If you have ever installed ceramic tile, you know that it has its challenges. Getting all the tiles perfectly aligned and on the same plane can be tough. Fortunately, there are things that can make it easier.
For the alignment, you can certainly use the spacers. These are pretty foolproof. You lay down a tile, place a spacer at each corner, and install the next tile. This will keep them straight. But what if one side of the tile ends up higher than the other side?
It doesn’t take much height difference to be noticeable. I’m not talking about a trip-and-fall hazard, but rather a slight difference that you can tell as an installer.
When you have finished laying the tile, and before the grout is installed, the floor looks terrible. It is the grout that pulls it all together. So when you are grouting the area with the height difference, pull the float from the low side to the high side. This will clean up the area and make the height difference blend in somewhat. Float the area at an angle and as the float comes off of the high side, it will give it a nice appearance. If you go from the high spot to the low spot, it tends to overfill the joint and will draw attention to it.