Expert Answers in Ceramic and Porcelain Tile

ANSWER – Hollow sounding tile is not a defect per industry standards.  Although a hollow sounding tile can be a symptom of a defect.

If all of the floor sounds hollow or a portion of…

ANSWER – The standards say that a tile with a grout joint of 1/4″ or less is allowed to have tile lippage, where one edge is higher or lower than the edge of the adjacent…

ANSWER – The black stain in the water has to be coming from somewhere and caused by something.  The question is where and what?

The question is what type of tile do you have?  There…

ANSWER – The CBC (California Building Code) and ADA  (Americans with Disability Act) are vague and subjective regarding slip resistance requirements.   There are quantitative standards for ceramic tile in ANSI A137.1 that…

ANSWER – Any ceramic tile can chip, but some tiles are more chip resistant than others.

Normally the way we can tell if the edge of a tile was chipped prior to installation is by seeing…

ANSWER – There is always a grout haze after grouting a tile.   For cementitious grouts, the haze should be polished off with dry clean cheese cloth soon after the tile surface dries leaving a…

ANSWER –  ANSI A108.02-2013 standards say that the grout joint width should be at least 3 times the actual variation of facial dimensions, but never less than 1/16” wide.

ANSWER – You should use an ASTM C920 silicone sealant suitable for granite.

Laticrete has a product called Latasil that comes in many colors.

Dow Corning has a product called 795 or 790 that comes in a…

ANSWER – I do not think it is possible for a porcelain tile to warp after it is installed.  Ceramic or Porcelain tile only warp during the kiln firing process.

Normally warpage in installed tiles…

ANSWER – When there are tile failures generally it is never due to one deficiency, but rather due to multiple compounding deficiencies.

First of all your grout should not crack.  If water that goes into…