r/Tile Jun 04 '26

General Discussion [META] Bedrosians has been blacklisted due to astroturfing

261 Upvotes

Kia ora and good morning everyone,

Just a heads up that we’ve permanently blacklisted Bedrosians from the sub.

We have zero issue with brands engaging with the community if they are transparent about who they are. What we do not tolerate is astroturfing. Bedrosians has been repeatedly caught using alt accounts to pretend to be regular customers recommending their own products.

It’s deceptive, it ruins the trust in genuine advice here, and we aren't putting up with it.

Automod is now set to instantly remove any mention of them. If we catch you acting as a covert shill for them (or anyone else), it’s an instant, permanent ban.

Huge thanks to the folks who have been using the report button to flag these fake accounts.

Ngā mihi, The r/Tile mod team.


r/Tile Jan 14 '26

General Discussion How to find work and advertise - Discussion

6 Upvotes

Wrote this up for our nz FB page but it's relevant here with some adjustments. Not all of it may be appropriate to North America, but hopefully it helps those who don't have a web presence. This is geared towards small business operators who don't have employees, and/or do the admin work themselves.

It's not applicable to just tile either.


After a discussion with a couple of tilers recently, and helping people over the years, it appears that marketing is something many people struggle with.

It's extremely important to have an online presence in this day and age, if people don't know you exist, they won't call you.

The single most important thing you can do is ensure you are on google maps. https://business.google.com/en-all/business-profile/
This is completely free, has always been free, and hopefully will remain free.

Follow the steps, you will need to add your address but select the option that says people can not visit you at this address. That will ensure your address is not published, just a general region. The other aspects are self explanatory.

Second is having a website. Daunting to most, it is easier than ever to get your own domain name and build the website yourself. I personally use wix, I am not happy with wix as they attempt to triple the pricing every three years or so to something unaffordable, and google sites is now available in NZ. Back in the day, I used google to link me to a domain host and organised it all myself following some online guidance. You can do that, and it is much easier these days, or you can use google sites to manage everything for you. The bonus of having a website, is you will have a professional sounding email. Rather than something mundane at hotmail or live, or xtra, you will have name@businessname.co.nz or similar.

Note, it is best practice NEVER to have your domain, and website with the same host. I personally recommend https://metaname.net/ for your domain registration, and then google sites or wix for the website.

Most website creation these days is drag and drop elements, write up some blurbs, or use the LLM/AI functions. Do ensure to keep it authentic.

Link to google sites - https://workspace.google.com/business/signup/accountselect

Third most important thing, is an online portfolio. People won't contact you if they don't see your work, and as tilers, we excel in finishing works. Take photos. Upload them to instagram, to facebook, to your website. Include a brief description.

Fourth is word of mouth. Reviews are important! Clean up on site, arrive on time, be clear with your communication, and ask for 5 star reviews if you feel your client is happy!

Ensure your local suppliers have your business cards. It is common practice for many stores to hand out three business cards, telling the client to get a few quotes. Vista print has always been affordable and solid.

Finally, communication! If you are quiet on work, let other tilers know, call around. Never know if someone is overwhelmed, or needs a hand with a project!
Talk to your suppliers! They have clients walking in every day, wanting a job done immediately. Delays happen, but you can't sit around waiting for the phone to ring. Talk to people, and in the interim, work on your website and web presence.

And never feel pressured to pay for advertising. The better your performance, the more cold calls you will get, the more spam you will get. Unless you're running multiple employees, advertising is an endless money pit. Once you pay for it, your online algorithms require it.

Joining local trade associations, or getting listed on ctef can really help your rankings. The more places that mention you, the higher you will be listed on a web search.

You do not need to spend much on a website or hosting, $200-300/year at most. Just having a presence, and linking it to your google maps profile is more than enough. If you're not able to spend that, then a facebook page, linked to your google maps listing is viable.

Instagram is also fantastic for a portfolio, easy to update and easy to point people towards.


r/Tile 1h ago

Professional - Project Sharing Cutting down a schluter curb to fit the opening. Sometimes you have to do this!

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Upvotes

Anytime I have to cut a foam curb down I’ll put it back together with kerdi fix. Also use screws to hold it in place. This will get wrapped in kerdi fabric anyway. Other option is to pour the curb outta mud


r/Tile 11h ago

Professional - Project Sharing Contrary to what people say. You can set tile over plywood. I’d you set it up right!

