b'TECH TALK very small amount of size variationhowtodealwithit,andalack allowed for rectifi ed tile, per ANSIofqualifi edinstallersdespitethe A137.1, as compared to tile clas- availabilityofinformationand sifi edascalibratedtile,whichisinstructionavailable,especially allowed more variation.online. Or, perhaps installers know better, but are working at rates that Rectifi ed tile has lessunquestionably require speed over size variation, stipu-lated by ANSI A137.1,precision. Is there a lack of willing-compared to cali- nessbyhomeownersandGCsto brated tile, for whichpurchase installation excellence more size variation is allowed.thatexcludesthosewhowould take the time and make the effort to Tileclassifi edasnaturalhasmake aesthetic adjustments?veryintentionalsizevariationforOnecanonlyspeculate.Most aesthetic purposes and is allowedinspectionreportsaddressonly thegreatestamount,andmanywhetheraninstallationdoesor tiles have even greater intentionaldoes not meet industry standards. variationandfalloutsidethetileWhenitdoesnot,thecommon standard completely.presumptionisthatinstallererror But spacers themselves arent theiswhollytoblame.Butadeep-enemy. They can be combined, orer-diving,lessblack-and-white adjustablevarietiescanbeused,assessment might reveal signifi cant to produce a good end result evenculpabilityofhomeownersand when there is signifi cant size varia- GCs choosing not to hire qualifi ed tion in the tile.labor. Itsanimportantquestionfor theindustry.PerhapsWoelfels spacer-relatedobservationsarea microcosm.Doesanincreasein improperspacerusesignalwors-ening undervaluation of craftwork-ers and trade work? We should try to fi nd out. Spacers used in combination to give tileIfmisalignedtileduetospacer with purposeful size variation a consistentuserefl ectsashrinkingwilling-overall appearance. ness to purchase trade excellence, could we trace the lack of qualifi ed Exploring the cause of the issuelabor back to that lack of demand? TherootcauseoftheissueisCoulditbeconsideredalabor debatable. Perhaps there is a lackmarket correction, i.e., a general-of awareness of size variation andized lowering of output quality that 78 TileLetter | May 2019'