Q:I have a rental that currently has sheet vinyl in the kitchen that is in bad shape. I am considering putting in self adhesive floor tiles over the vinyl. I have installed similar flooring in a bathroom but used inexpensive tiles. It looked good, but the tiles tended to slide. I‘m thinking it was because I used bargain tiles rather than better quality.I just need comments as to longevity and problems you might have encoutered with self adhesive tiles. Also, do you have any particular brand or type you recommend?

ok well the self stick they do sell an extra bond liquid which is clear and makes your tile much stickier and if that linoleum is shot at the point were it is coming up you cant go with the self stick cause the bad areas it will show how bout linoluem over linoleum and this liquid stuff is clear and tacky in like an hour or 45 min an can use on the linoluem too i think going right on the linoleum to the self stick which i find are terrible but are much better with this liquid which is whitish or clear its not glue

Q:Meaning, I was just wondering if you can lay a thin set of mortar then place vinyl tiles on it, and then grout it? This mabye a stupid question and most people would say why not just use real tile if your going to go through all that trouble, but just wondering?.Thanks

There is a product out called Duraceramic by Congoleum.This has the best of both worlds meaning they can be installed like vinyl tile (butting them together) or leaving an 1/8 of an inch gap and grout this as well. Check the internet on the Congoleum website to see who in your area that carries this product.

Q:I am looking at replacing my kitchen floor, which currently has carpeting. (Bought the house like that.) And now I am looking to do either vinyl or tile. I understand tile is good for a lifetime, where as vinyl is good for 15-20 years for the heavier kind, but tile is double the cost. We plan on staying in our house a long time, if not forever, but in the case we would decide to sell, would tile or vinyl give us more value?

I could write a book on how to lose money in real estate, so listen up! Tile will NOT increase the value of your home. Value is based upon an old formula that counts Square Feet, and that's all! Whatever you put on the floor today will be outdated in 15-20 years and the new buyer will want to replace it. Tile can crack when you drop a heavy pan or pot on it. Expensive repair. Tile is not as comfortable to walk on. Tile will feel cold in the winter. And when wet, tile will be super slippery. Plus, tile needs a Perfectly Flat base- most homes don't have that and require extra sub-flooring or leveling compound if you're on a slab. Now-a-days the vinyl flooring is Excellent. You can get vinyl that Looks like tile, is a little cushioned and comfy to walk on and has an expected life of 20+ years! When you sell, there is NO difference in what your house will appraise. Save the extra money and get a Better floor, more livable and half the expense of tile and go with a high quality vinyl.

Q:We have ceramic tile on the wall in the bathroom with a few tiles of color. Hate to change whole bathroom.

As Steven mentioned above, there are products out there that would do it, but not to a satisfactory level. There is a grout colorant which isn't that bad, but the epoxy-based paint that they use for the glazed ceramic tiles does not come out that good.

Q:I‘m in the process of re-tiling my bathroom and when I took the old tiles off some of the old grout stayed on the walls or in some areas messed up the dry wall surface. I‘m looking for recommendations of how to either remove the old grout from the wall, or how to smooth the surface over the area in order to lay the new tiles. Suggestions?

If a putty knife or even rough sandpaper wont knock it off. It's really not a big deal to knock out the old sheetrock and install new. Just cut your old sheetrock about an inch from where your new tiles will stop, bust out everything in the tiling field, and screw in a new piece. This is easy to do because you dont have to worry about texture or tape and bedding, it's going to be covered by tile. Just make sure you replace the sheetrock with the exact same thickness. It's not as hard as you think.

Q:→ tile background wall is good tiles background wall renderings

The integrated wall consists of four layers of material: 1. Aluminum foil, because the product can be installed directly on the wall of the rough housing, in order to strengthen the corrosion resistance of the product designed to greatly enhance the service life of the product. 2. Polyurethane, the use of polyurethane in the wall panel, is to enhance the product on the actual home improvement process of applicability, which enhance the wall to noise, heat insulation, moisture and other phenomena; Similarly, the polyurethane products to fill, strengthen the product Can impact. 3. Aluminum, the basic definition of the actual shape of the product. 4. Film, define the color of the product and the actual installation effect. The product can be defined as: rapid installation of materials, environmentally friendly materials, fashion decorative materials. Integrated wall is a new type of decorative wall materials, the market is highly ductile, compared to the market can replace part of the wall processing materials: paint, wallpaper, tiles; in the artificial can be canceled: paint workers, mud workers, etc. Need to carpentry operation, the process can generally be equipped with 2-3 people can, home improvement is generally completed in a week. Greatly reduce labor costs.

Q:My husband and I are building a new home. I would love to put ceramic tiling in my kitchen/dining room (they are combined). Do you think that 14‘X23‘ is too large for tiling? Its a concrete slap, and we will be doing the work ourselves. Any tips would be helpful!! I am looking for tips, suggestions, tools needed, extra supplies, ideas, horror stories, turned out good stories, I will take it all! Thanks so much!

Ceramic tile is a great choice and you can do it yourself if you prepare yourself with a little knowledge and a few tools. My suggestion is to go to Home Depot or any other building supply place and pick up the information they have there on doing tile work. It is usually pretty good and will suggest tools you will need. The biggest problems you will run into is cutting the tile, you might consider renting a water bath cutter. I also suggest you consider going with a smaller tile if it will fit into your plans. Tile that big is not only harder to install neatly but is also more prone to cracking if there is any shifting in your slab. So read the stuff and make sure you have everything on hand before you start and be patient doing the work, especially making the cuts so it fits neatly and you will have a professional looking floor.

Q:ok, I am grouting my ceramic tile in my kitchen and I sponged the tile when I was done and waited for everything to dry. I buffed the dry grout off of the tiles and I noticed that there is dry grout on the tiles and I can‘t get it off. Is there anything I can buy to take the grout off of the face of the tiles before I seal them? Please help.

Try using a sponge with a scrub pad on one side. It won't be easy to get off but it should do the trick. Elbow grease is the main component. They make a product that is supposed to help removed excess haze left by the grout so that might help as well. I'm hoping you used glazed tile because it's generally a good idea to seal porous tile before grouting, once the grout gets into the actual tile, it's a REAL pain to get off.

Q:Toilet tile size

Most of the wall is 30 * 45, tiles or choose a good point of cleaning, small sewing too much, I chose the 60 * 60, which depends on personal hobbies.

Q:In my Bathroom, I want to update the tile. It‘s the small rough octagon shape in white w/black speckles. Grout is also white. I hate it, stays dirty. Thought about sanding it and putting a dye and sealer on it, but I dont know if this can be done. 2nd choice is replacing the grout w/black but I am back with the white tile, does anyone know if the sanding and dyeing it would work? I thought I would try this first, it would be cheap, because I have a sander and I can do it myself.. and thought I could maybe use the dye you use to dye clothes (possible?) and then just a polyurthane to seal. If I do anything else like, remove ceramic tile, this may be costly..Any suggestions?

There are special cleaners for cleaning that type of tile and bringing it back up to white. The problem is that this type of tile is pourous and over the years its absorbed the dirt and water from use so it may not come clean and sanding it will not help as its gotten down into the stoneware. At that point, you will have no other choice but to rip it out and replace it all. If it does come up clean with a cleaner, you must seal it or it will dirty again quickly. Do not use polyurethane as it will yellow and look like poo.