Best Tile Installation in Portland Oregon
It is important to seal the tile and grout after it is installed. It is just as important to repeat this process every six months if the tile is a natural stone. If the tile is ceramic or porcelain then once in 12 months is ok.
Cracked grout is normal for newly installed tile and grout. New grout usually cracks about three months after the installation. That is why it is very important after those two months to scrape the cracked grout lines and refill them with more grout and reseal the whole thing. After this you only need to seal the tile and grout lines every six months.This will help your tile last longer. Properly installed and maintained tile should last about 20 years.
This is the stuff I use when I’m tiling walls or ceilings. It works great because it’s much stickier then regular thin set. If you use regular thin set on ceiling tile they will fall off after a minute or two and brake. Using this stuff will keep the tile on the ceiling till the adhesive is cured. It works good on walls because it keeps tile from sagging down, although, it still might sag a little so check it one last time after your done before you take off.
Cove tile is a stone or tile version of baseboard. It is set on the wall about 1 ½” to 3 ½” off the floor. I definitely suggest using cove tile on tiled floors; it makes a big difference in looks for not that much of a difference in price. You have to pay for some one to install baseboard any way, but for a little more your baseboard can be made of tile or stone pieces.
When using glass tile make sure that you paint the back of the glass with white paint. It looks better that way when you are installing it. Otherwise you will see the gray thin set right through the glass and that does not look so good. Another way of doing this would be to use white mastic thin set when setting in glass tiles.
The consequence for poorly mixed up grout. Mix it too watery and it will crack when it dries. Mix it to dry and it will feel like you are wrestling a bear, trying to get the grout in the grout lines. The way I test grout for a proper mix ratio is to get some grout on my margin trowel and hold it over my bucket upside down, it should take about 10 seconds for the grout to detach and fall off.
When you are setting tile up a wall make sure your grout lines line up with floor grout lines, if you have any tile on floor. Also, after you set your first row of tiles right on the floor going up the wall make sure you level that first row of tiles on the wall. Then check your level as you going up the wall about every three or four rows just to make sure it’s still leveled as you are going up.
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When you are working the lines makes sure that you move your sponge in a circular motion, doing this prevents your sponge from pulling out too much grout from the grout lines.
Video Provided By: RhinoTile
Working the lines. What this means is that you work on your grout lines to make them flush, even and uniformed. You do that by getting a sponge and a bucket of water, dip the sponge in the bucket and wring it out a little so it’s damp but not to wet. Than you start rubbing the grout lines with it, be careful with applying pressure, too much pressure will cause the grout lines to dip down below your tile and not be flush. Do not start working on your grout lines right after you grout them, let them sit and dry 10 to 15 minutes, this makes it easier to get good grout lines.
