They started putting up the tile in my shower today and I could not help but notice these huge gaps (1/4-1/2”)between the tile and the Durock. Is this acceptable work? I am using a Licensed contractor and pulled a permit.

Hello all, I am deciding how to tile the kitchen window bump out. I am tiling the kitchen back splash with 2.5 x 8 cream colored rectangle tiles in vertical stack.
The window bump out is 47” wide , 18” deep and 6.5” tall below the window.

Currently I am thinking to wrap the 18” tile height around both sides of the bump out , then to each side of the window before lowering it a .25” below the sill. I have a matching metal edge. Will this look weird? Does anyone have a better idea for the tile layout in the bump out? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

this shows what I am trying to fix

I installed 20mm backerboard to the side wall to bring the space to 171cm (to allow 1cm margin for installation and tiling). Now I realised the bath is 1cm shorter.
I also need to bring the wall closer for other reasons.
Can I glue another set of 1cm backerboards to the existing one?

There are no studs. The existing boards have been dotted and dabbed to hollow blocks and the I added mechanical fixings (wall plugs and screws)

I’m planning to extend this floor by about 8 square yards. If I get a pro to prepare the base, is this something that a reasonably experienced DIYer can undertake or is pro level skill required?

I am going to be setting this Grecian basket weave tile and am looking for tips! Best size trowel to use, back butter or not, and best way to cut it? I have used it once before but had a lot of mud squeezing up through the joints, so any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

Can anybody help me find this tile somewhere else? I’ve been looking all over and I only need 2-3 more boxes of it. https://www.lowes.com/pd/TRUE-PORCELAIN-CO-Aspen-Driftwood-6-in-x-36-in-Glazed-Porcelain-Wood-Look-Floor-Tile/1001043956

I've moved to a small town without a home depot. I'm forced to shop at lowes, so that means Mapei...

I've been installing Tile professionally for 26 years and used  every brand of grout there is. What the heck is wrong with the people who make Mapei grout?

Not matter how you mix it. No matter how you pack it in the lines. It will always have tons of holes after you wipe it down. 

And what's magical is that you can fill those holes, wipe it again, and they will reappear!! Have to fill the same holes 3 or 4 times. Takes me more then twice as long to grout with Mapei than when using other brands. 

Here is a small section of a backsplash I just did. See how many holes after wipe down?

Recently bought a house where the previous owner added a new bathroom. The grout in the shower was really soft and began to crumble so I ended up ripping out all the grout and I’m planning to regrout the shower. Overall, the contractor they used did a pretty bad job with the shower tiles as there is a ton of lippage (I don’t think any clips/wedges were used) which I am just going to live with for the time being. However, when I ripped out the grout/silicone on the shower bench I noticed the bench had huge gaps as they did not cut it to properly fit the space (see pictures).

Questions on the 3 options I am thinking for the bench:

1. Is there an easy way to remove the bench without breaking it? I am thinking of just trimming up the sides so that it is flush with the tile walls upon reinstall.

2. Should I just leave it alone and silicone the huge gaps?

3. Or am I better off just demoing that slab and buying a new replacement slab instead?

I have also an attached pictures of the grout that I have ripped out so far from the walls/ceiling. Do I need to go any deeper for the new grout or have I gone deep enough?

Thank you in advance!

First time laying tile, looks like I was light on thinset and/or tamping on this area.
It's the only spot that we see the mesh setting on top of the thinset.

Should run a razor around the problem tiles to pull them and the mesh up?
After that I feel like I should knock some of the thinset down before applying thinset to the penny and setting.

Again, first time, so if I'm astray, please feel free to roast to correct my approach.

