Tile Tip of the Day - tidbits of info to help hone your skills

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ShowerDude

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Great point ( date codes) i consistantly get old stock from vendors.

It cost me a lot of money to drive to return products and shutdown my job

Vendor blames it on the factory reps for not rotating stock Here is a shot from lowes bigbox here today!
 

JohnfrWhipple

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Nice - those are the new Mapei bags. I like those better with the date printed easily to read.

Those bags are now expired. I wonder what poor bastard is going to use that.....?

Installer Error. But who's? The instructions don't say to check the date code....

Nice catch Counter.

I checked a unit of Grani Rapid liquid the other day. Stuff was five years old.... I thought it had to be a mistake and even double checked by calling Mapei technical. I was told "Don't use the liquid"....
 

ShowerDude

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Id say the newer laticrete bags that seem to be vaccum packed plastic are best.

The liquid membranes are not fond of hot or cold temp in transport or storage.

Just had 3 pails of coagulated lumpy seperated material recently that was still in date specs. Should of been baby or lite blue in color if ya know what im talkin about!!!!

Lesson learned.

A. Check date code
B. Open pail and imspect before driving away from vendor!!!
 

JohnfrWhipple

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This should be easy. Why the Project Mat? Floor protection. When working in your new bathroom remember that the waterproofing needs protection. The heating wires need protection. The tile needs protection. At every stage this work should be done.

Many tradespeople feel the set up for this kind of work is the home owner or builders. When in doubt do the work yourself.

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This Ram Board I left down in case the cement crew brought nothing with them. As it turns out they had nothing and the Ram Board I placed looked like this everywhere.
 
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JohnfrWhipple

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My last Kerdi Shower - How did I flood test this barrier free shower?

I made a temporary dam with some Ardex SK Mesh and Ardex 8+9. To make the dam I used a 2"x4" weighted in place with three boxes of tile. A little tuck tape as abound breaker and then two coats of the Ardex 8+9.

Please note:
My missing Kerdi photos online are slowly being deleted. I have quit using Kerdi Membrane do to the excessive restrictions placed on the installer from the maker of the orange waterproofing. That - and when I tested three of the kerdi board niches two leaked. I would like to add my testing style was severe I'm told (my testing was garage style not work preformed in a lab) since I filled them with water with out tile and grout. This failure was the last straw for the Kerdi Membrane.
 
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JohnfrWhipple

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This shower is being built in Australia. What do you think the drop down in the concrete is for?

The drop down allows for later grading in the bathroom. This allows for pre-slope and then waterproofing and tile layers. With out this negative arming or void a hobless shower would not be possible.
 
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JohnfrWhipple

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If you look close you will see I had to drill a hole in the tile top drain. Why would I need to do that?

This shower suffered from an air locking Luxe 5"x5" tile insert drain. Sadly not the first time I had this with these tile top drains. It was after this install and another a friend did that I aborted using any tile top drains other than ACO's linear version.

The hole is done with a stainless steel collar and allows added air to enter the drain line and stops the air lock. I have found air locks happen most when the shower floor is dry. And when the start up water hits the grate straight away.
 
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JohnfrWhipple

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What step was done to improve the look of the tile to drywall transition? You can see that the installer ran a bead of Silicone down this edge of the tile. This is possible when the tile is installed tight to the wall. When the tile has a little thin-set behind it, this technique does not work so well.

There are ways of making this transition flush and you might use a tile profile. Transitions from room to room, changes in plane, tile spacing, and on and on are are all key points to discuss when pricing the job. Not after the work is completed.
 

JohnfrWhipple

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What's wrong with this picture? Clearly the sink is over flowing. Checking the overflow of a sink is key with any sink or tub installation. If the wrong drain kit is used the overflow might not work.

Sometimes the water pressure is just to high. That could be dialled back.

Basic checks that really only show their value when you run to get the phone or blank on what you where doing.

Make sure you check these over flows. If you have no overflow then your bathroom should be designed with a secondary emergency drain....
 

Eurob

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My vessel has no over flowing , but it does drain very well . Unless I close the pop-up drain and leave it unattended .:)

Vanity -- progress and final result -- 004.jpg
 

Eurob

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What is the tile tip in this photo? The tip here is to be creative. I used a scrap drywall bead to help hold the top tile in
position. The bottom tile is all ready set.



I use some plywood for holding the top tiles ....... if I may add to it .

Supports for window niche.jpg
 
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JohnfrWhipple

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Thanks Roberto. I've learned that anything works and it's greener to pick up what's handy in the room. Thanks for sharing your similar technique. Lots of times we will do the same for an accent tile install...
 

JohnfrWhipple

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Some things are incompatible .......like Kerdi and modified thin sets .LOL

LOL - Good one Roberto. Don seems pissed that I have backed off Jim and stopped reading his posts. If I wanted to read printed instructions online I would just goggle it.

I found the Jim's secret Kerdi Resourse Link where he gets all is info. Secret Kerdi Resource Link
 

JohnfrWhipple

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What's wrong with this picture? I see three huge mistakes straight off. In this picture I see a lot of rookie mistakes. The really sad thing is this photo comes from a web page teaching people how to tile. What a joke.

For one, The person is switching the trowelling and causing voids in the thin-set. Just above his thumb you can see this.

Second the tile is not getting beaten into the thin-set. Look at the tile that is on the wall to the right. The trowel lines not depressed any.

Looks lilt the user is just using the notched side of the trowel. The flat side should be used first to flat trowel the area being tiled and the back side of the tile then the combed edge used to set the correct amount of thin-set on the walls.

The spacers are hard plastic. This is a poor choice. Soft rubber wedge spacers are a better fit since they can not slide out under the weight of the tile building up the wall.
 

JohnfrWhipple

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What do you think is wrong with these progress pictures? OMG - this is a train wreck of shower construction. For starters the shower has no pre-slope. No primary 30-40 mil shower liner connected to the drain. The backer board is not taped. The curb is built wrong. The shower floor has 1/4" Hardie backer.

After getting some feedback on another
forum this lady has shit down here shower renovation and let the contractor go home. AND FOR GOOD REASON.

Know how to built a proper Kerdi Shower. A proper Noble Shower. A proper Hydro Ban shower or proper Red Gard shower before the job starts.
 

ShowerDude

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That redgard shower is um ..... A tearout? Voids around drain? Am i seeing clearly on my iphone? Wtf?
 

JohnfrWhipple

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What is this for? That is a 1.5" NobleFlex Flashing. It is used to create a divot for the NobleFlex Flashing. Many great shower start out with a NobleFlex Flashing.



This is a 3/4" NobleFlex Flashing Installed. In the picture I'm getting ready to add a lair of NobleSeal TS over top. The NobleSeal TS getting seamed to the NobleFlex Flashing.
 
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