Tiling Over a Wood Subfloor

Tile office floor

After removing the carpet and pad in this bedroom I found old linoleum squares over a wood subfloor. Under the back sides of each linoleum tile there was felt backing, which remained on the floor after the tiles were removed.  I had to tediously scrape away the felt to get a smoother surface. In order…

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How to Remove Glass Block

Removing wood trim

This glass block was broken as a result of a fire at the house next door.  One block was blown out through both panes, and other blocks were cracked.  The glass block got extremely hot from the fire and breakage occurred from the temperature fluctuation when sprayed with cold water. Due to the potential for exploding glass…

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Changing the color of grout

new grout color

Over the years this ceramic mosaic floor with sanded white grout darkened considerably.  After many frustrating attempts to clean it, the homeowner called me and we agreed to apply epoxy-based grout colorant to the joints.  The grout colorant we use is dual purpose:  it not only changes the appearance of grout to a consistent color…

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Stone-clad fireplace

Stone Fireplace

The customer had an old brick fireplace and the face of the fireplace   was set actually  back behind the sheetrock.  So I used a special nailing device, a powder  actuated nail gun to install metal lath onto the existing brick. After installing the metal lath I floated over the wire mesh with a special tan mortar mix that  was…

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Outdoor Paver Tile Walkway

Outdoor Pavers

Pavers from America, made in Lincoln California First step was to dig out the garden soil to the correct depth.  It is important to leave undisturbed soil at the bottom of the dug out area.   We dug out about 4 inches of dirt and framed it in with wood boards on the outside edge making…

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