Ceramic Tile Lippage Standards

Long narrow tiles are used.

Ceramic tile lippage standards.

Narrow grout joints may look pleasing to the eyes but it increases the chance of tile lippage. Rectangular tiles are harder to lay flat. This is assuming that the warpage of the tile is within the standard s acceptable range for that type of tile. It states for grout joints that are less than 6 mm 1 4 in wide.

Too narrow grout joints. The allowance for such warpage is also spelled out in a137 1 and would apply if your tiles are advertised as meeting that standard. For large tiles exhibiting the maximum allowable warpage 50 offsets are guaranteed to exhibit lippage. Variation in the height of adjoining tiles is called lippage.

There are tolerances for tile lippage. The ansi a108 02 standards say that acceptable lippage for floor tiles with a grout joint width of 1 16 to less than 1 4 is 1 32 plus the allowable inherent warpage of the tile. A bad batch of tiles tends to show lippage more. I just had a complete remodel of my bathroom contractors are using 12 x 24 porcelain tiles.

When the specification for ceramic tile american national standard was first revised in 1988 large format tiles were 8 in by 8 in and 12 in by 12 in. Lippage is the vertical displacement between two adjacent tiles of a ceramic glass or stone installation. They are telling me it is within the standard based on the tile warpage. Some types of tiles also curve as much as 0 5 the length of the tile such as polished porcelain tiles.

If the grout joint width is 1 4 or greater then the allowable warpage is 1 16 plus the allowable inherent warpage of the tile. This is defined in the ansi american national standards institute standard a108 02 section 4 3 7. To address this on a practical basis some manufacturers recommend against any patterns with offsets in excess of 33 if the tile being used has an edge larger than 18 inches. When excessive this can lead to numerous problems ranging from chipped edges to snagged furnishings and appliances to safety hazards.

Lippage refers to differences in elevation between edges of adjacent tile modules the ansi standard notes that the perception of lippage is influenced by many factors such as. For your tile size and joint width presuming no offset the maximum allowable difference in elevation between tiles lippage is 1 32nd of an inch in addition to the inherent warpage of the individual tiles. Today however the ceramic tile industry has grown far more complicated as 12 in by 24 in 18 in by 18 in 24 in by 24 in and larger tiles are manufactured in abundance. Materials environmental and workmanship section 4 3 7 lippage guidelines explanation and caution deals with what is allowable ceramic tile lippage and how to avoid excessive lippage.