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Shower Tile Backer Board Breakdown: Which is best?
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5 signs your new tile shower will leak
What to look for in proper tile shower construction You’ve hired someone to build your tile shower in your bathroom, but how do you know he or she’s doing it correctly? How do you know that you won’t have an upstairs shower leaking into your downstairs kitchen? This post contains affiliate links. The site owner […]
Tips & Tricks
How to Cut Glass Tile- 7 Tips Revealed- video
How to Cut Glass Tile Cutting glass tile can be a challenge. Yes, more of a challenge than cutting regular old ceramic tile. Additionally, the average DIY’er may not have the right equipment and may not know the tricks for how to cut glass tile. This post contains affiliate links. The site owner may earn […]
Bathroom Floor Tile Layout in 5 Easy Steps
Bathroom Floor Tile Layout It seems like a simple project- a small bathroom floor. You’ve picked out your tile at the local box store along with a few supplies and you’re ready to go. The problem is: Where do you start? See my previous post on tile layout concepts and why this layout was chosen. […]
Silicone Caulk: How to Caulk a Bathtub or a Shower
Silicone Caulk: How to Caulk a Shower or Bathtub The problem: If you’ve ever tried caulking with 100% silicone caulk you are well aware of how frustrating it can be. First of all it can create a huge mess, be almost impossible to clean up, and can make your shower look uglier than before you started. […]
Waterproofing
Building a Custom Shower Niche from Scratch
The Ultimate Guide to Building a Preformed Custom Recessed Shower Niche Part 4: Building a Custom Shower Niche from Scratch This post covers: Cement board, foam board, and Hardibacker Cutting into wall framing Waterproofing LOTS of photos! Sometimes there’s no good way around it. Building your own custom recessed shower niche from scratch can be […]
Sealing the tub flange for tile
That pesky tub flange. You have the tile backerboard installed and everything is waterproofed. Everything except that gap between the backerboard and the tub flange. How do you waterproof that? What to do with the tub flange? To begin with you can try reading the instructions for the backerboard… which then will reveal… nothing. What about […]
Kerdi no longer acceptable for tile steam showers
TCNA tightens steam shower requirements In 2013, the Tile Council of North America (TCNA), the organization that sets the guidelines for tile installations, is rumored to have made a modification to their specifications for constructing tile steam showers. It’s all about perm ratings- and Schluter Kerdi fabric no longer cuts it. (edit: this is now […]
Tutorial
Installing Electric Floor Heat: How to Not Void Your Warranty
Installing Electric Floor Heat: The First Step “How do you know it works?” I’ve been asked this by more than one homeowner when installing their electric floor heat system. It’s a good question. This post contains affiliate links. The site owner may earn a commission should you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase. Read […]
Why a centered tile layout is a bad idea
This post deals with tile layout as a concept. If you are looking for a more How-to, nuts & bolts post then be sure to check out my related post on Bathroom Floor Tile Layout in 5 Easy Steps. Typical tile layout advice is: Measure off of each wall Find the center of the […]
Don’t let your tile accent strip look like this
How to install tile of different thicknesses flush, flat, and even with each other Getting your mosaic and glass tile accent strips to be flush and flat with the surrounding tile can be difficult unless you know a trick for it. Here’s a technique for building up the thinner decorative tile so that it’s even […]
Tile Installation Products
Shower Waterproofing Crash Course
4 Shower Waterproofing systems for tile showers Waterproofing a shower. This seems like common sense, doesn’t it? Well, a lot of showers that are built these days still have no shower waterproofing whatsoever. Or they have poor or improper waterproofing. This post contains affiliate links. The site owner may earn a commission should you click […]
Mesh Tape: Don’t skip this step
Mesh Tape: Don’t skip this step There are some aspects of tile installation that seem small or insignificant but they aren’t. They really have a big impact. The way you treat your backer board seams is one of them. Doing them improperly can lead to big problems down the road. But these problems can be […]
How to Build a Recessed Shampoo Shelf
The Ultimate Guide to Building a Preformed Recessed Shower Niche Part 2 Building, Installing, and Tiling a Recessed Shampoo Shelf In this post we discuss: How to cut an inset niche into the wall What tools to use to build the recessed shampoo shelf Blocking (framing) for a recessed niche How to make sure your […]