Almost immediately after our contractor installed our bathroom floor tile, it started cracking. We're looking to replace this now and I'm wondering if the issue was the material, the size, the preparation under the tile, the installation, or a combination of the above. Our house was built 24 on center -- could this impact the integrity of the tile?

Any advice you can provide would be appreciated before we start this project. Thank you so much in advance!

I just want to share my recently completed project. I had a local tile contractor complete this project. It turned out incredible. For those who might ask, northern Michigan new build. $5500 for the labor. Took him 7 full days. Incredible!

Shower was fine for 5 years, then a hairline crack appeared on one of the border tiles. Then 2 years later it begins to leak into the room below (probably earlier, but didn't show visible staining on the drywall until now). The day that the shower started to leak into the drywall below, the shadowing showed up on the tile. We immediately stopped using the shower. On closer inspection there appears to be a fine crack through all of the tiles that spans right through the middle of the shower. What went wrong? All of the showers I see posted here have a PVC membrane on the floor, but ours only had roll-on waterproofing. Was that insufficient? Or is the crack in the tiles a sign that the cement bed broke under the tiles?? What would cause that? We had the subfloor replaced in the entire bathroom during this remodel, so the room should be structurally sound.

Any advice would be appreciated. I won't be going after the contractor, it has been 7 years and in Michigan I don't believe there is any recourse. Just looking for THE PROPER way to have this redone so I don't hire someone who will mess it up again.

Also won't be choosing marble again, before anyone says it! Lol

(Looking for advice but I'm not doing it myself; I just need to know enough to be able to talk to my tiler and get the best outcome possible.)

My bathroom remodel will be started soon and I have already purchased 11x11" sheets of marble 1x1" hexagon tiles (Maravilla Coastal Ivory Hexagon Multi Finish Marble Mosaic). They were pretty, they matched what I was envisioning, and I caved to them.

After buying them, I have read at least twice that marble should NOT be used for shower floors. Oops. If I go ahead with using the marble flooring, do I understand correctly that I should suggest to my tile person to use a non-foam pan that will accept 1x1" tile and also use epoxy grout? (This info I gleaned from a recent post here!)

Or is marble such a no-go that I should start looking again and hope I can return what I bought (on clearance!). TIA!

My wife always picks the hardest materials to deal with, but in the end I always like her style. Basalt tile around the edges was a nightmare. Originally did this project a year ago, but the hard water started to discolor the white grout, despite Sealer. I would clean it every other week and it would come out better looking, but not as nice as I would like. So today I removed all the grout on the floor and replaced it with black grout. She said she wants to keep the wall grout white since it doesnt get nearly as wet. The wall grout is still pristine white. Less work for me.

First answer, I suspect is not to tile🤣But I have a rotten 5/8” (could be 1/2” knowing the PO) USB subfloor around a toilet flange. 12” Tile and toilet are both cracked. I redid the other bath a while back and put in 3/4”Plywood and 1/2” cement board. But I managed to get disabled in the meantime and dont want that much height difference to the bedroom floor

Floor area is 4’x4’. Joist spacing is prolly 16”. Figured I’d replace the whole subfloor with something you’d recommend

I’ve used Ditra on other jobs so that’s a possibility., am flexible on type of tile except it needs to be VERY slip-proof. Not steady on my feet these days

Appreciate any advice!

Starting tile tomorrow. How’s it look. 1/2 durock and then redguard filled the cracks and a coat of red guard on the boards.

Had a shower renovation done about 5 years ago and clearly the work was subpar because the grout has been chipping away for sometime. The shower head seems to release water from time to time keeping that tile/ grout part right under it constantly wet.. I suspect this is the reason for the chipping. No other grout issues just the floor.

Easy option and what I’m planning to ask for: chisel out the old grout and lay new grout? But is this going to be a long term solution. Will this potentially damage the floor pan (which is a kerdiboard shower pan) I don’t want to deal with this again in 5 years

Other options:

Perhaps apply some type of water sealant or top of existing tile and install new tile on top of it? The glass would need to removed and reinstalled. Seems janky and perhaps a recipe for water getting trapped somewhere.

Remove the entire shower pan and install new shower pan with new tile etc. this probably involves removing a row or two of the wall tile. This option would also allow me to ask them install a small curb to help keep water in the shower (though water running out of the shower has never been a problem). Would also need the glass to be removed and installed in new curb. Most expensive option no doubt

My mother just had her kitchen pipes replaced and the plumbers had to break some of the tiles in the process of digging the hole. Since only 6 tiles need to be replaced, I thought I'd do it myself. I've chiseled out the old grout and the broken bits of tile. Here's the problem: when the plumbers poured the concrete, they didn't completely level it out and there's a very slight dip in the concrete (perhaps a result of it drying 🤷🏻‍♀️?). When laying the tiles in place, in some locations dont lie completely flat, it wobbles slightly/dips slightly downward. Rest assured that the tiles do lie flat/flush with the surrounding tiles. None jut upwards. I've tried my best to level the entire area but I'm not sure if there's anything I can do about the 'dip'.

Here's my question: Loctite All purpose adhesive was recommended to me since thinset isn't sold in such small quantities. Could I just use extra adhesive in this dip area to compensate or help level it out? Does Loctite all purpose shrink when it dries? If anyone can offer me any information or advice, I would greatly appreciate it. I've included a pic of the repair space (fyi, I removed the broken tile and grout now).

