Spent $80 on a tile leveling system that just made things worse

I was tiling my kitchen backsplash in Phoenix and figured the spin doctors were a must have. Watched a couple videos where they looked foolproof. After 3 rows I had to rip half of them out because the clips were snapping off inside the gaps. Ended up using a straight edge and old school spacers like my grandpa showed me. Has anyone else had a bad experience with those spin leveling systems or did I just get a cheap knockoff?

3 comments

3 Comments

patricialee2mo ago

Maybe it's just me but I see people stressing over tile leveling systems all the time and honestly it seems like more trouble than it's worth. @the_nathan is right that spin doctors are overpriced junk, but even the expensive ones probably cause just as many headaches. A straight edge and some old school spacers have been working fine for decades and nobody's kitchen fell apart because of it. I mean, pulling out half your work to fix snapped clips sounds way worse than just taking an extra five minutes per row with the old method. Sometimes the simple way is the better way even if it doesn't look as cool on YouTube.

the_nathan2mo ago

Spin doctors are overpriced junk, honestly.

ivanross2mo ago

Wait, did you see the video where the guy snaps his spin doctor on the first tile and just stands there staring at his dented floor for like five minutes straight? That's gonna be me, I can already feel it. I've got two left thumbs and a habit of buying tools that look cool but then I can't figure out the instructions without watching a thirty minute tutorial. I tried a knockoff leveling system once and ended up with tiles that looked like a rollercoaster track, so maybe the expensive ones are just as bad but at least you feel fancy while you're messing up. Honestly, I think I'd rather just stick with my crooked spacers and a level I borrowed from my dad that's been dropped too many times. At least then when the floor is wavy, I can blame it on the old tools instead of my own incompetence.