Q:I am tiling my bathroom and in the process of re-tiling the shower stall. I removed the old plastic liner there and now some of the glue remains on the greenboard. Also, some of the green part of the board is ripped of from when the glue came off with the old liner. Some of the paper is flakey in spots. I pulled off some of the loose pieces, but there is more. Now, I‘m an amateur. I was told to use some grout sealer to go over the greenboard. However, since there are flakey pieces of paper from the greenboard on there still, should I simply remove as much as I can before sealing and tiling? Will the seal glue these flakey pieces down and make them secure for tiling? What is your advice? Many thanks!

If you have gone that far, I would either tear out the greenboard and replace it with cement board, or you might be able to cement board right over the greenboard. The cement board will outlast the next 50 familys that will use that bathroom. It is great stuff, well worth the effort. Don't try patching the greenboard, it is not worth the effort. Do it right and be done with it forever.

Q:Imloking to buyy subway tile for my bathroom demo. any ideas where I can get it for a discount/

www.okorder . Go there, go to your city, do a search of subway tile or go to the materials, household, or furniture sections. We are using craigslist to redo our bathroom!! Have fun!

Q:I am going to move into a home that has ugly green and yellowish tile all over the kitchen!! The walls and sink are green, the counters are a wood laminate, the floor is an old beige vinyl, and the cabinets are a dark color and are old and dated. What can i do to make this kitchen much nicer on a really tight budget?! Help!!

You okorder / and in the search bar (make sure you check site instead of recipe) type in 4 Wall Projects with Glaze it is the 3rd project called Tile Turnaround and gives step by step instructions. Good Luck!

Q:never installed it before i am putting in mold free dry wall and new fixtures. want to put up tile instead of a surround wondering how hard it is to do thanks

this is a fairly easy job to undertake, although a little messy.Even a 1st timer can do this with a little patience,and care. 1st off you can use green board (sheetrock for wet areas) but it is not as waterproof as they say. Get some hardiboard instead. Once this is installed securely, Pop a good straight line with a bright chalk,I like red myself if using 4 tiles pop a line 4and 1/16 above the tub. (Make sure to keep starter row level ) Now your line is popped spread your glue or mastic, using a trowel with serrated edge to do so.Let the glue get tacky and then start installing your tiles (you may need spacers depending on the type tile you use. Most small tiles have a couple of slightly raised spots on each side for the space. Once all your tile is in place, let the tiles set for 24 hrs to fully cure. Now you are ready to grout ,being your 1st time I recommend premixed grout. Keep a wet sponge handy while applying grout. Make sure all joints are well filled, and sponge lightly afterward any excess so that it does not bond to tile facing. Let your grout set about 12 hrs then apply a good sealer to prevent water from penetrating grout and loosening it and your tiles, Grout is porous. Hope you understand what I am saying here, I am better at actually doing as to trying to explain

Q:On those tiles, can you skate on them with ice skates. I was thinking about getting them but I wasn‘t sure. Last but not least, is there a different kind of tiles that are cheaper. Thanks!

I think I understand your question, the tiles you can't skate on unless you have roller hockey skates, it's called sport court. I play roller hockey and ice and the tiles for roller SUCK! If I were you I'd just go fin a certain kind of paint I can't recall the name of the brand, but paint the garrage floor with it and you can skate in there and stick handle if you have enough room. Hope this helps

Q:Can anyone tell me what type of tile this is? Name?

Sure is a ceramic tile. Could be a porcelain bodied tile with a glazed surface but they are all classified as ceramic. Ceramic with a slightly beveled edge for a bit different look. Getting the name is almost impossible unless it came from a magazine where you can get it or at least the brand name of the manufacturer. Any questions you can e mail me through my avatar and check my qualifications there. GL

Q:I have a very outdated bathroom with pink tile covering just about every wall. I love to do DIY projects but can‘t afford to replace the tile. I can however afford to paint it. I read up on it and found the paint directions but don‘t want the end result to look tacky. Has anyone done this and liked the results?

Go for it! It won't look tacky if the instructions are followed. Be sure to very thoroughly clean the tile with a cleaner made for tile and grout, and use a scrub brush to scrub the tile and the grout lines well. If you plan to also paint the grout, you must let the grout dry for at least 48 hours. The longest lasting paint for this application, and one that with withstand peeling the longest, is oil-based paint. The cleanup process for oil-based paint could be a drawback, but for a long lasting finish it is the way to go. If you don't want to go with oil-based, water-based paints that contain a urethane resin are good paints to use as well. I would strongly recommend not painting the tile on the walls of the tub/shower, as the finish will not last due to the moisture and humidity in the shower. For this area, you can use a tile epoxy paint (usually available in white and creme color) and it will look good and protect the tile from the water. If going this route, be sure to ventilate the area as best as you can as the fumes are strong...but they will go away after 1-2 days. You can do this project, and it will look good. Best of luck!

Q:I recently got some ceramic tile for free that the construction company was just going to throw away. How do I tell if they are wall or floor tile? I think it has something to do with the way the back of the tile looks, but I'm not sure.

In the Tile World today people use floor tile as wall tile at times depending on the design of the room. However a Wall Tile is thin in size however it can be thick depending on the type of material it is such as stone, marble, ceramic, etc it comes in all shapes and sizes and generally ranges from 4x4's on up, Floor Tile is always a Thicker more heavier Tile and depending on the design or style it can be 6x6 on up If your not quite sure of the material you have you can take a piece of it to your local home depot or tile shop and ask them. They would be more than happy to answer any and all of your questions

Q:Anyone know how much I should expect to pay to have a professional install ceramic tile flooring? The prep work has been done. The tile is 12 x 12, there‘s about 90 sq ft of floor (concrete... sealed). I‘ve purchased the materials (tile, thinset, grout). I just want to know how much to expect to pay for labor. Is $5.00 per sq ft. too much? That‘s the quote I was given. Thanks for any help.

You should be able to find a legitimate contractor that charges around $3.50 per square inch. There are lots of private individuals that will do it for less, but remember, you get what you pay for. Five dollars per square inch is quite high.

Q:I went and removed 3 ft of tiles from the side of the bath tub starting at the bottom. The tiles had the cement on it so it came off the wall exposing the wood the to the house and i saw the water damage to the wood. How do i patch up the wall? Do I use plywood and than cement it and than add the new tiles?

If I understand the problem correctly, it sounds like you have water damage inside you wall. You first need to find out what caused that damage. If you repair the wall without finding the water leak, it will happen again. If the area was dry rot and it didn't sem like there was currently water there, then it is likely safe to fix. Carefully remove tiles until you no longer see any water damage to the wood. I'm not sure what wood is there. If its plywood, replace it with a like thickness (most of the time today, they use drywall, but its a special kind that is usually green that's made for bathrooms and moist areas). Before replacing the tiles, clean them up and remove any old grout from the edges. Be careful as the tile are very brittle and break easy. There are a number of bathroom tile type caulks that can adhere the tile to the wood. I suggest going to somewhere like Lowe's or Home Depot or a similar store and ask someone in the plumbing dept or the paint dept what kind of caulk to use to attach tile to wood. Apply the tile to the wall using the caulk. Now you need to re-grout the seams. Buy grout and apply it in all the seams. Let it completely dry (read the box but most say at least 24 to 48 hrs to completely cure) then after its cured, apply grout sealer over the top of the grout seams.