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. But, alas, I’ve assembled some pointers on how to deal […]
Installation
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. Frankly, it’s too big of a risk to install the whole electric floor heat system with tile on top and then hope that […]
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 […]
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 […]
Tired of Bullnose Tile Trim? Here’s 5 Tile Edge Trim Alternatives
Here’s 5 alternatives to the classic and common bullnose tile edge trim. One of the mistakes that I see a lot of homeowners and DIYers make with tile installations is that they sometimes don’t use any tile trim on the exposed tile edges. Many times they think the edge of the tile looks ok or […]
How to Modify your Recessed Foam Shower Niche
The Ultimate Guide to Building a Preformed Recessed Shower Niche Part 3: How to Modify your Recessed Foam Shower Niche In this post we cover: Situations where you would consider modifications A technique to check if your foam niche is still waterproof Method and tools to customize a foam shower niche Staying out of trouble […]
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 […]
How to Design a Preformed Foam Recessed Shower Niche
The Ultimate Guide to Building a Preformed Recessed Shower Niche Part 1: Planning and Layout In this post we discuss: What types of prefab recessed shower niches are out there Which preformed shampoo niches are best Shower niche design ideas Why you should plan for a shower insert before you install any tile How […]
Ditra Heat Mat Installation: Ignore these two rules
Typically I encourage people to follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Especially when the company has clear, detailed, and easy to understand instructions. But when it comes to both Ditra Heat and Ditra Heat TB [edit: now called Ditra-Heat Duo] there are two things that I just don’t feel are good ideas. This post deals with the […]
The trick for getting better thinset coverage under your tiles
The trick for getting better thinset coverage under your tiles I’ve worked with some fussy tile setters in the past. Everything has to be a particular way with them. The boxes of tile have to be opened a certain way, their spacers have to be positioned just so, and their tools have to be organized […]