leveller comes to mind) and the adhesive spread evenly, then your tiles should look a million bucks.

[Rorschach]

Strikes me as a bad idea, voids and extra thick bedding compound sounds like a recipe for cracked tiles.

[Drew1966]

Strikes me as a bad idea, voids and extra thick bedding compound sounds like a recipe for cracked tiles.

Exactly. There are people who claim to be able to use lash clips properly but when you check the work afterward, there are always voids.

[Frank S]

My house has an addition to it and part of the kitchen floor is slab part is beam with wood decking I put down a double layer of cement backer board to help stiffen and level out the floor prior to laying the tile. TO do this I first stripped the floor to the decking and concrete poured construction adhesive over the entire floor as I laid the 1x2 meter backer board then over the wood portion screwed it down on a 20 cm x 20 cm pattern.Then spread adhesive over that for the 2nd layer of backer board, then the tile adhesive and the tiles which were 1/4 meter sq. It didn't come out perfect but good enough for a 50 year old house. I would have preferred to use 200 mm sq or smaller tiles, but the guy doesn't always get to choose the color texture or size.
Now she thinks she wants tile chips for the bathroom walls OUCH! I have been balking on that for 2 years now.

[Jon]

Interesting. I did something similar for our hearth. Under the tile, I used two layers of cement backer board with expanded metal sheet between them, to act as a shock absorber.