Q:12x12 tiles, what size trowel do i use and how far apart do i space tiles?

For a standard tile (such as most 12x12) the use of a 1/4x3/8 ths square notched trowel. 99.9% of all 12x12 will require a sanded grout,NEVER an unsanded grout. This has to do with both tile thick ness , water absorption, tile body hardness and grout line size. You shouldn t use a grout line less than 3/16 any way for this size tiles. And any grout line over 1/8 , a sanded grout must be used any way. Any questions you can e mail me through my avatar and check my qualifications there. GL

Q:I‘m having linoleum put in my kitchen and I‘m want to prep the floor. We already tore the carpet up and we weren‘t sure if we should clean the carpet adhesive off the ceramic tiles, or remove the tiles from the concrete.

You really should remove the ceramic tiles before installing the vinyl flooring. Are the tiles in bad shape? You could clean the adhesive off using JASCO sealer and adhesive remover and just have a tile floor.

Q:Do you think that it will be dangerous to my children if I put tile throughout my whole home... Falls etc. Thanks for the advice for those who have experience with this! :)

I have tile in my kitchen that proceeds into a section of the family room. First I would get a textured instead of smooth tile because if their feet are wet or something gets spilled, it is a nasty hard fall. Tile is very easy to clean in my opinion and it does look very nice and adds to the equity in your home. I am not sure I would put tile in my entire house because I do have children (10 and almost 5) and I have had 2 situations where the floor was wet and my son went down hard. So my suggestion is to not put tile in the whole house, but choose certain rooms. There are pros to it, but having children myself it can be a nasty fall when it is wet and someone slips on it. If put in the kitchen or bathroom I would go for a textured tile instead of smooth to help prevent those falls.

Q:I got these tiles at a yard sale. They appear to be very old, hand painted and likely of Mexican origin. The label is tattered and faded, but I would love to know more about them. Thanks for any info in advance.

They are generically called Calavera tiles and are made in Mexico by hundreds of different companies. In fact, just check Ebay for calavera tile and you will see a lot of them in similar designs. They install like any fired clay tile -- some people use them as accents with solid saltillo type tile. I have a bunch of them that I bought to use for a project that I changed my mind about. They are still so pretty that I use them for coasters and may eventually encorporate them into a design for my stone fireplace hearth. Yours look fairly vintage -- nice find!

Q:We had new ceramic tiles put in the shower. The tiles are large size (12x12) and the grout line is about the width of a pencil. After a few days we noticed very thin (hairline) cracks in the grout, especially around the shower bench and the corners of the shower. The tiles are all in place. I think the contractors mixed the grout too thin. Can I just sand those areas of grout down a bit and then put new grout on top of it over those areas?

There are many questions to ask first. How old is the building? Is it still settling? If so: wait until it is done moving before repairing, or you will just end up doing it again. Was the tile installed over cement board, plywood, or what? Each has a different effect. Did you use mastic or latex/polymer modified adhesive or..what.. to adhere it? Is this a wet area application (shower, counter top, etc?). This could be as simple as having too much water in the grout when it was mixed, or too wet of a sponge during clean up. If that is the case, you still have to remove it all and redo it. Just fact-find to learn the cause before you repair it, so you only have to do the repair once! Ultimately, if you paid someone else to do the job, have them fix it. If you did it yourself, go to the library and read every tile book you can find. The answers are out there, but it might take some research to find them.

Q:I‘m looking to replace a ceramic tile floor in my kitchen with a different style ceramic tile. The contractor says I have two options. He can either lay the new ceramic tile on the old, which will be cheaper than bringing up the old tile but then the floor will be raised 1 to 1 1/2 above current level. Or, he can take up the old ceramic tile but then he‘d have to remove the old layer of plywood and put down a new layer, which will be more labor-intensive and expensive. Is there any other issues regarding these two scenarios that I should take into account?

it is never a good idea to overlay anything, but it is your choice... myself i would remove the floor tile, check to make sure that the underlayment is well attached, if not you can screw down all the joints, put down luan board (screw and glue) which is 1/4 inch thick, using the correct thin set for what you have relay the tile floor. if there is any height differences around the cabinets simply use a small 1/4 round around the kick plates at the bottom of the cabinets, this will help with any cosmetic looks. when you get someone to lay the floor make sure they are bonded and insured and get any permits if needed for your area.

Q:I would like to install laminated flooring in my kitchen. Two of the wall are tiled. Is it possible to undercut these tiles or is there an easier method to do a neat installation?

The box usually has pretty good instructions on it, otherwise ask the people where you bought the tiles. You can use the tiles themselves as spacers between the wall and the tiles so that there is a gap. Just place them on edge. Or you can get plastic spacers from any DIY store. This is to leave room for expansion so the tiles don't warp. You can then cover the gap with floor trim. Good luck. It is fairly easy.

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:how to install the tin molding around the edge of the tiles

Usually this is tacked into place with a few small nails. In the past i have experimented with using a contact adhesive to install the tin tiles and the molding strip, but this can be a bad option depending on the embossed pattern in your tiles or molding strip. The best and most secure option is to line the ceilding with ply (9mm thick or more - screwed into your ceiling joists so is secure) then to nail (small tacks) the tiles and the strips into place. You can also position the tiles and strips with contact adhesive to get them all in the right spot then go through and nail off when you are happy with the positioning.

Q:Has anyone ever used the spray glaze you can use to paint ceramic tile? I have some ugly green tile on the walls in my bathroom, and I don‘t want to get into busting it out. I saw it used on HGTV, but I want to know if any REAL people have used it? If so, was it expensive? Easy to use? Did it run? I will take any other ideas anyone has for an inexpensive way to do something with this horrible green!

It's called re-glazing. There are companies out there that re-glaze bathtubs and ceramic tile. A bathtub can cost about $700 to re-glaze. Home improvement centers have re-glazing kits but they are only as good as the applicator. What's more important than the re-glazing kit, is the preparation. The glaze on the green tile needs to be dulled by acid washing. If you go over the green tile with it's slick surface, the re-glazing will peel off...