Q:I‘m having a small bathroom remodled. The floor isn‘t perfectly rectangular, there are some uneven areas because of the tub. I would like the opinion of a profession tiler (should there be one put there, somewhere)...should the floor tiles always be centered, or start lined up against a wall? Also, should the grout be completely dry before sealing it? Thanks.

You start from the centre always and lay tiles towards the edges. At the tub you take off the removable side and put the tiles under the tub a few inches. Refit the side but will need to take off some of the bottom edge. Get the first tiles exactly square and away you go. Grout should be dried out for at least 3 days before adding a sealant. Also before laying tiles cover the area with 6mm ply wood so that the whole floor is even otherwise you will/might get uneven tiles. Happy New Year.

Q:I need to tile a kitchen back splash from counter to cabinets. Backerboard at the moment is drywall, textured and painted. I‘d like to hear some opinions on tiling directly over this or using cement backer board. Also thinset or mastic?

Well, it depends on a few of things. If the drywall is really lumpy, I would use the cement board. If the area near the sink gets really wet, I would use the cement board. Honestly, I would try and smooth down the drywall before making the job any harder than it has to be. As for thin set vs. mastic, well I prefer mastic for thin small tiles because of the smaller notches and for wall work because I find there is less slippage, but they also say that mastic is not good to use in a wet area because it can mildew. Honestly if I were doing your job, I would leave the drywall and sand it down, (that is unless you are just talking about a normal light texture, then I would just leave it alone), use mastic and call it a day.

Q:Glass glue and tiles

Glass glue and the United States seam agent glue gun can be universal, but the real porcelain must use a special glue gun, South Korea imported porcelain stitch without glue gun such as: Chunlan winter rain porcelain dress

Q:I live in a single-level ranch style house but on a concrete pad. I am re-tiling the kitchen floor. Upon removing the old tile, I discovered a 15 lb. felt pad had been glued to the floor; on top of this pad was thin set; then the tile. I live in Bakersfield, CA which is a dry and arrid climate.

As long as it's not ceramic tiles, if so, I'd tear off the tiles. If it's linoleum, make sure you have a good subflooring and knock yourself out! Fallow the recommendations of the spacing around the walls AND take the time to bring in your flooring and let it in the room it'll be used for at least 24 hrs to dilate with the room's temperature and humidity. Don't pile all the packs in one corner, they need to breathe.

Q:I have a commercial pool thats about 100 years old ( with modern modifications). The ceramic tiles on the floor area are original. We have been begged by just about everyone not to replace them. It looks soo dirty. Our comepetition is more expensive.....water quality is horrible....and their pools are packed all day. Im lucky to get 5 people in an 18 hour day. The water and inside the pool look nice.....just getting to the pool...people think they will get a disease. Its just old age stain....not sure what that is exactly.

I okorder /... Re-sealing the tiles is not a permanent solution. Another alternative is to find matching tiles, and remove a strip wide enough for a walkway, and re-tile with the new, modern tiles. Sometimes old meets new can look terrific.

Q:Why the tile is not clean clean

You must be polished tiles, polished polished after polishing, the surface has a lot of naked eye can not see the tiny holes, so most manufacturers through the wax to protect, but a long time or will seepage. Method: 1, to the agent to decontamination powder, the general agents have. 2, with the decontamination powder to remove the watermark, remove the watermark after the use of a clean mop repeatedly drag 5 times to ensure that the decontamination powder clean. 3, after cleaning to protect the scene, can not use the foot, after 24 hours after the brick completely dry, and then hit a layer of protective wax, in 24 hours before they can move. (Note: If the brick is not dry can be blown dry with a hair dryer, wax can also ask the dealer to). After the renovation recommended antique tiles, the current domestic good antique tiles have Saide Si state, Marco Polo, L & D, gold pottery and other brands.

Q:If you were going to tile an entire room would you start from the walls or floor? The room is only small 12m walls 4m floor is a basic toilet basin. There are no border tiles no fllor to wall tiles.

not a pro but i thought you were suppose to start in the middle of the room. chalk line the center of the room and lay tile from there but i quess it would all depend on measuring to see how much of a tile size you would be working once you got to the wall. probably make an adjustment from center line so that tile size on both walls would be same size. i would do a practice layout of a few tiles to see how things look before formal tiling./// i'll check back to see what the pros have to say.

Q:standard terracotta tiles

around 15 lbs per square foot

Q:My marble counter top is made of tiles. We bought the house and the previous owners installed them. my problem is that the grouts between are chipped and stained. how can i repair them to look new again?

Tile stores sell a tool to remove old grout. Only a few dollars. You can remove and regrout, not a difficult job. You can buy stain proof grout that is pre-mixed. Follow instructions on the label. You will love the results.

Q:I‘m curious...How are Terra Cotta roof tiles secured to the roof?? It seems that if they were nailed down, the installer would risk the chance of cracking, or shattering the tile..Is there some type of nail set that prohibits driving the fastener too far into the pieces? Obviously, they just don‘t lie there...

here in the uk we dont use shingles ..not man enough to last ..so we have clay . ncrete ..and terra cotta roof tiles ...no point in putting on a roof covering unless it gonna last at least 100 years ..out roof tiles have hooks at top that sit behind the tile lathe ...most tiles are not actually nailed ..most are every 3 or 5 rows ..i have worked on dozens of roofs where not one was nailed ..the roof angles and tile weight prevent them from moving ..we fix with either galvanised or copper nails