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Color
ConsistencyWhy is my
grout cracking every where? right!
Can I set
tile on top of vinyl flooring?
Here's a
tip for you when your redoing
your tub surround
How do I
figure my layout? Or, in other
words, where do I start?
What type
of adhesive should I use?
When do I
know how far to go in my prep
work? When is the surface ready
to set on?
Tips for
maximizing thin set usage. How
do I know how thick to mix my
thin set adhesive?
When
should I use a sealer and what
type should I use?
When do I
use sanded grout as opposed to
non sanded grout?
Color Consistency
So here is an obvious idea that
seems so simple you might wonder
how it could be overlooked.
Believe me I have seen it many
times.
Many times the look of a
particular tile may vary from
one day to another when it is
manufactured due to various
changes in the process. If we
were to consider carpet for
instance, we all understand that
changes occur from these types
of variables that cause the
coloration to be just a little
different from one batch to
another.
Tile is no different.
One of the simplest mistakes to
avoid is to open all the boxes
of tile and stir them all
together as you install the
tile. That way you will not
recognize dye lot changes lying
on the floor in large blocks
representing a change of color
from one box to the next.
Lastly, make sure that you order
enough material to begin with. I
have seen where, if one were to
run short of finishing a floor
and have to order more of the
same tile from the same provider
the new tile shows up but is
obviously a shade, or more,
different from the rest of the
job. Obviously at that point
it's to late to not have a
certain section seriously
different from the rest.
One thing I do on occasion if I
have a very large job and want
to make sure I can get some more
of the same dye lot later, if
need be. Is to ask them to hold
some from the same
pallet/shipment aside so if I
need of more, I can rest assured
it will blend nicely with the
material already installed on
the job site.
Why is my grout
cracking every where?
Most of the time cracked grout
is not a good sign, The only
place where one might usually
expect to see cracks in grout is
in inside corners, or around the
perimeter where the tile
transitions to a foreign
material. This is expected and
is easily rectified by caulking
with caulk.
Almost always, when grout is
failing it's because of two
different scenario's. The most
common is that the tile or
natural stone is not affixed to
the substrate well. This could
be either a failure where the
adhesive marries the substrate
or where the adhesive connects
to the back of the tile.
Both could normally be avoided
if the adhesive was keyed onto a
dust free surface. Wet tile
needs to be dried off after cut
on a wet saw with a dry towel.
The reason the grout is failing
is because the tile is not glued
on solid and the vibrations of a
loose tile separates the grout
from the tile.
The second reason is, once again
a failure to establish a stable
solid substrate, This happens
when the particular substrate is
not attached well enough to what
ever scenario is behind it. On
floors? the cement needs to be
glued and screwed solidly. The
same holds true on walls, The
cement board needs to be nailed
or screwed solidly and taped and
top coated at all the seems.
So. The answer to the question
is you can try and tear out the
failed grout but more often than
not the same problem will return
because the deeper problem has
not been addressed. Usually the
job needs to torn out and
redone!
Getting started right!
Lots of people know that the
first piece is critical as
everything else evolves around
it. The same holds true for the
first row as well. With wall
tile the first coarse needs to
be in a straight and level line
on the wall so you can then
stack the rest of the tile on
top of the first row. Often
times, especially in custom
showers, the bottom row is
normally not a full tile off the
floor. This is mainly due to the
need to position the wall tiles
up or down to accommodate
feature stripes, design
elements, and basic layout
issues.
I lay out what I call a "story
pole" on the floor. I space the
tiles and all of the design
pieces out on the floor just as
it will go on the wall with no
deviation. this then allows me
to measure where the tile will
sit on the wall. Now that I know
where the first grout joint near
the bottom will be I can now get
ready to get started. All to
often the floor or tub/shower
basin is not level and sometimes
not flat. To eliminate the head
aches of trying to get started
on a less than optimum starting
platform, I like to screw a slat
of straight wood where my story
pole tells me my lowest joint on
the wall will be. Make sure it's
in the right place and level as
well.
Now that I have a straight and
level "bridge" screwed onto the
floor I can quickly get started
setting my wall tile on the
bridge. Once the adhesive is dry
I can now remove the bridge and
cut in the lowest piece and
scribe the bottom to the un
level or undulating floor
surface.
Can I set tile on top of vinyl
flooring?
One of the most important things
in a good installation is a
stable substrate. You can not
set tile directly on top of
vinyl flooring.
You can how ever set tile on top
of a vinyl floor once the
following steps are put in
place. We will be installing a
cement board over the top of the
old vinyl floor. The first thing
we need to do is to peel off the
old vinyl. If on top of
concrete, use a dry wall knife
and cut through the caulking
around the perimeter. Once that
is done, cut through the vinyl
in long strips. Now with your
hand , or with the knife pull up
as best as you can the top layer
of the vinyl. More likely than
not, there will remain part of
the vinyl still attached to the
concrete. In order to remove
what is still attached to the
concrete take a 4" scraper and
scrape of the rest of the stuff
still stuck to the floor. Sweep
clean and your now ready to snap
some lines for your layout.
