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