PLM not snapped in right place stuck in grout lines HELP!

[ajpercival]

Afternoon all

Perfect Level Master first time tiling went for the best (highly rated on here). Worked wall so far just come to knock them out with a rubber mallet and we’ll some haven’t exactly broken in the right place leaving plastic bits protruding through the grout lines (see pic). Most have snapped off fine but can’t help but think this has messed my job right up.

Is there any solution to get these out??

I tried with a stanly knife but well chipped a tile 😭. Can’t be doing that all over the wall.

Help please has this happened to anyone else?

Ps I’ve noticed you really have to smash them from the side to get the snap in the right place, but I think I was too gentle for these first lot.

 

[Phone-a-tiler]

Clips and wedges need to be really tight. Always hit across the wedge firmly or they wont break fully. Never with the wedge. Hitting softly softens the plastic. Clear glue around clip as well

 

[Joe8189]

Hey AJ
It does happen, but not the end of the world. They always need to be clean around the clip before you tighten the wedge. If there is excess adhesive, use a paint brush and water to wash around the clip before inserting and tightening the wedge. The edge of the tiles also needs to be clean after you back butter the tile.
I use the squeezer to get even pressure on the wedge. There is a slight chance of the tile moving but a light tap keeps them nice and tight.
A lot of the purists on here won't use them and to be honest you can always tell when they havent been used no matter how good you are. I'm also not ashamed to own up to using the leveler system as it always gives a nice clean flat surface.
With your current dilema, the best way to remove the plastic clip is to use a Fen saw with a grout cleaning blade. It basicaly removes the plastic without damaging the tiles.
Good luck.

 

[ajpercival]

Hey AJ
It does happen, but not the end of the world. They always need to be clean around the clip before you tighten the wedge. If there is excess adhesive, use a paint brush and water to wash around the clip before inserting and tightening the wedge. The edge of the tiles also needs to be clean after you back butter the tile.
I use the squeezer to get even pressure on the wedge. There is a slight chance of the tile moving but a light tap keeps them nice and tight.
A lot of the purists on here won't use them and to be honest you can always tell when they havent been used no matter how good you are. I'm also not ashamed to own up to using the leveler system as it always gives a nice clean flat surface.
With your current dilema, the best way to remove the plastic clip is to use a Fen saw with a grout cleaning blade. It basicaly removes the plastic without damaging the tiles.
Good luck.

Hi Joe

Excellent thanks for the reply! I’ve used about 50 of these spacers/levellers and only about 8 haven’t snapped in the right place when removing which is frustrating. Funnily enough there the first 8 or so tiles I installed so I got the knack of it eventually! So scared of chipping the tiles as I’m a perfectionist but sure there is an easy ‘repair’ for the chips once I come to grouting (still have 3 walls to tile). I have a multitool with grout attachment and also a manual grout scraper etc so guess I will have to endure hours of tedious work sorting this out.
Shame as confident the rest of the tiles look good, for my first attempt.
Is there a good method/product to repair chips in ceramic tiles (white)?

 

[Phone-a-tiler]

Nail polish for small chip if the tiles not at eye level