The other application is to
install tile over vinyl on top
of a plywood sub floor. Look
around and pull up as much as
you can where the vinyl is lose
and not attached to what ever is
underneath it. You won't need to
spend a lot of effort trying to
remove the vinyl that is stuck
well. Once the loose stuff is
removed sweep it up well. Now
take 1/4" cement backer board
and cut it to overlay the
existing floor. I spend the time
to cut and fit the entire floor
before moving on/. Once you have
all the pieces cut and laying
there unattached we can move
onto the nest step. Now remove
the wonder board out of the
area. Make sure to some how know
where all the pieces will go
back at.
Mix some multi purpose thin set
adhesive in your bucket and let
it sit undisturbed for about ten
minutes. Mix it fairly loose in
this particular application.
after letting it sit remix it
one more time. We will now take
a 3/16th" v notch trowel and
start at the far end of the pre
paired floor and smear enough
thin set to cover the area of
your first row of already cut
wonder board. Make sure this is
keyed in well on a dust free
floor. Cover it as uniformly as
possible. Now take the
appropriate pieces and lay them
down on top of the thin set
without disturbing the evenly
spread mud. What I mean by this
is to not drag the board over
the top. Lay it on top nicely.
Once the mud is covered, now
step onto the wonder board and
with your body weight press the
board into the mud and try to
cover as much area as you can.
Once you have done that we will
now "surf" the board further
into place. What I mean by
surfing is to try and shimmy the
board back and forth with your
legs and body weight . What we
are trying to accomplish here is
to move the board around some ,
trying to rub it into the thin
set as well as we can to spread
the glue to the bottom of the
board/substrate to get the best
bond possible.
Depending on how fast you can
move along you can proceed onto
the next row and complete this
step in the entire room. Only do
this if your area is small
enough that you can surf the
pieces into place and then come
back a nail/ screw it off before
the mud starts to harden.
You now need to affix the board
tight to the floor with
fasteners. You can use screws
and screw it off or you can
chose to nail it off. There are
specific screws sold to attach
cement board at your local home
improvement store if you want to
screw if off. I like to use
galvanized roofing barbs and
nail it off by hand . Well I
actually use an air compressor
and a roofing gun. You can
certainty do it by hand though.
Make sure you use galvanized
roofing barbs . The galvanized
will keep the fasteners from
rusting in the future.
You will want to sew in the
edges with fasteners about every
3" around all the edges of each
piece of board and then
uniformly attach it every 6-8"
in the field.
Let it dry over night if you can
afford the time.
Once that is done it's ready to
tile.
Here's a tip
for you when your redoing your
tub surround
If you desire to retile your tub
surround here are a couple of
tips that will make it easier
for you. In order to replace
your tile without a bunch of dry
wall refinishing you need to
replace the existing wall board.
As you probably know the joint
between the new substrate and
the existing needs to be taped
with mesh tape and skimmed over
with thinset. If this is done
outside the tile you will then
need to do a bunch of texturing
work and painting to bring
everything to a nice finish.
Here's a way to do it without
all those extra dry wall steps.
When you begin with the
demolition start by removing the
last row of tile on the out side
perimeter, usually trim pieces
(bull nose). Do this with care
so as not to break the dry wall
or wonderboard. Take a drywall
knife and cut next to the edge
of the tile to cut through the
caulking and paint. Now take a
flat bar and a hammer and
carefully break the tile off of
the wall. Do this around the
entire perimeter. Once this is
finished, now take a saw of some
kind and cut right next to the
tile that's still on the wall
all the way through the wall
board. Be careful to not cut
through wires and/or plumbing
while doing this.
You can now tear off the rest of
the tile and wall board until
it's all gone and your now down
to bare studs. Now cut your new
cement board to fit the empty
spaces, starting first with the
back wall. On the vertical
joints where the new cement
board will join with the
existing wall board you will
first have to screw in some wood
backing so that you are able to
screw both sides of the joint
tight to the wood backing. I use
cedar fence pickets for this
application. They are the right
width, soft enough to cut easily
and easy for the screws to grab
as well. Cut the fence picket to
the required length and start by
screwing it to the existing wall
board on the back side of the
wallboard first. Make sure to
split the picket so half of it
is behind the existing wall
board and the other half is
exposed in the space where the
new cement board will go. Now
you can install the new cement
board in the space. Screw or
nail it to the studs first and
now you can sink some screws
into the picket behind the new
cement board at the seem, sewing
it together. Once this is
accomplished you can now tape
the joint with mess tape and
slick it over with thinset.
