More Mud Work

Mud is a dying art in the tile trade. When one can mud, their is no job too small or a job that can be turned away. This job had to be gauged due to the plank flooring and the floor was severely out of level and not flat. Mud helps create a flat and level floor and thats why it is used in these situations. It in my opinion is also a higher quality install and shows a true craftsman at work. Here are some pictures of a job with mud on the floor and curb in the shower and the finished products of the job.






In these photos, the floor is being mudded and packed and then screeded level in the 1st and 2nd photos. In the 3rd photo hydro barrier a Laticrete product is being applied to the walls and shower floors. It is added protection for the waterproofing of all the cementous areas in the shower. The final 2 photos show the shower with a fully functional seat and the bathroom floor with inserts.

Tile for my Sister in Broomall

My sister purchased a house with her husband a few years ago and it needed some major work in Broomall, Pennsylvania. Some of work needed was tile work and since I am a tilesetter she decided to let me do whatever I wanted. The first thing needed was a kitchen redo and a nice new tile floor. The tile to be installed was 18x18 porcelain tile, but the problem was that the floor was not flat at all or level. This was the perfect opportunity for a wetbed.

(A wetbed is where sand and portland cement are mixed to a damp consistency where the mud is screeded and leveled to create a flat and level floor other names for this type of job are: mudjob, screed, floating or gauging and pre-guaging are all common tilesetter terms).

The floor was so badly out of level it required around 2 tons of sand and cement to get the floor level and flat. Then the 18x18s were installed the following day and the floor was grouted with TEC sanded coffee colored grout.


She then decided to redo her basement the following summer and install a bar, a powder room and to spruce the laundry room up with some fresh tile. She picked out a nice gray colored porcelain tile and and a gray tumbled marble with some teal glass and matching chair rails for the powder room. Since I was working in the basement the tile was to be installed on a slab and 90% of the time concrete needed to be flattened before tiling so self-leveling cement (SLC) was used to fix the low spots in the slab.

Self leveler is a product mixed with water and mixed to a water like consistency. It is poured over the concrete which is first primed with a latex product and the SLC seeks its own level with some trowel assistance. Afterwords you have a nice flat area to set tile on.

I installed the marble on the self leveled areas and used a larger notched trowel to set the porclain on the concrete throughout the rest of the basement. Her and her husband are thrilled with the work and enjoy entertaining their friends in their newly finished basement.

New shower with old tile

I recently tore out a tub surround for a customer over the past couple days in Delaware County, Pa. The tile was 3x3 over green board installed with mastic and I knew it was in bad shape. The customer had not used the shower for 5 years due to substantial leaking when it was being used. I tore out and while gutting the shower noticed that the tiles had no tiling substrate behind them just air and mold. The worst part was the installer told the homeowner back in the mid 90's they used wonderboard, I had to explain that the job was done with pretty much drywall and glue.

I demo'd the shower and installed a vapor barrier (aquabar "b"),installed permabase, taped and flashed the corners, and most importantly set the tile with thinset.







The customer choose their own tile, it was a bisque 6x6 from American Olean. I got an idea to save some of the old 3x3 and install diamonds in the shower to enhance the installation, the homeowner thought this was a great idea. I tiled the entire shower with laticretes 253 thinset to set the tile. I grouted the shower with laticretes bright white unsanded grout and caulked all the changes of plain.

This job felt great, I ripped out a awful shower and installed a rocksolid one with a little touch of the old shower by inserting the gray accents.

The people were thrilled with the finished project and it made me feel good that they were happy, they also enjoyed watching the whole process take shape.

Hiring the right Tilesetter/Contractor

Below is a good walk through on how to hire a quality tile setter and get a lasting installation

So you've decided the house needs a little upgrade, maybe a new kitchen floor or the linoleum in the powder room has worn out its welcome. Maybe the shower is grungy, the walls are moldy and those 4x4 pink tiles with a gray border need to be shown the door. What do all these things have in common? Well, they can all be replaced with ceramic tile or more commonly used now porcelain. So porcelain it is, or maybe you decided to install marble, but we'll get into that later. You've decided to hire a tile contractor because it seems like a large task and its one project that you want to do once and not again in 2- 5 years, because you know a proper tile installation should last as long as the substrate below it, aka. plywood, concrete, drypack.

Where do you find a tile contractor? Its always a good idea to call a tileshop in the local area and ask who their top installers are and if the shop and its installers follow TCNA guidlines. Nowadays you can research the local tile shops on the Internet and see how clients rate the particular shop by reading just a few reviews. A couple negative feed backs on a local tile shop may change your perspective on how the shop operates and the type of installers being reccomended.


Lets fast forward, a few different installers come out and look at the job and give estimates and their method of installation. To make sure you have a lasting installation its always a good idea to check the following. Make sure the contractor is licensed and insured. An insured contractor will have no problem proving it. Ask how long the contractor has been in business and what their preferred method of install is. Make sure that their install is proper with what the TCNA recommends. Ask if the contractor offers a warranty and when they give their final proposal see if it is in writing or if its based on a handshake.

