Q:I have water damage on a ceiling tile in my basement. The water damage is on a tile on the perimiter of the room. The water damage is adjacent to the room wall. However when I pulled the tile up I was surprised that I didn‘t find the source to any water above it. There was also no water damage on the tile where the angle bracket held the tile up. The water damage on the tile started in a straight line from the edge of the angle iron. Also there appeared to be a larger brown stain on the finished underside of the tile with a much smaller slightly damp appearance on the unfinished top of the tile. I‘m wondering if this means that my water source is not above the tile but in fact moisture from the room. However all of my other tiles around this one are dry with no damage. Thanks in advance.

a small anount of bleach in a spray bottle and spary the stain. spray the stain and it should disapear. do not competely saturate the tile. not sure about the leak

Q:A few tiles in my building flat give a cracking noise when i step on them.Upon inspection i found that the tiles make cracking sound even when i press them with my hands but requires some strength.There is a small airgap in a few joints but the gap is very small.The tiles were installed almost 15 years ago and i dont know how old the building is but is considered an earthquake proof structure.The cracking sound is sometimes even for as long as 1-2 seconds when standing on it.So is it a lose tile or a foundation crack?

It sounds like the tiles has become loose. There is a chance that the subfloor may be loose as well depending upon what it is made out of and how it was installed. Wood subfloors can become loose if they are nearly nailed down and not screwed down. The best thing to do at this point is to take up the floor and inspect any problems with the subfloor and make any repairs. Then install new tile. If you want to save a few bucks you can take up just the ones that are loose and install new tiles that look best in their place.

Q:anyone know this kind of tile?How durable is it? is it suitable for wall or floor?

If its the honey or green onyx in the lower pictures, to answer your question, it is for wall application only, not durable enough for flooring. Expensive but can be used with other tile if you d like to make stripes and small designs. Any questions you can e mail me through my avatar and check my qualifications there. GL

Q:I understand most of the rules of pai gow tiles, but one part that I am not clear on is banking. If I am the banker, do I get to see the ways that the players set their tiles before I set mine? Or do I secretly set my tiles just like everyone else and then we all reveal simultaneously?

yes to main question

Q:I am making a movie for school and i need to hang things from our ceiling to the ground. The problem is is that the ceiling is an acoustic tile and i‘m not sure if it will hold enough. (This is one of the older acoustic tiles with all of the holes in them.

Been there, done that... Can't happen. What you can do, however, is go to the hardware store and buy new ones OR if replacing them is out of the question, get a can of KILZ paint primer. It is the best stain blocker on the planet. Once you cover it with Kilz, it WILL still show through the Kilz, itself, but once you have one or two coats of regular pain over it, you will never see the blood again.

Q:Home selection tiles, which brand to choose that good?

Good point of the brand Mody, such as bees, long valleys and other imports, or Marco Polo ah, Nobel and other brands, are better, but the price is better New source, crown beads, the champion can also be anything, but the price is not low. More affordable what, I feel a lot of second-line brand quality in Guangdong can actually do, and cost-effective, such as charm, such as strong, there can be strong, gold medal what it ... ... can be the first budget to buy how many square Brick, about how much for the tile, and then pick their own to the level, go to run more to see more, I believe that can do more with less!

Q:We just bought a house and the bathroom tile looks terrible. Its not in bad shape, I just dont like the ugly floral pattern. Since we had to spend a lot of money on other projects in the house we dont have a lot to spend on re-tiling, The bathroom is small, about 5ftx4ft of floor, so I thought peelstick would be a good option. The tiles currently on the floor are peel and stick, should I remove them all before I apply the new ones? or can I just give them a good cleaning and lay the new tiles over them?

You are in for a long project if you try to pull those tiles up. If they are all firmly down (no corners peeling) it is going to be a chore to get them all up. They will not come off in even chunks. If you do decide to take this on, you might want to consider real tile after you pour a floor leveler down (vs trying to replace a new peel and stick on what will be an uneven surface.) My advice is for a quick fix, peel and stick over the current floor (off center the tiles from the ones down now). When you decide to do a more major overhaul, 2 layers of peel and stick tiles with not be any more difficult to remove than one layer. It's a quick fix and should work fine for you. I did both my laundry and basement peel and stick over existing peel and stick tiles 2 years ago--no problems in what is a moisture filled area. Clean the floor really well though with a vinegar and water solution. Good luck.

Q:I would like to remove some tiles from one area of my kitchen and save as many as possible for use in another area of the kitchen. They are heavy 1979 ceramic tiles. How do I get them up and save some of them?

Having recently removed a s***load of tile during a kitchen remodel, I wish you luck in saving a whole lot of them! Carefully slide a prybar under the edge of the tile---wiggle til it loosens then use the prybar as a lever to remove the tile. It worked for me. Surprisingly many remained whole without chips or cracks, and I wasn't trying to save them. Just didn't want the huge mess involved in the sledgehammer method. LOL

Q:Well I grouted my glass tile backsplash today and let it dry, now it is ready to be cleaned off, but i am completely exhausted! can i clean it off tomorrow or will it be too late? grout container said to let it dry for 4 hrs before cleaning off with a dry cloth. yeah right, a dry cloth does not do the trick. only a damp linen cloth used to scrub each individual little tile gets the haze and bits of left over grout off and that is going to literally take me all night. so can i do that tomorrow or do i need to pull an all nighter???

no longer something is needed, in basic terms use a moist sponge and rinse frequently. once you have wiped each and all the surplus grout off the tiles, enable them to dry over night, then wipe down the tile with a delicate fabric (tub Towel) this would take off the haze on the tile. Then all this is left is to seal the grout.

Q:I have some stick on tile that has come loose in a small hall area at some rental property. can you just lift thme up re-glue them? They are still in great shape.

Yes...life the entire tile off the floor. Make sure the floor under the tile is clean before re-applying the tile. Lay tile face down on newspaper and spary the clean back (free of debris) with a spray can of glue used for upholstery (you can find it in Lowes). Then wait about 2-3 minutes and stick the tile back in it's place. If you use liquid nails or other squirt on types of glue your tile will show the glue lines through the top of the tile.