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Tile installation information for the DIYers

  • Planning and Design
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Prep

How to Install GoBoard Tile Backer Board | Video

March 31, 2018 by James Upton 224 Comments

GoBoard tile backer board

It's time to work on DIY'ing your tile shower and you're not looking forward to working with the dreaded cement board again. It's dusty, crumbly, and hard to start screws into. Not to mention how heavy it is. Sure, there are waterproof foam backer boards on the market but they are extraordinarily … [Read more...] about How to Install GoBoard Tile Backer Board | Video

Filed Under: Showers/Bathtubs

Shower Waterproofing Crash Course

September 27, 2017 by James Upton 287 Comments

Shower waterproofing systems

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. What! No Waterproofing!? How … [Read more...] about Shower Waterproofing Crash Course

Filed Under: Showers/Bathtubs Tagged With: featured

Installing Electric Floor Heat: How to Not Void Your Warranty

March 28, 2017 by James Upton 7 Comments

suntouch heat cable

"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 it works when the project is … [Read more...] about Installing Electric Floor Heat: How to Not Void Your Warranty

Filed Under: Floor Prep

Sealing the tub flange for tile: 3 methods

March 14, 2017 by James Upton 152 Comments

tub lip sealed for tile

That pesky tub flange. You have the tile backer board installed and everything is waterproofed. Everything except that gap between the backer board and the tub flange. How do you waterproof that? How to waterproof the tub flange? To begin with, you can try reading the instructions for … [Read more...] about Sealing the tub flange for tile: 3 methods

Filed Under: Showers/Bathtubs

Is Hardibacker and Durock cement board waterproof?

February 14, 2017 by James Upton 82 Comments

Durock cement board waterproof

Reader question: Hi there. I recently finished grouting my tile surround in my shower. I posted photos on Facebook and somebody questioned whether I had waterproofed the Hardiebacker 500 board. Much to my dismay, I had never even heard of this… Anyway, I went to the James Hardie website and see … [Read more...] about Is Hardibacker and Durock cement board waterproof?

Filed Under: Showers/Bathtubs

Do Uncoupling Membranes Really Prevent Cracked Tile Floors?

September 20, 2016 by James Upton 33 Comments

cracked tile floors

You want to tile your concrete floor. But there's a problem. The concrete has cracks in it. You know that if you tile right over the crack you soon will have floor tile that's cracked in the exact same spot. So what can you do to keep the tile from cracking? Do Uncoupling Membranes Really … [Read more...] about Do Uncoupling Membranes Really Prevent Cracked Tile Floors?

Filed Under: Floor Prep

No Waterproofing: Will this cause shower leaks?

September 6, 2016 by James Upton 108 Comments

Hydroban waterproofing

A leaking shower. The last thing anyone wants when they build a new shower. Yet I hear the following questions quite often: Isn't cement board waterproof?The tile and grout will keep the most of the water out, right?My contractor didn't put any waterproofing in our shower. Will this cause a … [Read more...] about No Waterproofing: Will this cause shower leaks?

Filed Under: Showers/Bathtubs

Ditra Heat Mat Installation: Ignore these two rules

August 23, 2016 by James Upton 186 Comments

Prefilling Ditra waffles

This post was updated on February 2022. 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 … [Read more...] about Ditra Heat Mat Installation: Ignore these two rules

Filed Under: Floor Prep

Mesh Tape: Don’t skip this step

January 12, 2016 by James Upton 102 Comments

4 inch mesh tape

  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 avoided by this … [Read more...] about Mesh Tape: Don’t skip this step

Filed Under: Showers/Bathtubs

Tile Backer Board Breakdown

December 29, 2015 by James Upton 328 Comments

tile backer board comparison

Which Shower Tile Backer board is best? When it comes to installing a tile backer board you typically have the following choice: So which tile backer board should you use in your bathroom? I'm going to break them down by category and cover the finer points of each. We'll start … [Read more...] about Tile Backer Board Breakdown

Filed Under: Showers/Bathtubs Tagged With: featured

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Hi! I'm James!

I own a bathroom remodeling company in the Seattle area and blog about tile installation in my spare time.

DIYTileGuy was created to help get good tile installation information to DIY'ers so they can build their own tile projects successfully.

I hope you enjoy the site! Read More…

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