# QEP Bullseye spacer mod for running bond subway tile



## diy888 (Jan 18, 2009)

QEP makes a round spacer they call the Bullseye, which lets you clearly see the place where the tiles meet at the corners. It has two sides, with a different grout-joint thickness on each side.

Its design prevents you from pushing it too deeply into the grout joint, and it is easy to remove. It's not available as a T-spacer for use with running-bond pattern on subway tile, yet with two quick snips it can be quickly turned into one. You end up with a horse-shoe shape, with the vertical spacer on the top of the arch and a horizontal spacer near the end of each "leg". And the leftover piece is not wasted. You can use it as a spacer where the walls meet. In fact, QEP includes a small bag of pieces similar to the leftover piece, for just that purpose.

I think it's a better solution for subway tile than turning a standard + type spacer sideways, or using three bar-shaped spacers, or using a T-shaped spacer that has to be pried out with a tool; the modified Bullseye spacer supports the spacer in the vertical joint and it's all one piece. The QEP Bullseye works better with tiles that do not have a perimeter ridge.

I phoned QEP to ask if there was going to be a T-spacer version, and was told that subway-tile installations are too small a slice of the market, so probably not. Too bad, as it would be an easy mod for QEP to do, and they could "corner" the subway-tile-spacer market :whistling2:


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## R&D Tile (Feb 6, 2006)

Tilespikes and Tavy spacers work the best, larger horseshoe for larger stone.


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## diy888 (Jan 18, 2009)

I have the Tavy spacers. It takes two-three Tavy spacers to do the work of one QEP Bullseye (modified per above) on running bond. I haven't tried shims, but still you'd need several of them per one modded bullseye.


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## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

Subway tiles I've installed have built in nubs to space the tile. I see no reason to do otherwise as increased grout spaces are inappropriate to the size of the small tile. Larger rectangular tiles can use the spacers available.
Ron


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## diy888 (Jan 18, 2009)

Ron6519 said:


> Subway tiles I've installed have built in nubs to space the tile. I see no reason to do otherwise as increased grout spaces are inappropriate to the size of the small tile. Larger rectangular tiles can use the spacers available.
> Ron


Yes, subway tile is very often installed with a minimal grout joint using the tile's perimeter ridge or nubs, though not always. The retro subway style does have a very narrow grout joint. But I've seen installations using 3x6 field tile where the grout joint was intentionally larger, 1/8 or 3/16, and they looked good, at least to me and to the people who did them. 

BTW, it doesn't have to be subway tile per se -- wherever there's a _staggered joint_, the modded Bullseyes would be convenient. 

The QEP Bullseyes are available in 1/16 + 3/16 and 1/8 + 1/4 combos. If you're using subway tiles without a perimeter ridge or nubs, the modded 1/16 Bullseye could still prove useful, even for use with very narrow grout joints. 

I'd like to see QEP introduce this variation. The plastic mold would be easily modified.


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