Bathrooms
Challenges 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 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…
Read MoreTop Secret Way to Keep Your Tiled Bathroom Walls Clean
The solidifiers in bar soap lead to heavy duty soap scum buildup on the tiles and grout joints in bathrooms. A very simple way to reduce your cleaning labor is to switch from bar soap to clear, colorless liquid body soap.
Read MoreEvidence of Leaking Shower
I was called out to clean this shower and I stopped dead in my tracks. This shower displays all the classic signs of water leakage leading to damage. I noticed the sheetrock and paint damage immediately adjacent to the shower curb, classic indicators of water wicking upwards out of the shower pan. When the weep…
Read MoreVintage-Look Bathroom
The homeowner asked if this solid surface Carrera marble vanity top needed to be sealed. Based on the fact that this guest bathroom is rarely used, we recommended that it be sealed with a solvent-based product once a year. Beautiful basketweave Carrera marble. It is not recommended that you put this inside a shower on…
Read MoreWhy You Don’t Hire Workers From the Big Box Store
I was called out to a shower damaged by an electrician. He was working on the back side of the wall to install a subpanel. Using a reciprocating saw blade, he had cut into the wall all the way through the mortarboard and tile on the other side. He had damaged four large tiles. Unfortunately,…
Read MoreRestoring Vintage Grout
**Please click on individual photos to see a larger image. The improvements in the grout are more easily seen when the photos are enlarged.** This is a vintage installation dated to the 1920’s and contains the original grout. Almost a century later, we knew it was going to be impossible to bring back the grout…
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