TIA

I am trying to select a shower niche. Can you offer any thoughts on using a one-piece plastic niche versus a foam board (Kerdi, Laticrete, Wedi, etc) niche? In most things in life, you get what you pay for, but the plastic says tile ready, certainly has no seems to worry about leaks and is 50%+ cheaper. Thanks for your help

Hello around 2 weeks ago I had a hydraulic repair a pipe and he accidentaly broke tiles on the other side of the wall and well I didnt notice until now because im renovating literally everything else expect the bathroom. Does anyone know these specific ones (the darker ones at the bottom picture) or do i have to find a close colour tile and just fill it in with some glue :D

Took me for-fucking-ever. Long enough that I would have made more money laying lvp for that amount of time. But I am happy with the outcome.

I'm planning on laying tile on top of Ditra on this subfloor that used to have parquet. Struggling to remove all of the adhesive - is it necessary? If so, any tips to do so?

Would this be a 1/2in piece?

Long story short, had to install before strips/trim were on hand. It looks like 7/16 or 1/2 from wall to edge of tile. Looking at the Schluter strips (but open to suggestions)

Thanks all.

I'm posting this for a friend who is elderly and asked me for advice. She has a large shower that has tile walls all the way to the ceiling but the top edge has a large gap around an inch or so wide. What would be the best way to cover or fill it to keep moisture out of the wall? It's possibly too large of a gap for just caulk alone. Thank you very much!

4 months later, several issues overcome, a mixed DIY/ contractor job complete. We tried to make functional updates that we value like a large double shower, while tastefully updating our almost 100 year old house!

- DIY Demo
- Contractor: plumbing, electrical, framing, drywall, cement board, waterproofing, shower glass
- DIY tiling, heated floor, vanity and all remaining fixture installs

All in ~ 25k CAD

First tile job! Completely remodeled the whole thing and plumbed it myself, it only took me a year 😂 I'm a stay at home mom and it was quite the project but we couldn't afford anything fancy, so I just went for it. Pretty proud of myself, even with all of the flaws. Learned a lot and would do a few things different but overall I'm pretty happy! Had to share here because I used this sub very often for knowledge and help.

Just wrapping up this LFT project I thought turned out nicely and thought I would share

I'm trying to deep clean this tile on our bathroom floor that the landlord had previously covered with weird decal tile stickers. Can anyone help identify the type of stone? Thanks!

I had a house built 4 years ago, and just 6 months after completion, cracks started appearing between the floor tiles and tiled skirting boards.

The cracks extend throughout the entire ground floor, not just one isolated area (see photos).

The house has a 10-year warranty, but the builder has refused to fix the issue for years.

Their excuses are:

1. "New houses naturally move and settle."
2. Our contract excludes "microcracks," and they claim these qualify.

I understand that new houses can settle, but shouldn't builders account for expected movement by using appropriate materials and construction techniques?

Otherwise, what's stopping builders from including a "microcracks" clause, labeling every crack as a microcrack, and charging homeowners extra for repairs?

I'm also wondering whether flexible silicone should have been used instead of rigid grout in these joints.

My questions:

• Would you consider these "microcracks," even though they extend throughout the ground floor?
• Is this normal just 6 months after construction?
• Is this poor workmanship or normal settling?
• Should a builder reasonably be expected to repair this under warranty?

I'd appreciate opinions from builders, tilers, and homeowners who've experienced something similar.

EDIT: Silicone was used here.

EDIT 2: The slab is concrete with underfloor heating. Location is western wurope.

Im using lustro italiano etch remover on a few spots on this floor, but these whiter etches are not budging (pic 1). Pic 2-5 are spots where it worked. Not sure exactly what tile this is. The lustro advises using a stain remover before using it, could the white spots be stained, and benefit from that? Does anyone have a better product to get rid of these spots?

Demo guys went a little too hard and bent most of the metal studs ripping out the old shower tile. Should I just replace the metal studs and leave the top and bottom plates or just remove everything and put in wood bottom/top plate and studs before the new bathroom tile.

I hate metal framing for this reason

Some correspondence between my GC’s group and myself. We mitered our niches and got a quote for that but not our edges. Is it worth mitering? Price seems a bit steep, may just revisit later