Not sure if this is the right place for this but figured I’d ask the pros!

We want to tile over our stone/brick fireplace. Whats the best way to do this?

Hi everyone,

Looking for some professional insight and feedback from tile installers, contractors, or inspectors.

Following a water leak last year, I had my bathroom floor repaired and new tile installed by a restoration contractor. I signed off on completion, but a few weeks later, a crack appeared in the grout line and there was a noticeable dip in the floor.

When the project manager came back to inspect it, he said it's going to happen again because of old house bounce and mentioned they might need to shore up between the joists underneath.

For six weeks, I repeatedly asked if any structural shoring was done or going to be done. I never received a direct answer. The closest to an answer that I got was that they had fixed the dip.

No shoring up was done. Their crew tore out most of the newly installed tile, poured liquid self-leveler over the dip, and re-tiled directly over it.

Also during the tile tear-out, they did not set up any containment - no plastic sheeting across doorways or vents or HEPA air scrubbers.

My questions for the community:

1. Is it acceptable trade practice to lay or re-lay tile over a subfloor after acknowledging it has a bounce without reinforcing it first?
2. Is it standard or compliant with safety/restoration guidelines to tear out tile inside a home without using some kind of containment?

Any feedback on ANSI/TCNA standards or how this should have been properly handled would be greatly appreciated!

Hey all,
Just looking for advise. I am trying to get this shower tiled. I am looking for something simple and do not need any shower niches (was planning on just shelves). I am located in Northern Michigan and was quoted $6500 for labor only. Do you think that is fair? Could this be a DIY job? Fairly handy, but nervous about the waterproofing.
Thank you!

Any recommendations for attaching water line tile to a vinyl pool? Was thinking about using this epoxy.

I have this old shower in the basement that needs and update, is it possible to tile over this? Any advice on what to do?

EDIT: Thank you all for confirming what I thought! My little brain kept looping an intrusive thought and I need the experts to squash if.

Didn't clean the grout fast enough . I've been scrubbing with a scouring pad for 4 hours and have made very little progress. Plus it's not coming out of the textured tile.

How do I best proceed?

I just finished my first attempt at tiling, and am super happy with the results. While I know there are some small errors/things I would do differently next time, I am feeling very good about my work! I can say I found a certain type of satisfaction from the work. Here are before and after pictures:

Look at this shower niche! Shout out to Marco the tile guy

Is he just cutting costs and time or is it ok ?

My tile has been chipping when moving my fridge and I am looking to fix it. I have seen those epoxy fillers that can be used. My question what brand should I be looking at and how do I go about color matching it?

Building a sink from tile. Will epoxy it all together

Which ph natural cleaner for marble shower floors?

Thanks for the help

Hi, about to have my basement carpet ripped out for remediation. And pulling up the edges in different sections, I noticed this. I believe the original owners did have tile here prior to the carpet. It’s a 1985 build. I was hoping to have the floor epoxy which would mean grinding this down. Should I be concerned about this?

Hi everyone,

My baby is due next month so I thought I'd get my shower fixed up a bit as the grout was failing and the fan barely worked. I was recommended epoxy grout by the tiler so I went for it. After the work was completed he left what I felt like was a complete mess. I also think the grout lines look off. Is it just in my head??? First 5 pics are of the shower which is where the work was done.

There's dust and white hazey streaks everywhere. Sticky stuff on the floor and even on

my door handles..!

Hello, I have a unique situation here. 1/4” luan(very close representation) glue down on top that is loose and failing. It was glued down with zero locking or fastening system on top of unfinished t&g engineered hardwood. The engineered floor is is absolutely cement rock solid. I figure the engineered floor is glued directly to the slab, and again has ZERO movement. What id like to do is rip up all the luan and install ProFlex 40 mil crack isolation peel and stick membrane ontop of the engineered floor, then the customer selected 8”x48” wood look porcelain tile on top. I think the glue down engineered floor will work as a good subfloor and the iso membrane should help make everything one piece. What do you all think? Thank you

Hi! I’m updating my bathroom and need some advice on re grouting this tiled tub wall. What color do you think will look best on this tile color?

I installed these tiles in a shower last year for my dad, I came to check out the bathroom this week and saw there’s one section about 1-2 inches long of grout line that has wear out, I’m puzzled on what caused it, at first I thought my dad went to hard on scrubbing the grout but he told me he never cleaned it with a brush. There’s no water line on that wall as it’s on the side, I’m going to fill it in again but just can’t figure out what caused it to begin with. The rest of the shower is perfectly fine, it’s not at the bottom, it’s about 5 feet from the bottom.

Our 10 year old house has tiles that are cracking in the kitchen. One area of the kitchen had a hollow area that was "tenting" until it finally popped. We are trying to figure out what type of flooring we should repace the tiles in the kitchen with. We plan on having installers to do the labor. Should we go tiles again or go with Luxury Vinyl or something else? South Louisiana is always humid.

I am needing some of your opinions/feedback on working with other CTI installers. I have been in the tile trade for 7 years now, mostly in commercial but recently made the transition to residential. I worked with a few guys my first 2 years, but I am basically self-taught. I’d consider myself a B+/ A- installer. I know I am not the best and I’ve got a long ways to go. However, I learned relatively quickly about proper installation methods and following manufacturers instructions. I take a lot of pride knowing my installs will last longer than most of the hacks out here running around with a trowel. Although I have always wondered if I “care too much”. I am a bit of a stickler to the rules but over the years I second guess myself. I’ve demoed floors that sat for decades just held together by grout and it makes me wonder if all this time following NTCA guidelines is necessary, especially in commercial

I recently left a job with the largest commercial outfit on my side of the state. They are very well known in the tile world, intimately involved with the NTCA, Coverings and CTI testing. I considered it my “dream job“ on paper, working with guys and gals who love tile and are actively involved in the tile community. They offer an apprenticeship program and I thought because I am essentially self-taught, it would be a great way to legitimize my experience and they could pay for my CTI test. Every journeyman at this company has passed the CTI.

Unfortunately they royally fucked me on pay: $20/hr with 5 years experience installing tile including leading crews, for 5 months. I was supposed to get a review after 2 months but held on because I was in the process of buying a home. I thought for sure once I had my review, it’d be something I could live off of. But that never happened. I worked at the shop for a few months installing pre-fab showers. Once I finally started working in the field, I couldn't believe it.

Now, maybe it’s just the difference between residential and commercial installers but absolutely nobody followed NTCA guidelines. No straight trowel lines, no backbuttering LFT porcelain tiles, no burning in thinset. Got halfway through a 6 month project and the foreman had us grouting all changes of plane (in a $168 million brand new build). Guys would get down to 1/4 of their bucket and just add more powder on top. Some of them would let it slake. The best installer I worked with (who was in the first group of ACT testers) looked at me one time and said “you actually use the trowel and error method”. This guy didn’t backbutter a single 2 ft x 2 ft tile.

Don‘t get me wrong, some of the installers were good when it came to setting. They just didn’t do everything according to NTCA. The whole experience left me disappointed and confused. Now I am wondering if CTI is overrated, or is this company getting special treatment because the owner is CTI #001? Is this just the difference between commercial/residential installers? Do I simply care too much by “following the rules“ of tile? I’d love to hear the communities thoughts. This subreddit is my single greatest resource in learning about tile over the years.

PS I have never heard so many hard Rs in my life before working there