Is My Tiling Bad? How to Spot Lippage and What's Actually Acceptable

If you are standing in your bathroom or kitchen running your hand over new tiles and feeling little ridges where one tile sits higher than the next, you are noticing lippage. A small, even amount is normal and is allowed for in the British Standard. Pronounced, uneven lippage that catches your hand or throws shadow lines under the light is not, and it usually means the preparation or the setting-out was rushed. This is how to tell the difference, so you know whether you are being fussy or whether you have a fair case to raise.

Key takeaways

• Lippage is the height step between neighbouring tile edges. A little is normal.
• The British Standard sets tolerances, not perfection. Consistency is the real test.
• Most lippage comes from the substrate and the prep, not the tiles.
• Widespread lippage usually means a redo, not a quick fix.

A demanding circular floor pattern. Work like this is only possible on a flat, properly prepared substrate, and it shows instantly when the setting-out is true. Complex setting-out service

What lippage actually is

Lippage is the small step you can feel where the edge of one tile sits proud of the one next to it. You notice it two ways: by touch, as a ridge under your hand, and by sight, as a shadow line when light rakes across the surface at a low angle. That low-light shadow test is the one most people miss and the one that shows the most.

A floor or wall is never atomically flat. Tiles have tiny variations, and so does the surface behind them. The question is never “is there any lippage” but “is it small and even, or obvious and inconsistent.”

What the British Standard actually says

People reach for “the British Standard” as if it promises a perfectly flat surface. It does not. BS 5385, which governs wall and floor tiling in the UK, sets out tolerances. It accepts that some variation is part of a real installation and gives allowable limits rather than demanding a mirror.

The practical reading is this. A well-laid surface should have variation small enough that you would struggle to see it in normal room light, and consistent across the whole area. The standard also recognises that some tiles show more than others, which matters for how you judge your own job.

Why big tiles and offset patterns show more

Two things naturally increase visible lippage, and neither is a fault on its own:

• Large format tiles. Bigger tiles are more prone to slight warp across their length, so the centre and edges can sit at marginally different heights. They need back-buttering and often a levelling clip system to lay flat. See large format tiles, what to know.
• Brick-bond and offset layouts. When tiles are laid offset, the high point at the centre of one tile sits next to the edge of its neighbour, so any warp shows at the joint. This is why a 50 percent offset on a long tile is the layout most likely to reveal lippage. See herringbone versus straight lay.

If your tiler used a large format or strongly offset layout, a little more visible variation is expected, not necessarily poor work.

So is mine acceptable?

Use three quick tests:

1. The hand test. Run your palm flat across the joints. Even, barely-there transitions are fine. Sharp ridges that catch your hand are not.
2. The light test. Turn off the main light and use a torch or phone light low and across the surface. Even shadowing is normal. Some joints throwing hard shadows while others sit flat points to inconsistent bedding.
3. The consistency test. Step back. Occasional, even variation across the whole area is acceptable. A few tiles clearly standing proud while the rest sit flush is the signature of rushed laying or patchy adhesive coverage.

If it fails the hand test and the light test in several places, you are not being fussy.

What causes it, and why that matters for the fix

Almost every case of bad lippage traces back to preparation, not the tiles:

• An uneven substrate that was never levelled before tiling.
• Inconsistent adhesive coverage, so tiles bedded to different depths. Proper solid-bed coverage is what prevents this.
• Laying too fast, before the bed could be tapped level.
• Large format tiles laid without back-buttering or a levelling system.
• Natural warp on cheaper or handmade tiles that the layout never allowed for.

This is why widespread lippage rarely has a tidy fix. If the substrate or the coverage was wrong across the room, lifting a few tiles does not solve it, and tile removal tends to damage the neighbours and the bed. Isolated proud tiles can sometimes be relaid, but honest advice on a whole bad floor is usually a redo done properly. See why tiles crack for the related failure that often shows up alongside lippage.

If you think your tiling is not right

Get it looked at in person. A photo rarely shows lippage well, because the whole point is that it depends on touch and raking light. I assess tiling across Bromley, Beckenham, Orpington, Chislehurst, and West Wickham, including remedial work where a previous job has failed or fallen short. If you have a new floor or wall you are not happy with, get in touch and I will tell you honestly whether it is within tolerance or whether you have a fair case to challenge.

See: how to tell good tiling from bad tiling | why tiles crack | large format tiles, what to know