Home Improvement Stack Exchange
Home Improvement Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [tile]

For questions generally relating to stone or ceramic tile, including selection, preparation, installation, maintenance, cleaning, and removal.

1142 questions
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What spacing difference is acceptable with a contracted tile job?

What is a reasonable difference in gaps between tiles? We just had our bathroom floor done by Lowe’s (first mistake), and I’m not happy with the outcome, AT ALL. Is this just me being picky, or should I call and complain? I’m not sure what they can…
Slink2015
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Should the backer board be in front of or behind the tub flange?

I'm installing a new bath tub and shower. I've removed the old tile down to the studs. Should the backer board be in front of or behind the tub flange? I put it on the rear tub wall from floor to ceiling at first, but I can easily remove it if it…
SAM MCKNIGHT
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Must I remove all mortar between tiles before grouting?

I'm just getting ready to lay down the grout after successfully tiling our master bathroom. I've been told in no uncertain terms that I must remove the spacers between tiles (or else grouting over them can result in cracking of the grout). That…
Andrew Flanagan
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Should my toilet flange sit on top of the backer board or the tile of the floor?

The bathroom model saga continues. The old toilet flange was rusting, and the subfloor was rotting, so I pulled up the subfloor around the toilet, and replaced the drain pipe with ABS, and an elbow. The plan is to tile this bathroom. So my…
MarkD
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How can I cut off 1/8 inch from ceramic tile?

I have a couple of 4"x4" ceramic tiles that are cut just slightly too wide. I need to take off about an eighth of an inch. I expect that's too little for the standard score-and-snap approach. What's the easiest way, given that I don't have any…
Jeremy Stein
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Moisture leaking out of chip in floor tile

I dropped something heavy and mildly pointed onto the bathroom floor. The Bathroom is tiled with ~30cm square black "slate like" tiles, but where I dropped this thing, the surface has been badly (2-3 cm radius, ?1-2mm deep?) chipped, and underneath…
Brondahl
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Orange material in grout lines - need help to identify

Having recently moved into a new (resale) house, I looked closely at the grout lines on one of the tiled shower floors and noticed many small gaps in the grout lines with an unidentified orange material in the gaps. I've attached a…
mattbg
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A guest pushed in my shower wall tile. How can I fix it?

Some guests stayed over at our house a couple days ago and one accidentally leaned a little on the shower wall. Leaving behind a gap between what seems to be the drywall or backing and the actual tile! Now we’re not up to the idea of spend hundreds…
domErving
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How do I install transition molding between my new hardwood and existing tile floors?

I have ripped out some old carpet and am preparing to install a new solid hardwood floor myself. In several places, the floor transitions to an existing tile floor. The hardwood floor guys told me the best transition between the two is a T…
mohlsen
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How can I speed up the removal of stubborn tile?

I am trying to remove tile from the bathroom floor. It was installed in the 70s, and the pieces are tiny, 1 in x 1 in. I've been hammering away but they're not coming up very easily. Is there a product I can use to loosen them up?
Sara
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How do I correctly install ceramic floor tile?

How do I correctly install ceramic floor tile? There's lots of talk about using backerboard and waterproofing membranes, what an acceptable floor deflection is, different grout and thinset additives, ect... Starting from subfloor-less 16"oc joists,…
Mazura
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What can I do about a toilet flange that is 1/4" below the finished floor?

I used two wax seals to set my toilet since the flange is 1/4" below the new tile. At first it seemed to be water tight but after a few flushes I noticed water seeping and pulled it out. As can be seen in the photo, the wax ring slid off center. I…
Andrew
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Expedient repair for water damaged drywall behind tile

I set out to repair cracked grout at the top of a course of tiles on the wall immediately above my bathtub. After scraping out all the damaged grout I discovered that the only other thing holding the tiles in place was the caulking between them and…
zwol
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Should cement board be glued and screwed to the studs?

I've seen some people recommend that cement board be glued and screwed to the stud framing for wall and ceiling application. I haven't seen this recommendation on any of the manufacturers install specs, but it seems to come up often enough in DIY…
Matthew
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Can I build a concrete block wall over floor tile?

I am enclosing a tiled porch on concrete slab with a 3' short wall of concrete block, with windows above. Should concrete blocks be laid over a tile floor?
Larry
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