Leveling System Comparison

[jwil04]

I know that there are probably 200 posts on here asking about leveling systems and I have searched and read several threads to try and research. Many of these posts are 3+ years old and there seems to be so many different options.

Has anybody put together a comparison chart between the commonly used leveling systems out there that quickly shows the differences between costs, ease of use, additional tools required, other pros/cons, etc.? I doubt that somebody has this put together, but I figured I would at least ask.

[rmckee84]

No such list that I'm aware of. But if you have specific questions we can help you out.

[Houston Remodeler]

Add the factors of local availability and the types of tiles one would be installing.

For typical porcelain or ceramic tiles LASH, TLS, spin doctor, Raimondi, or any of the wedge and clip types are fine.

For marble and soft surface tiles MLS works best

For very large tile sheets >48" MLS is the leader.

[jwil04]

I will be using Tarsus Matte Almond 12x24 from F&D. The thickness is 3/8". I will be tiling shower walls only of roughly 100 square feet. I plan on using drywall with the schluter kerdi membrane and hopefully a 50/50 offset.

https://www.flooranddecor.com/porcel...almond&start=2

[Houston Remodeler]

Are the tile flat enough for a 50/50 offset?

[jwil04]

I am not sure yet as I only have one tile. I will need to get a few more and do the "sandwich test" as I saw a few people mention on the board. Is there another method that can determine if these tiles will work doing a 50/50?

[Lazarus]

Jared. You can certainly "eyeball" a tile to check for bowing...and this is OK....but having two of them, face-to-face is much better. Bear in mind that a VERY flat substrate is also essential. 1/8" flat over 10 feet is the golden standard.

[Eric Woollen]

I used Perfect Level Master T-LOCK system which is readily available at both Amazon and dibsmart. Mine was a similar job using polished 12x24 porcelain. They were great and very durable. I used a 1/3 offset and couldn't be happier with the look.


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[jwil04]

Thanks for the input, Eric. Did you happen to take any pictures? I'm curious to see how your 1/3 offset turned out.

[Eric Woollen]

Still a work in progress but almost done!



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[jwil04]

Wow, that looks great.

Can anybody explain how the 1/3 offset corrects potential lippage when comparing to the 1/2 offset? Is it that drastic of a difference?

[Houston Remodeler]

With a bowed tile, 50% offset will show the lippage the most because;

The low spot of the lower wall tile (the side edge) will be aligned with the high spot of the upper wall tile (the center of the tile). Still with me?

When offsetting this lippage is reduced, until the tiles are stacked directly over each other.

[jwil04]

Thanks, that makes perfect sense. How valid is just looking at two tiles to verify the flatness integrity when there could be variations across any of the tiles in the lot? I suppose I would look at more than just two tiles when using 200 tiles for a job.

[Houston Remodeler]

grab 10 at random from different boxes

Lay 5 face up

Lay 5 face down, one on each of the 5 facing up

compare the bow between the 5 piles

[jadnashua]

Some tile are VERY flat, but they are not the norm. If you don't check, you're likely to have issues.