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How to Use Them : Two Opposing Methods
The typical tile spacer has a cross shape. Depending on how you look at across, you can emphasize either of the following characteristics :
It has four corners
It has four corners.It has aprojection that sticks out in each of the four different directions (up, down, left, right)
For this reason, there are two schools of thought on how to use tile spacers. One takes its cue from what we might call the "four corners" perspective. Using this perspective, you would:
Lay down four tiles to form a square.
Insert a tile spacer at the intersection where these four tiles meet. The spacer will lie down flat on the ground using this method.
Fit a corner of each piece of tile snugly into the corresponding corner of the tile spacer.
Here is the problem with this method. After you grout the tiles, it will be very hard to remove the spacers. Removing them is preferable to letting them remain behind because the spacers are taking up space that you would rather have occupied by grout.
Thus the attraction of the method favored by the second school of thought, which we can call the "projection" method. People who use this method simply jam one of the four projections on a tile spacer in between two pieces of tile. Typically, they will use two tile spacers per side. Since a piece of tile has four sides, you would use eight tile spacers around it.
This second method is somewhat counter-intuitive because you are not using the whole tile spacer (since you are setting it on end, a portion of it will be sticking up, unused). But, again, you will be able to remove the tile spacers (as long as you pull them out before the grout is completely dry) this way, which is considered a sounder approach.
How to Use Them : Two Opposing Methods
The typical tile spacer has a cross shape. Depending on how you look at across, you can emphasize either of the following characteristics :
It has four corners
It has four corners.It has aprojection that sticks out in each of the four different directions (up, down, left, right)
For this reason, there are two schools of thought on how to use tile spacers. One takes its cue from what we might call the "four corners" perspective. Using this perspective, you would:
Lay down four tiles to form a square.
Insert a tile spacer at the intersection where these four tiles meet. The spacer will lie down flat on the ground using this method.
Fit a corner of each piece of tile snugly into the corresponding corner of the tile spacer.
Here is the problem with this method. After you grout the tiles, it will be very hard to remove the spacers. Removing them is preferable to letting them remain behind because the spacers are taking up space that you would rather have occupied by grout.
Thus the attraction of the method favored by the second school of thought, which we can call the "projection" method. People who use this method simply jam one of the four projections on a tile spacer in between two pieces of tile. Typically, they will use two tile spacers per side. Since a piece of tile has four sides, you would use eight tile spacers around it.
This second method is somewhat counter-intuitive because you are not using the whole tile spacer (since you are setting it on end, a portion of it will be sticking up, unused). But, again, you will be able to remove the tile spacers (as long as you pull them out before the grout is completely dry) this way, which is considered a sounder approach.