Just to help here are a few proper installation methods for floors:
Cbu
Drypack
Ditra

These are the only methods I am aware of, if someone try's to sell you something else be weary and ask them if its supported by the tiling council and if its a new proper method ask for some literature on it.

Now if you choose to have a shower redone make sure you don't get the famous mastic on greenboard/cbu job with the famous nails in the pan liner curb area. You'd be surprised how many people offer this type of installation, a lot of the people installing this way may not even be tile setters and may be another trade just trying to make a quick buck. Actually so many people are installing this way that 80% of the currently custom built shower are functioning improperly. Whether is clogged weepholes in the clamping drain or nails in the liner, mastic on the walls, or lack of prepitch.

Ask your installer how they plan on building the shower. A proper shower consists of a vapor barrier whether its 6 mil poly or 15 lb felt behind the tile setting substrate or a liquid applied membrane applied on the face of the setting substrate. The tile must be installed with a premium thinset that comes in a bag and is mixed with water. Anything arriving in a bucket with a lid is bound to affect the outcome of the job. The only time mastic (the bucket substance) should be considered is for wall work in dry areas such as a back splash or wainscoting in a bathroom or other water-free area. In a traditional shower a pan liner must be installed and the curb must be puncture free and made of mud. This is the only way a shower pan can be built and tiled in a tradition shower with these type of materials. Anything else risks a quality installation.

Another newer and growing popular method is the Kerdi shower which consists of drywall and a waterproof membrane applied with unmodified thinset to the drywall. The mudbed for the shower floor is installed without a liner and the membrane is installed over the pitched mud. Corner pieces and a band are installed to make a total water proof system. Water has no where to go except to the drain and out of the shower like it is designed to do. One thing great about this system is the shower can actually function once the Kerdi is applied and drys for a day, the tile technically is just for aesthetics and installed with unmodified thinset.

This is just a touch on quality work and how to find a quality setter, the only thing to do is try not to shop based on price alone, if your mindset is on a cheap price ultimately you will end up with a poorly installed tile job. Just because someones price is higher then another, doesn't mean they are trying to take you. 95% of the time an installers craftsmanship will speak for itself. In the long run, which would you rather do? Spend 2,100 dollars on a shower that lasts 1 year leaks and ruins the family room below it and shorts out your new high def television or pay 4,500 and get a shower that will last a lifetime? Pretty simple answer...

A Schluter Experience

I am a member of the John Bridge Tile Forum, a tiling website where other tile setting mechanics and diy'ers gather to talk about tile and discuss about the rights and wrongs of installing tile. I guess I discovered this forum by accident around the age of 20 and I decided to join. I learned alot about other ways to set tile besides the ones I knew about. I also learned about a product called Kerdi made by Schluter. It's a shower membrane applied to drywall and it makes your shower waterproof. I said to myself blasphemy and instisted drywall could not be installed in showers and this company was clueless on how to build a proper shower. I read many posts though on old time tile setters who switched over to this product and loved it, so I guess in reality I was a bit curious about Schluters product.

Schluter also makes another product for floors called Ditra, its orange and looks like a large giant waffle sheet made of plastic. I saw this product and said, plastic on floors? No way! Anyways, people on this forum always praised this product, actually both of em' and insisted they were wonderful but, I refused to budge. About 2-3 years ago a customer wanted a full bathroom installed with travertine from floor to ceiling and you guessed it they wanted Kerdi on the walls and Ditra on the floors. Customer purchased everything and had it for us to install, the person working with me was clueless never saw the stuff at all either. Then I remembered the orange stuff from the JB forum and I spoke up and mentioned that I saw it on the internet. We watched the DVD and felt pretty confident installing it, but we were angry that it wasn't the way we "normally" did things. Normally we would hang 15 lb tarpaper and 2.5lb lathe and float the walls with wall mud with a traditional vinyl pan. Then we would install tar paper on the floor and wire it and float the floor with mud making it flat and level. We followed the Kerdi and Ditra install with 12x12 honed travertine on the walls with a glass listello. The floor consisted of 18x18 travertine installed on a running bond pattern. We grouted the job, shined the tiles up and caulked everything and the job was complete. Last fall I was back in the house working, I went into that bathroom and it looked like the day we had just left. The corners were perfect, the floor was solid as a rock and the bathroom was immaculate. I was amazed, this sparked an interest for me. The first thing that went through my mind was, the JB forum guys were right! I got online did my research and with help from another tile setter was able to attend the Schluter school in Clemson, South Carolina and get trained on the products. I am now trained to install both Schluter products (Kerdi & Ditra) in my area and have been installing since I got back.

Forming drypack around Kerdi drain




Putting the finishing touches on shower pan