Your now ready to tile it with
your new hard goods. In doing
this the joint is now inside the
new tile installation, covered
with tile and you won't have any
drywall repair to do because
it's all covered underneath the
tile.
How do I
figure my layout? Or, in other
words, where do I start?
This is somewhat of a mixed bag.
By in large there is a hierarchy
of precedence to consider. Of
course nothing in set in stone
but some things are more
demanding than others to
consider.
"Consider" is the key word here.
First off when considering lay
out you must look at the overall
job to determine what the major
focal point is and satisfy that
more so than the periphery.
Example.
Lets imagine you are doing a
kitchen floor that may also have
an attached pantry or powder
room floor. Obviously in most
cases the kitchen floor is the
most important to look nice. So
priority would ask that the
kitchen floor should look the
best with little or no
consideration of the adjacent
areas. One exception might be if
the pantry or powder room is
connected by a hallway that is
somewhat of a focal point in and
of itself. In other words if we
were to satisfy the look in the
kitchen , and that in turn
causes the balance in the
hallway to be really bad, and
the hallways is a major part of
the look then you would need to
consider both together and pick
the best for the two spaces
together. It's always a trade
off when you have more than on
area connected to another. So
you have to ask yourself " what
do I want to look the nicest and
at what ex pence to the rest of
the job"?
Here are 2 examples when finding
a starting point on floors that
almost always mandate top
priority.
Doorways and transitions.
Rarely, if ever, would you ever
want to walk into a room through
a doorway and not start with
full tiles at the transition.
Meaning, if you have carpet or
wood flooring in a hallway
leading to a tile or marble
floor in the bathroom you always
want to break the tile/carpet
transition in the middle of the
door when closed, and the start
with a FULL TILE at the doorway
into the room.
Secondly, same holds true when
you have a transition from ,
say, either a carpet or wood
floor to a tiled space. Almost
always FULL Tile will lay next
to the carpet or wood floor.
Starting with some type of cut
in these areas are almost never
acceptable.
Same holds true for tile that
looks like it's setting
vertically on top of a
horizontal surface.
Example.
Rarely would you ever start a
back splash with the first row
of tile above the countertop
being a cut. Normally speaking,
the same holds true on a tub
surround. One exception to the
tube surround would be if you
were going to the ceiling and
you end up with a very small cut
at the ceiling. Or if you have a
feature stripe and you want to
position it at a predetermined
height. Same holds true if you
have tile walls setting on tile
floors.
Now I can finally start to
answer this question :)
Again, normally, but not always
you want to look at any surface
with an X and a Y axis. If you
have no particular focal point
that demands top priority you
simply strive for balance and
symmetry. Find the center of
your space first. Now, from left
to right, start with a grout
joint and run out your tiles to
the side to where the tile will
stop. If you last piece is
greater than a half tile your
all set. If it's smaller than a
half tile, instead of starting
on your center line with a grout
joint you move that tile over
and center the tile over your
center point. By doing this,
when you get to the edge by the
wall you will now have a cut
that is greater than half tile.
So now we have big cuts on the
sides instead of small sliver
cuts. After doing this above to
your right and to the, lets now
do the same for your top to
bottom tiles and your good to
go.
In short , what we are trying to
do is get a sense of balance
from side to side so the cuts on
both sides are of equal value
and as big as possible. Same
holds true for "up and down"
What type of
adhesive should I use?
There are a couple different
types of adhesive on the market
today and I will help to
separate the two. With both ,
there are what they call regular
use and then also a multi
purpose use. The multi purpose
has better bonding qualities,
and can be used in wet areas
such as shower walls and such.
Mastic is a pre made glue that
comes in tubs. Thin set is a
cementous sand and cement blend
that comes in large bags and
needs to be made by mixing water
and stirring with a drill and a
paddle spoon. I think the
primary difference is ease of
usage and spanning over less
than smooth substrates. All tile
or marble installations benefit
best from having a smooth , flat
substrate to begin with. I like
to tell people it needs to be
"paint able" to give you the
best finished product. With that
said, mastic is a great choice
if your tile installation is the
kind that you can smear some
glue and then press the tile
into the glue tight to the wall
and move on. Smaller wall tiles
work well in this fashion, such
as 4x4's, subway tile, mosaic
sheets etc. Unless unusually
heavy, once placed in place the
mastic will hold the piece in
place so that it will not slide
down the wall.
Larger tile create a bit of a
challenge simply put, because
there less forgiving when the
span a larger distance and
usually need a bit of help to
make them lie flat to each other
so a good thinset , mixed to
proper thickness will help to
fill voids behind the tile and
will also allow you to press the
corners of the tiles to massage
them flatter next to each other.
If need be you can also pull the
tile and add a dollop behind it
in low places to shim the edge
out to help make it flush with
surrounding pieces. This process
is done repeatedly on floors if
the concrete is not truly flat.
