Hello. Has anyone had any issues with Southern Cross tiles having the glaze chip when removing spacers before grouting?
Hi @middytron, welcome to the community.
Chipping of the edges can occur if the tiles are pushed hard against a spacer, meaning they are very tight to remove, thus placing a significant force on the tile’s edge when the spacer is removed.
Alternatively, if the spacers are left in place until the tile adhesive is fully cured, say removed immediately before grouting, the amount of force needed to remove the spacer increases, increasing the likelihood of the edge being chipped. It is best to remove spacers before the adhesive fully cures:
Using a tool to remove tight or spacers in cured adhesive, can also result in chipping as the force on the tile can be a point force. This means the force used to remove the spacer is concentrated on one point, and if this is close to a tile’s edge, lead to chipping.
If the tiles had a fault, say under-fired making the tile ‘softer’ than it would otherwise be, the tile would chip relatively easily when handled and placed. Any contact with the edge could lead to the potential for chipping.
I have done DIY tiling (e.g. kitchen splash backs, toilet floor, laundry floor) using spacers and haven’t had problems with edge chipping using the methods outlined above. The only time I have caused very minor chipping is when regrouting…when the grout removal tool accidentally touches the tile edge during use. I have found, by experience, this can be reduced (almost eliminated) by using timber guides to protect the edge when removing grout which is located hard against the tile’s edge.
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