Ceramic Tile Lippage

Lippage is a condition wherein the edge of one tile is higher than the nearby tile.

Ceramic tile lippage. For a paver tile commonly used on floors the allowable warpage is defined as follows. A damaged subfloor is often the cause of lippage when you re laying out large floor tiles. Tile lippage is the vertical displacement between the edges of two adjoining tiles. Large ceramic porcelain or stone floor tiles add beauty and luxury to a home design.

The tile planks don t form a flat surface. According to wiktionary lippage is an uneven surface of a floor that occurs when stone or tiles are not laid to a uniform level if you look at the image above notice how some tiles seem higher than others. That s an extreme case of lippage. From this formula the allowable warpage can be determined.

The tiles are spaced evenly in width but spaced differently in height. Simply put the tiles are set at different levels meaning that they are spaced evenly in width but not in height. The no lippage solutions will level your tiles making sure there is no lippage or uneven tiles during installation or curing. When measured as described in astm c 485 the warpage of each tile in the sample shall not exceed 1 0 percent along any edge nor 0 75 percent on either diagonal.

Tile lippage is not only aesthetically displeasing but it also creates problems at home. Another compounding factor contributing to excessive lippage is the degree of tile warpage. Many modern tiles are much larger than before particularly those rectangle shapes whose long to short side ratios can be extreme. Not only that it looks bad but lippage can also lead to numerous problems.

Unfortunately with such dramatic eye appeal comes the risk of lippage the difference in height between the. Faster easier less expensive and delivering a perfect smooth flat finish every time. If a tile is not quite flat extra care must be taken when laying to avoid lipping. For ceramic tiles which includes porcelain tiles they are allowed to have 1 mm of lippage plus the actual warpage in the tile which is normally about 1 mm for grout joint widths between 2 to 7 mm.

There are special adhesives available for these large format tiles that will minimize this issue. This means warpage can cause unavoidable lippage or as discussed later in this article the perception of such a condition. This creates an uneven surface to your floor tiles.