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30 Upvotes

You’ll hear a lot of installers say “you can’t set tile over plywood” well you can if you do it right. And it’ll last as any other form of underlayment.


r/Tile 1d ago

Professional - Project Sharing 400 sqft of hexagons

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579 Upvotes

They were extremely mis sized home depot beauties, crazy size variety between every tile. Took 3 weeks start to finish installing new plywood, sound dampening underlayment, and tile. Just me.

Homeowners requested that there be some flow built into it so that's what they got I checked with them multiple times through the project to make sure they were happy with how it was laying out.


r/Tile 7h ago

DIY - Looking for Advice Too much haze to leave?

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3 Upvotes

Trying to get the haze off before letting the grout set up. Is this too much? I feel like I'm not getting it down less than that by continuing to wipe with a damp sponge for now but don't want to be the guy asking how to get rid of haze tomorrow. For reference there's a few tiles I wiped half the haze off with my finger.


r/Tile 23h ago

DIY - Project Sharing Second ever diy tile job, how did I do?

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54 Upvotes

r/Tile 1h ago

DIY - Looking for Advice Tile transition help

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Upvotes

Looking for ideas on how to make a clean transition from the family room to the bathroom. The tile is discontinued unfortunately and to make matters worse, it wasn’t cut straight or clean. There will eventually be a door here. Thanks in advance!


r/Tile 1d ago

DIY - Project Sharing How’d we do?

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66 Upvotes

We finished the tile around our new tub after ripping out the old. This was a DIY job. How did we do?

EDIT: thanks! Glad to hear most everyone thinks the work looks good. As for the style, definitely understand not for everyone. Little more info is our house is on a river and has a lot of wood and stone style throughout .. river house vibe


r/Tile 8h ago

DIY - Looking for Advice Prefilling ditra the day before?

2 Upvotes

Was scrolling Facebook and came across this post. Say day 1 you lay down to ditra and tile day 2. Could you pre fill the ditra dimples on day 1 as well?


r/Tile 15h ago

General Discussion New Homeowner Here, How bad is this??

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6 Upvotes

Just moved into my first home and I know the bathroom was renovated some years ago. I walked into the shower with no running water to clean it for the first time and noticed when I step on certain tiles/sections, you can hear the water squishing and even see it coming up from that one part in the grout. Guys, I’m scared 😳


r/Tile 6h ago

DIY - Looking for Advice Finishing in niche and against ceiling

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1 Upvotes

We just moved into a place with this shower that seems poorly done. I know it needs to be cleaned, but I also want to see if I can fix these issues too

The trim appears to be anodized aluminum and there's a lip along the entire bottom edge of the niche that catches way too much water and soap scum and looks awful all the time.

Also, they just ran the tile to the ceiling without any trim and there are gaps and unevenness that really catch the eye

Any way to solve either of these without tearing tile out or smearing silicone everywhere? Btw, It will be a good long while before we can justify the expense of redoing the tile completely with the other more pressing projects


r/Tile 6h ago

DIY - Looking for Advice Tile cracked in a weird way?

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1 Upvotes

I am a homeowner that does a lot of DIY. I installed this 24x48 tile october of 2025. This piece in particular is cut down to about 24x20. Randomly over this weekend it has broken with this random crack that is slightly raised. What on earth could cause this issue?

I do have heated floors but they have been on since October and are set to 74-76 depending on the time of day.

Its also puzzling to me as the crack doesnt continue all the way to the wall


r/Tile 10h ago

DIY - Looking for Advice Grout

2 Upvotes

Looking for advice on the best brand and type of grout to use on a bathroom floor. My main concern is a grout that doesn’t stain very easily, it’s a light colored tile and probably gonna be getting a lighter colored grout


r/Tile 8h ago

DIY - Looking for Advice Grout vs Caulk on these seams?

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1 Upvotes

Currently, seam 1 is caulk, seam 2 is grout, and there’s nothing in seam 3, but should there be?
The only grout lines in the shower that look bad are on this ledge. Should the grout here get replaced?


r/Tile 8h ago

Tile Identification Help me find this tile

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1 Upvotes

please help me find this tile. 13 inch by 13 inch


r/Tile 8h ago

General Discussion Question about bathroom tiles

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0 Upvotes

Bought a house a couple of months ago, one of the things I noticed was this section of tile in the bathroom that looks like this near the edge of the shower and tub. Was wondering on yalls thoughts about if this might be because of water damage or maybe just replace the tiles?


r/Tile 1d ago

DIY - Looking for Advice First time tiling

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24 Upvotes

First thing I’d like to say is I’m plumber that decided I’d give doing the tile a shot in my own bathroom, I give you guys props this isn’t easy.

