Heard a guy at the hardware store say tile levels are a scam

I was grabbing some grout last Saturday and this older contractor was telling his buddy that those spinny tile leveling systems are just a way to waste $40 on plastic clips. I've been using them on my bathroom floor in Austin and honestly, my tiles came out way flatter than when I did my kitchen with just wedges. Am I missing something or is he just stuck in his old ways?

2 comments

2 Comments

noahs821mo ago

Not quite right about the wedges though. Those little plastic wedges and a rubber mallet worked fine for square tiles with even edges, but try that with rectified porcelain that has zero lippage tolerance and you'll see the problem fast. The spinny systems pull the edges flush in a way that wedges just can't manage when you're dealing with tiles that have slight warpage. I learned that the hard way on a herringbone pattern where the wedges left me with a 1/16 inch high corner on every other tile.

margaret_nelson1mo ago

...and I mean, is it really that serious? I used the spinny ones on a backsplash and yeah they worked fine but my dad did his whole house with those little plastic wedges and a rubber mallet forty years ago and it still looks good. I think people get too caught up in the tools and forget the basics like making sure your subfloor is flat in the first place. Not saying they're a scam but a leveling system won't fix a bad prep job.