Posts by Kim
Rehabilitating Vintage Kitchen Tile and Grout
A landlord wanted me to refurbish the kitchen counter before renting out the property. This kitchen featured the original ceramic box trim tile in a contrasting color. Here you can see I thoroughly cleaned the grout and re-grouted low and missing grout joints. There had been a previous tile repair by others long ago on…
Read MoreRenovating a Slate Stone Water Feature
I was recently asked for a consultation from the current homeowner to see if anything could be done about this neglected water fountain. The slate installation was at least 15 years old and the previous owner had not properly maintained it. All the grout below the water line had degraded and turned to sand. Also,…
Read MoreChallenges of Setting Long Lengths of Tile
I was called out to inspect various tile and grout issues on this job and write a technical report for the general contractor, as his current tile contractor had abandoned the job. The tile on this wall looks rippled. There is lippage on this installation. “Lippage” is defined in the ANSI (American National Standards…
Read MoreI Can’t Believe It’s Not Marble
The homeowners wanted an antique looking tile for their 1940’s home. I encouraged them to pick out this porcelain mock Carrera marble tile. The tile had a honed finish rather than a typical shiny finish on the top of the tile. The benefits to selecting this porcelain tile over real marble are: Real marble needs…
Read MoreHairspray Stains on Tile
I was called in to inspect a floor that had mysterious white spots on the darkened tile. Plumbers had worked under the homeowner’s vanity and she thought that the plumbers had done something to her floor. I grabbed some scouring powder and a damp rag and made a circle in the center of the tile…
Read MoreBlack Mosaic Glass Backsplash
This homeowner chose a black mosaic glass backsplash to match his darker counters. There was no trim available for this glass backsplash. I pulled off longer strips of tile and ran them perpendicular, length-wise, at the open edges of the backsplash to serve as trim pieces.
Read MoreCeramic Subway Tile
This tile shows its luminescence quality in good lighting. The actual edges of the tile are a little bit darker than the interiors of the tiles. The homeowners chose to have the tile installed before the hood so they could have complete coverage behind the appliance.
Read MoreGrout Transformation
When a person walked into this house the first thing you saw was a high contrast grid pattern of grout versus tile. The owner of the home wanted the floor grout to look more subtle and better match the tile color. In my experience, the best and most durable grout colorants contain epoxy and are…
Read MoreHow to Remove Grout Film on Non-glazed Porcelain Tile
Sometimes, when using heavily pigmented grout over a non-glazed surface you get a grout film, despite your best efforts to prevent it. Here I used clean wash water, and I didn’t let the grout sit too long on the tile surface and I still got heavy grout film. I waited four days for the grout…
Read MoreDirty Tile Shower to Clean
If you look closely at the lower half of these walls in the photo on the left, you can see the buildup of white soap scum on the tiles. The photo on the right shows the tile after the soap scum has been cleaned off. These pictures show the tiled shower pan, before and after…
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