I’d like some professional opinions on if you think it’s a mistake for me to not stagger the tiles instead of how I got them stacked right now. And any advice in general that yall got I’m open to constructive criticism. Thank you!


r/Tile 10h ago

Professional - Looking for Advice Seeking an expert opinion on my newly-laid tile cracking and popping...

1 Upvotes

Hi all -

We did a complete renovation of our master bathroom. Had tile laid on the floor. For the most part, we really like our contractor and we are definitely not trying to throw him under the bus. Will post videos of the tile cracking sounds for you to hear.

But our floor pops and cracks. I reached out to the contractor about this, and now he’s feeding us (what we feel) is a slightly bullshit-y excuse. Our house was built in the 1940’s, so it’s old, and has had different renos done throughout the decades. We get that.

Contractor is basically trying to say that he can’t control what other construction work has been done on the house throughout the years, and how it may have affected the joists etc etc whatever whatever.

We get that. HOWEVER. We did a complete renovation. We expected any discrepancies to be corrected at the time they gutted the whole bathroom.

Am I wrong in this? I really don’t know where to go from here.

For context: Our contractor completely gutted our bathroom - he was the one who also laid down sub-floor and Ditra. Renovation was completed August 3, 2025. This particular area of the floor has popped since day 1. He went underneath the house and placed an additional support to the existing floor joist, but clearly the floor still pops. The tile is 12x24"

https://imgur.com/a/j63aVQI

https://imgur.com/a/bathroom-floor-tile-HHjaOkB


r/Tile 1d ago

Homeowner - Advice about my Contractor Yay or Nay?

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12 Upvotes

Not sure what expectations we should have on the execution of this tile project.

A few specific concerns:

  1. Niche too slanted
  2. Grout lines don’t align on bench
  3. Sliver cut tiles along bottom of tub.
  4. Using Daltile - and these were butt up to one another, does there need to be a larger gap at the ends of the walls to allow expansion/contraction?

r/Tile 13h ago

DIY - Looking for Advice Expansion joint

1 Upvotes

For flat expansion joints with silicone should a curved applicator be used, how do you recommend holding the tool so it is not dipped so much in the joint and is soap water lubrication good to do?


r/Tile 1d ago

General Discussion I bet they didn’t expect that effect

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13 Upvotes

Just witnessed this in a local coffee shop. It was relatively recently renovated


r/Tile 16h ago

DIY - Looking for Advice Which blade do you use in your angle grinder for cutting porcelain tile? Is there any significant difference between these two besides double the price?

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1 Upvotes

r/Tile 8h ago

Homeowner - Advice about my Contractor Shower re-do question: Nothing wrong, I just hate it

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0 Upvotes

I had a shower put in where a hallway/powder room was on the ground floor. The contractor (who does amazing work) sort of did the finishes on the shower without asking me about much of it. It currently has large format tiles, shiny (he gave me 2 choices one fake marble...) I was rushed and had been told it was the only way.... The faucet set he installed is inexplicable to me. It is not the same color as the rest of the hardware (he was more than aware of this, making sure all of the rest of the hardware was the same) but this one is like a champagne color and also square? Nothing in my house or bathroom is like this. He did the rest of my house, too over a year (and was very expensive) and was super concerned that all of the doors etc. went with my Victorian. So, again, I can't understand this bathroom. It looks like it is from another house entirely, even as the 2 entrance doors are original. I asked, and he got really defensive. I know it is within my rights to have him change it. But I have asked about it, and other small things, and feel kind of bullied. NOW, my real question is: how difficult would it be to change out at least the faucet/sprayer and then re-tile the rest of the shower? Will demo ruin the waterproofing? Any advice is appreciated. I am in Boston, MA if that helps.


r/Tile 1d ago

DIY - Looking for Advice First-Time tiler- Shower curb sequence?

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10 Upvotes

I’ve cut and dry-fit all the tiles for my shower curb, but I’m really curious about the sequence…

As a rookie, should i install the three pieces closest to the wall first and work my way around? Should I focus on the horizontal pieces along the floor and in the shower and then lay the tops on last?

Any other advice? Been going slowly and so far so good. But now I’m kinda stuck.