That by the way, is normally the
case on concrete. Never use
mastic on concrete. And if you
choose to use mastic for
installing natural stone make
sure it's specifically designed
for such use.
Cost is the last factor. Mastic
is more expensive but often
times it's grabbing
capabilities, its longer open
time on the wall, and easability
of use will, in the long run be
money well spent.
When do I know
how far to go in my prep work?
When is the surface ready to set
on?
Prep work is paramount in this
trade. You can't make chicken
soup out of chicken crap! That's
comparable to putting makeup on
a pig.
The extra time getting the prep
work as nice as possible pays
huge dividends in the long run.
I feel like wall surfaces should
be almost nice enough to paint
and look good enough to leave it
at that. The closer you get to
that place the better the
finished product will be in the
end. Make sure to tape all of
your cement board joints with
mesh tape and thin set,
including the corners. Scrape or
sand once there dry and apply a
second slick coat if need be to
get the surface smooth and flat.
Here's a trick to make floors
flatter prior to setting the
floor tiles on concrete. Flood
the floor with water to the
degree that puddles will form in
the low spots. Circle the puddle
with a crayon or equivalent
marker. Remove the water, or let
dry. Once it's dry you can now
fill in the lower areas so as to
raise up the low spots. You can
use thin set and some kind of
straight edge and flat trowel or
most of the manufacturers have a
self leveling type product. The
self levelers are pricey but
almost idiot proof if you follow
the instructions.
Make sure in any installation
that once your ready to begin
that the surfaces are clean
without dust on them. It's also
advisable to use the flat side
of the notch trowel and key in
the adhesive first until you get
total coverage. Once you have
done that now your ready to comb
in the adhesive with the notch
side of your trowel.
I would also recommend skimming
the back side of the tile if
they are larger wall tiles and
for sure do that on floor tiles,
especially porcelains unless
they are small mosaics.
Tips for
maximizing thin set usage. How
do I know how thick to mix my
thin set adhesive?
The general rule of thumb is to
mix it thick enough that when
you comb out the thin set onto
the surface with the notch
trowel the ridges left in the
mud will not slump much if any.
One must take care not to get to
far out ahead of what can
immediately be installed, when
your mud is this thick it won't
take long for the surface to
skim over enough that it has
lost it's sticky ness.
Especially in warm weather or
with air movement in the room.
Some applications can use a
little wetter mud but never so
wet that the ridges slump more
than half their height of the
notch .
When mixing mud on of the best
ways to make it easier on
yourself is to allow the fresh
made bucket of mixed mud to set
undisturbed for about 10 minutes
or so. After this resting time
has passed, remix it with your
drill. This will deter the
hardening time by more than half
allowing you way more workable
time with your mud. If you have
not used up the bucket before it
gets too stiff to work any
longer you can add a small
amount more water and hand mix
with a margin trowel. I would
advise doing this only one time.
If the remixed mud gets to hard
now, after hand mixing throw the
remaining amount away and make a
new batch as the mud is now too
"tired" to do it's job
correctly.
When should I use
a sealer and what type should I
use?
Let me first answer that with
another question. When would you
want to invest so much time and
money and not help to insure
it's longevity with a small
amount more of time and energy?
Sealers are a great plus to help
keep you marble and tile looking
fresh for much longer.
The more foot traffic a floor
gets the more it would ask to be
sealed. Kitchen back splashes
benefit greatly as well. I think
almost always natural stone
should be sealed.
There are many name brands of
sealers. Some are good and
others are almost worthless. Two
finished looks need to be
considered. One is all natural
so that you can barely tell the
difference a sealed portion next
to the unsealed with the eye
when both are dry. The other is
a "wet look". This will make it
obvious and it will look wet
even when dry.
I personally will only use one
name brand unless told other
wise by my client. I have found
over the many years in the trade
the a 511 impregnator by Miracle
Sealants is the very best in
wear ability and ease of use.
Because it penetrates deep into
the surface it will never be
walked off due to foot traffic
and if you follow the
instructions it would pretty
hard to mess things up. Here's a
link http://miraclesealants.com/
When do I use
sanded grout as opposed to non
sanded grout?
The difference in the two
basically comes down to
shrinkage. Because the non
sanded grout has no sand in it
to hold it's form it will shrink
considerably once it dries .
This will leave small, shallow,
shriveled up joints. A general
rule of thumb is to only use non
sanded grout if the joints are
smaller than 1/16th" such as
ceramic bisque stackable tiles
such a 4"x4" wall tile and small
mosaics.
Other wise use sanded grout. A
general rule of thumb is once
the grout is smeared let it sit
until the surface of the tile
hazes over and then quickly
remove the excess grout on the
tile surface. Once that is done
, come back over everything
while the grout is still a
little workable and strike the
joints to uniform thickness and
smooth out the surface to make
it scare free. |
