Ngl @lucas_hunt its the same story everywhere you look now. Bosses cut the little safety stuff first cause nobody notices until it matters, then act shocked when things go wrong. Same with backup cameras on work vans, first aid kits in offices, even the spare tire getting swapped for a can of foam. Saving a few bucks up front always costs way more later.

Learned the same thing with my table saw, slowing the feed rate gives you way more control than trying to muscle it through. Funny how the fix is usually just backing off a notch instead of working harder.

Three years? You spent three whole years fighting with those little plastic crosses before figuring out they were the problem? That blows my mind. I've seen guys leave spacers in way too long and they end up wedged so deep you need a chisel to get them out, but actually making the lines worse the whole time is a new one. How did it take that long to notice the grout was following the crooked spacers instead of the tile edge?