Expert Answers in Concrete Substrate Slab

ANSWER –  If the tile was installed correctly, it should not be harmed by a flood caused by a water heater failure.  There is no way the water could have migrated 10-15 feet below the…

ANSWER –  Normally installing tile over damp mortar doesn’t cause staining.  We call that a wet set method if the mortar is installed at the same time as the tile is installed.  A thin-set adhesive…

ANSWER – If in fact you have ground water migrating up through your concrete slab and up through the porous tile grout joints, installing French drains around the perimeter of your house could divert the…

ANSWER – I assume you had a water leak of some sort that resulted in your concrete slab having a high level of moisture.  If that is the case, then you should let the slab…

ANSWER – First of all you need to determine what kind of tile to install?  It needs to be slip resistant, and it needs to provide a relatively flat surface so no one trips.  If…

ANSWER – Your engineer was basically saying that you have a high water table, meaning that the underground water is very close to the surface of the ground.

The french drains only work if the…

ANSWER – It is possible to embed 12×12 inch ceramic tiles into a freshly poured concrete slab, but there are a lot factors to consider.  It is recommended to let the concrete cure for 28…

ANSWER – I will assume that your tile floor is installed over a concrete slab on ground.

We know that in New Orleans, as well as in other geographic areas, there is a very high…

ANSWER – Generally speaking allowing the concrete to cure for 28 days allows it to achieve 90% cure and there is no significant shrinkage in the concrete after that in terms of installing ceramic tile over…

ANSWER – Yes, you always need a vapor retarder (barrier) per ASTM E1643.  The vapor retarder should continue up the sides of the foundation to prevent lateral migration of moisture.  Sometimes a sand bed can be…