I made the z change in the printer itself.
It is a delta running smoothieware so it is very easy to make changes in the firmware.
Then I fine tune it with the screws on top of the sliders that hit the end stops.
In my cartesian printer there is a place in the menu system to set the z height, and the bed has leveling screws so I can fine tune that one that way.
I had a realization this morning. I can stick one of my build sheets that I know works onto a spring steel PEI plate. Then I will have the build surface that I like and I can still remove it and flex it to pop off the print. The best of both worlds. Good plan huh - we'll see what happens lol