1. Where can tile flooring be installed?

Tile flooring is extremely universal and can be installed in almost any place inside or outside the house. Many tiles are frost, heat, and moisture resistant and can be installed outdoors for porches, pool decks, patios, and so on. Glazed tiles and wet tiles can become slippery and are not recommended in areas where this may be a problem. Ceramic tile is great in kitchens, entryways, or other areas that require a tough, durable surface. Our project manager wil help you to find the best ceramic tile flooring for your home.

2. How is the tile flooring installed?

The most common method involves affixing the floor tile to the substrate using an adhesive or mortar, then filling the joints with grout. However, there have been advancements in tile floor installation, and some manufactures offer click or snap together floor tiles, which are much easier for a self installer to tackle.

3. What is the difference between ceramic and porcelain tile?

In all actuality, porcelain is ceramic tile, just made with a much denser clay, and fired at much higher temps.

4. Ceramic or porcelaine tile - which is best for indoor flooring and why?

Porcelain is the answer. It’s harder, will take much more abuse, and won’t chip scratch, or stain as easily as most others. In addition, it’ll stand up to much higher and lower extremes temperature wise. However, especially for residential applications, most glazed floor tiles will stand up to whatever you have in mind.

5. How to buy a good quality, durable tile - are there some ratings?

There are two indicators to the quality of the tile you’re interested in, when it comes to glazed tile– first, the PEI (Porcelain Enamel Institute) rating, which rates the hardness of the glaze on a scale of 1-5 as follows:

• CLASS 0 – Tiles technically unsuitable for floors
• CLASS 1 – Residential and Commercial wall and bare foot traffic
• CLASS 2 – Wall and Residential bath floor, soft soled traffic
• CLASS 3 – All residential floors and Light Commercial
• CLASS 4 – Medium Commercial, Light Industrial and Institutional, moderate soiling
• CLASS 5 – Extra heavy traffic, abrasive dirt, chemically more resistant.

Secondly, although some may disagree, and there are exceptions, price is a good indicator. For the most part, you get what you pay for, and although two tiles may look exactly alike, there may be a big difference in the hardness of the glaze, as well as the density of the bisque, or body of the tile.

6. How many floor tiles do I need?

Divide the floor into rectangles. Than measure the length and width of each individual rectangle. Afterwards multiply the length by the width of each individual rectangle and add your total for each rectangle together to get the total square footage. Also you schould add an additional 5-10% (depending on the manufacturers recommendations) of the total square footage to cover the waste factor.

7. Is tile flooring recommended for a self-installer?

Tile flooring is not usually recommended for a self-installer, because it is a complicated process and requires special tools to cut and install the tile. Click or snap together ceramic tiles are much easier to self-install.

8. How do I choose the right grout for my tile floors?

You should choose a color that blends with the colors in the floor tile. The color of the grout will slightly differ in each installation due to different environmental factors and installation methods, so finding an exact match may be difficult. Darker grout tends to be easier to keep clean, but modern grout is often stain and mildew resistant so maintenance is very simple.

9. My tile's/grout's cracking, what's happening? Can I just replace it?

Any time tile or grout cracks, it’s a sympton, not a problem, and just repairing the tile or the grout will not take care of it. Until the real problem is found and rectified, the same tile or area of grout will continue to crack, no matter how many times you replace it. 99% of the time, it can be attributed to seasonal movement in the structure, either under, or surrounding the tile in question, and the tile needs to be isolated from that movement. Sometimes it can be as simple a fix as adding soft (caulk) joints. Other times, it may be necessary to either add joisting, or beef up the existing joisting to minimize the deflection of the floor. What the fix is depends on the individual problem, but in all cases, again, the problem has to be identified and resolved before the cracking will stop.

10. Will there be variations in floor tiles in the same box?

Yes, floor tiles will have slight variations in color, texture, or markings due to the way they is manufactured. This adds character and style to your tile floors. You should always inspect your purchase before installation to make sure you are happy with it.

11. Can I walk on my tile floor and mop it immediately after installation?

It is not recommended that you walk on your tile floor after installation until the grout and any other adhesive used has had ample time to dry. This will differ from product to product so be sure to check with the manufacturer for their recommendations.

12. Can you tile right over plywood?

Yes, we can, and it’s done on a daily basis. There are additional steps we need to take care of,as well as pitfalls to watch out for that either don’t exist, or aren’t as important when using backerboard (CBU– cementitious backer units) as underlayment.The thinset we use, how we lay the plywood down, how we screw it down, even the species and rating of the plywood used, all make a difference.

13. Can you tile over ceramic tile?

Yes, we can, as long as the original tile is sound (i.e.– no cracks, tile is still well adhered, etc.). We need to make certain there are no contaminants on the face of the tile, such as cleaner residue, solvents, skin or cooking oils, etc., and then especially if the tile is bright glazed, hit it with an orbital sander to rough up the finish and allow a better bond from the thinset, and use an unmodified thinset that’s mixed with a liquid latex additive, as opposed to a thinset that’s already modified and mixed with water. The reason being that with the liquid latex additive, there’s more of a latex content, and therefore, a stronger bond to the original tile.

14. Should I seal my tile?

Most tiles should not be sealed. Most glazed tiles, as well as porcelains, will not allow the sealer to absorb into the surface, and as a result, it dries on the surface as a white haze, which is a bear to remove. The only tiles which should be sealed are most natural stone tiles, quarry tile, or terra cotta.

15. Do I really need to seal my grout?

There are a lot of contractors who will tell you yes, and still others who will tell you no. The reason for sealer is to make cleaning and maintenance easier. There has been a trend in recent years to use light colored grouts in the main floors of the home in order to match lighter colored tiles, and a sealer is used to prevent “wear paths”– darkening of the grout joints in areas of main traffic in the home. Unfortunately, sealers will not prevent this. You’re much better off to use either a medium or darker colored grout. As for using sealer in the bathroom, sealer will help, but again, over time, grout will discolor somewhat, or “age”, and cleaners will be, for the most part, just as effective, with or without sealer.

16. What should I use to seal my newly installed tile/stone and grout?

This is a simple question, but unfortunately the answer is not that simple. In order to recommend a type and amount of sealer/impregnator, first we need to know what kind a tile/stone you have. Stone such as Granite, Marble, Travertine, Limestone, Sandstone, Slate etc. What kind of finish it has? Polished, Honed, Flamed etc. (this will tell us how much you need to buy). Where its located? Interior/Exterior, kitchen, foyer, bathroom floors, shower walls or counter/tops, vanity/tops etc. (this will help us to choose the right type of sealer/impregnator for that location) such as water repellent, oil repellant, or color announcer type etc.

17. How long do I wait before sealing?

This depends on the sealer being used. Because of the different formulations, different sealers require different waiting times, anywhere from 3- 28 days, and the best advice we could give you is to check your particular brand of sealer for its recommendation. Generally speaking, there are two types of sealer base — water and solvent, and the solvent based sealers generally require the shorter waiting period, but they’re also much more expensive.

18. Is tile or grout waterproof?

No. Even with a grout sealer, most sealers used these days are “breatheable", meaning the moisture can transmit through it, both in and out, so even sealer won’t make it waterproof.