Expert Answers in Ceramic and Porcelain Tile

ANSWER - Normally when grout is soft and flakes it is because the grout was mixed with too much water and/or they used too much water during the the cleanup stage when grouting.  The excess…

ANSWER - It is not normally recommended to paint over existing ceramic tile. The tile installation is worth a lot more to the value of the home than the painted surface; assuming the tile installation…

ANSWER - Encaustic tiles are a cement based material.  There are no industry standards that address what the physical properties are and how they should perform.  So the quality of the material you get can…

ANSWER - First of all, per industry standards hollow sounding tiles are not considered a defect per-se.  Although a hollow sounding tile, or a portion of a tile sounding hollow, can possibly be a symptom…

ANSWER - There are many potential reasons why a tile would debond.  Generally speaking the failure is never due to a single deficiency, but rather due to several compounding deficiencies. When you say a Portland…

ANSWER - It is possible to install tile over tile if the existing tile is in good condition.  If the existing tile is cracked then the new tile installed over it will crack.   In order…

Answer - We have seen and investigated commercial projects where there was a glazed porcelain tile floor and  some tiles got dirty easy and others didn’t.  We were able to evaluate the tiles with a microscope…

ANSWER - First of all you can't install directly to exterior stucco wall without first removing the stucco.  Stucco is a weak cementitious material and too weak to bond tile to. You can sandblast or…

ANSWER - What should have been done while installing the Hardibacker board on the walls, is the framing studs should have been shimmed and adjusted to make sure the Hardibacker board was plumb and square.…

ANSWER - There must have been a sealer or some other coating on the tile for it to become sticky.  There are sealer strippers that can be purchased that should be able remove coatings that…