When doing tub walls; be sure and check the studs for plumb vertically and
flat horizontally across the face of the studs. To remedy this, you can shim your backerboard, plane the face of the studs,
or do a mud wall.
Also, it's not a bad idea to waterproof the walls with some type of membrane.
Porcelain...everybody seems to be hot onto porcelain tile; but, they don't understand why. If
it's installed improperly; yes, it will break. On breakage, alot of people I run across think that if they get a tile with
a PEI of 5, that it will not break or chip. PEI has to do with the surface / glaze of a tile for wear. Once again, if installation
is not up to snuff; yes, it will break.
Porcelain tile is freeze / thaw stable for exterior use, has a very dense body with low porosity
( .5 percent or less water absorbtion) and the dense body gives it greater chip resistance.
On another note, just got into an 'argument' with another lad who was adamant that joists layout
had nothing to do with a tile job. How wrong he is. It's a very important item to check.
There is more than one type of porcelain tile. There is thru'-body porcelain where the color
goes all the way thru'. Now, they have glazed porcelain manufactured similar to a glazed ceramic. Always remember to use a
modified thinset when working with porcelain tile as it is harder to bond with the denser body.
Schluter Systems has a good selection of tile profile strips. Check them out at www.schluter.com
I repeat: they are installed before the tile is set. And you do not cut off the 'mesh' section.
I mention this because this is how I've seen 'installers' in my neck of the woods doing. They work really well where tile
meets carpet, in place of marble thresholds in certain instances depending on what types of flooring is meeting, and where
a bullnose tile is needed, but not available, etc....They also have an interesting new product called Kerdi which is membrane
for a shower. With this method, the mud bed never gets wet and that is good.
Please don't forget to go over to the John Bridge forum: Tile Your World. There's a link on the
links page. It's a world of knowledge that'll definitely be a big help. And while you're there; don't forget to check out
the deflectolator.