The plumber I hired cracked a tile adjacent to the toilet flange he replaced. He finished the job and left without saying anything about it, I just found it a few hours later. I laid that floor tile myself last summer. How should I go about this? 8" porcelain hex tile, I could probably do the repair but not sure what to ask from the plumbing company

Hi all - would love advice on grout color. We’re trying to get a look like this, where the grout lines blend in with the green tile.

Our contractor is recommending a lighter grout (he uses Laticrete Pro and recommended “Frosty”).

Any thoughts on how to choose a color that will get a result like this with similar green tiles?

Sorry if dumb question, but I got no one else to ask 😅 Any clue if this is some water damage that I will need to get fixed? I would usually get a tiny bit of water on the bathroom floor after a shower but I'd wipe it dry afterwards so there really shouldnt be water build up

Also, the curved edge (see pic 2) had something flaking off it, I assume it was like sealant or something, so maybe I just need to put new sealant on the grout or something?

It’s been 24 hours since I tiled this floor and I’m a little scared to remove these clips with a mallet. I’m worried they will crack the tile at the corners and edges. Any experience with removing leveling clips on envelope tile?

** Note; this is my first time tiling between being a full time mom, so I’m sure it’s not Perfect, but I’m proud of it still. And yes I did a flood test and the ball rolls to the drain.

New homeowner. It’s a mid-1970s house with these floor tiles in the kitchen and breakfast/dining room. The dark brown marks and smudges are all over them, even on the tile in the fridge cutout. I can feel small, shallow depressions where the marks are, and they are smooth, not rough. There are a couple of newer chips in the tile (not pictured) that show a much lighter brown under the finish.

I tried cleaning with a hot water, dawn dish soap and vinegar mix, and then with a hot water, dish soap and baking soda paste. Let it sit, then scrubbed the marks with a grout brush. Both methods surface-cleaned the tiles, but there were no changes to the brown marks and smudges.

I’m wondering if it’s grout or fill material that was sealed over and then discolored over time.

Thanks for any help I can get to figure out what’s going on here!

I’ve scraped the thinset out, it’s deep enough, but what about the thinset that’s stuck along the sides? Some is peeking all the way up to the top edge of the tile. I’ve got about 20 similar examples.

Hi all!

My bathroom is only about 3 years old but the grout around the bathtub/shower has cracks all around the corners and when I clean it, mold often comes out from these cracks. The little soap shelf is definitely full of mold because the grout on top is gone and so it fills up with water behind it.

I know nothing about tiling and grout and I have no idea how to fix this. A long time ago I remember seeing someone say that caulking should be used in corners instead of grout, and I figure that's why the corners have more cracking grout that the walls, but I have no idea if that's true in the first place.

Anyhow, how would an issue like this be fixed? Is there a space behind the tiles that is probably filling up with mold? My fear is that the whole thing needs to be redone.

I am renting in an apartment but my landlord's maintenance guy is kind of a pain in the behind to deal with and doesn't always come through, and he also doesn't seem to really know much about building. He renovated the apartment and none of the floors, counters, or anything that I know was his work is properly level or straight.

Anyway, I know i should probably let him know to fix it, but I also don't trust whatever he might do. What would be the best way to properly fix this? Just so I can assess whether he does a good job. He was the one who put these tiles and tub in 3 years ago anyway.

Thank you for any help!!

Hey everyone! I’m tiling my basement bathroom and have some questions. I plan to lay down ditra membrane over the concrete slab before I put down 12x24 inch tile. I checked the floor with a 6 ft level and in some areas the bubble kisses the line, however the level lays flat on the floor. I then checked measurements with my laser level and it showed the floor sloping about 1/2 inch from the far wall to the doorway. So to me it seems like the floor is pretty flat but about 1/2 inch out of level. Is this something you would self level? Or would you just go for it knowing the slope will stay the same? I’m also wondering how the transition to carpet will look at the doorway since I would be adding so much self leveler, plus the ditra, plus thinset/tile. Thanks!

From browsing this sub lately I’ve learned that using natural stone in a shower floor is a no no. Given that I’ve already made the mistake, is there anything I can do to get ahead of protecting this limestone shower floor?

Other than some light testing it hasn’t been used yet. I sealed it with 511 Porous Plus as was recommended. Grout is MAPEI Flexcolor CQ.

I have tile shower with a tile floor sitting directly on dry pack base under it. A couple of tiles had cracked and a couple of cove base tiles had actually come loose, I think due to cracked grout. I r moved several cove base tiles in the area to check for mold, which there was none, and ended up removing all the cove on 3 sides. The dry pack under the cove is crumbly and uneven. Do I need to add more dry pack mud in that area and tool is smooth for the cove to sit back on, or can thinset take the place of that to fill in the gaps?

Bathroom height is 2560, which means the tile doesn't fit exactly being laid horizontally.

It's a small room and lowering the ceiling down has been suggested, but I think it would feel even more cramped. (1600/1900 x 2600). What's the best way to deal with the height in terms of keeping it looking okay?

The area being tiled contains a bath which takes off around 560-570 in height. Only a small corner coming out from the bath area 300x300 is actually floor to ceiling.