Q:Im looking into renovating our kitchen and thought i would cut some costs with doing some renovating ourselves. Is tiling easy to do yourself, how is it done and what surfaces can they be laid on?Thanks

Laying tile isn't hard,go to Lowe's or home depot and get a tile saw,it doesn't have to be a high dollar one,they have Rhino board for the places that have to be stable and moisture proof,and get the trawl for it,it doesn't take a lot of the glue,you'll see the teeth on the side of the trawl,put some on the wall or floor,run the trawl(teeth side towards the surface,leave lines of glue about 3/16 s thick,that's enough to hold it,if it big tile squares make it a little thicker,they also have some spacers for putting between the tile,keeps it straight as well,then let it harden up and grout it,have several 5 gallon buckets of Fresh water(replenish the water when dirty) and a good sponge for wiping it down shortly after grouting.

Q:We laid tile in our Master bath about a month and a half ago. Now we have 2 tiles that are crackd. I would like to no what caused it. We have a slab foundation.

The foundation may have cracked/shifted The tile was defective. Somebody dropped something heavy on the tile. There wasn't sufficient grout under those tiles - they flexed. One way to find out - pop-them out and look.

Q:I have some ceramic tiles in my kitchen floor that I would like to paint. Would this be possible?

There is special paint for ceramic tiles but it would be less expensive to just re-tile. Rustoleum makes some cool stuff but very expensive and labor intensive.

Q:My husband and I are disagreeing about tile on the wall. What is your opinion about tile on the bathroom wall, half way up? Here are the yes and no‘s of arguments:YES:The tile is neutral and beautiful. There is a WOW factor when you walk in and see the extra tile. It‘s practical for our household with a one year old who splashes and may smudge a non-tiled bathroom wall.NO:It‘s old fashioned, not necessary and I would rather have empty wall space available to paint from top to bottom. There only needs to be tile around the bath tub, for splashing and practicality purposes.

I would definitely tile! especially with children in the house. I still love the idea that my teenage boys' bathroom is STILL tiled! and who says it has to be old fashioned? only if you are using 3x3 white tiles. use bigger, more earthy toned tile. even if you can't afford travertine, you can still get look-a-like ceramic! Good luck to y'all!

Q:Have very cheap lino in my kitchen. Am thinking of putting tile down myself.

It'd be better to remove the linoleum, because in order to lay a flat tile floor, you need to put down this stuff called Hardi- backer board, (or any similar product). It comes in big square peices, and is your base layer. Without this layer your tiles would eventually sag, dip, and crack. You'd also have grout problems- sealing, cracking, and curing. You can by the Hardi- backer board at Home Depot or any other similar store. Ask the folks who work there for tips on putting tile down.

Q:Specifically, what type of drill bit is required that won‘t chip the tile.

I have also used a carbide tipped bit on several occasions to drill tile. The key is to have a sharp bit and to use a pointed center punch to put a very small chip in the surface prior to starting to drill the hole. Make the chip at the center of the point where you want the hole by lightly tapping with a hammer. You don't need much of a chip but it keeps the drill bit from wandering around when you first start drilling. Also a variable speed drill that you can start at a very low speed it also helpful.

Q:Someone spilled a cleaning liquid on my marble tiles and the glaze came off. Does anyone know how to get the shine back to normal. Right now some parts look regular, and other parts are white. With a certain angle you can clearly see the glaze is taken off.

Normal okorder

Q:hi we have old carpet on top of tiled floor in our dining room the carpet really needs replacing but I have no idea how to fix the grippers down onto the tilesany ideas how I can do this without pulling up the tiles?

I will have to assume you are talking about vinyl tile?? I can't imagine laying carpet over ceramic tiles!!! If your old carpet was wall-to-wall, all you need to do is untangle the old carpet from the needle-like protrusions located next to each wall. You can then lay new wall-to-wall carpet over the old tiles and connect it to the protrusions just like the old carpet was. If you are opting for an area rug, you will need to remove the old tacked-down carpet holders around the perimeter and repair or replace the vinyl tiles that now have holes in them.

Q:What is the loss of tiles? What is the difference between floor tiles and bathroom tiles? Living room masonry 80X80 balcony, bathroom floor, kitchen floor is 30X30 bathroom wall, kitchen wall is 30X45. We help me see how much loss in this

Number of Wall Brick 800 tiles Square number * 1.6 + 1 ~ 2 = quantity (plus loss) 600 tiles Square number * 2.78 + 1 ~ 2 = quantity (plus loss) Toilet kitchen ground Specifications: 300 * 300 square number * 11 + 1 ~ 2 = quantity (plus loss) Bathroom kitchen wall tiles Specifications: 300 * 450 square number * 7.4 + 1 ~ 2 = quantity (plus loss) Specifications: 300 * 600 square number * 5.5 + 1 ~ 2 = quantity (added loss) Specifications: 250 * 330 square number * 12 + 1 ~ 2 = quantity (plus loss Waistline Specifications: 30 * 30 weeks long * 3.3 * 5.5 = quantity (plus loss) This is a more accurate calculation of the loss of the way, in general, are sufficient, and after completion should be some remaining, but not absolute, to take into account your home irregular zone, if more, the more the loss, the carpenter can not Hundred percent to you count, so would rather buy more and more to buy, buy more can also be in accordance with the original price back, and less to buy a brick with no color is a very careless thing, so the loss to More consideration, a wall of the last left a bag, 2 packets are reasonable.

Q:I‘m gutting my bathroom and will be tiling the floor and then adding a new vanity and a new toilet.The question is, do you tile before you put in the toilet and new vanity or do you put in these items first and then tile around them? Concrete slab foundation that I‘m currently working on leveling.

SOME 10 point answers so far. I hope you acknowledge all of them. The issue relates to what you might want to change, Down the road and please know that home builders, don't usually do any flooring under a vanity,,,sigh. I've installed multiple thousands of sq. ft. of flooring, and have re-modeled more bathrooms than anything else, and have to say if nothing is in the bathroom yet, your looking at installing not much more than a 30x24 inch area of tile UNDER where the vanity will be, and less under where the toilet will be. At current prices, and without the added labor you're cost might be less than another $50 for the better way to go. Seems logical to me. Still, give everyone above me some thanks. Tiling, sheet vinyl, hardwood, Solid GOLD, UNDER a toilet is a natural assumption, and allows for NO odd cuts. Assume however, that one day you might want a pedastal sink as opposed to that GLIT vanity. If you install flooring Under, it'll still be there, if you change your notion. Very realistically TILE, etc. Will NOT be on the shelf, to match, 5 years from now. Steven Wolf