Ceramic Floor Tile

Ceramic tile floors can be beautiful, durable and provide years of enjoyment if done correctly. There is a very wide selection of differing tile types and styles that the costs can vary as much as $.50 a tile up to $13.00 or better a tile, so knowing what style of tile you want right away is a plus. It's also fun to go shopping to look at all the different style possibilities.

Ceramic floor tiles can be found at Lowe's, The Home Depot, or at your favorite flooring store. I have a very knowledgeable friend when it comes to tile and flooring styles whose name is Desiree that works at Prestige Flooring on Old Jefferson Hwy. This store has a wide selection of flooring materials and Desiree is more than willing to help you pick out the tile style most suited to your wants or pocket book, so stop by and tell her 'Hi'!





Tile style:




The following points are a few things that I feel the homeowner should know about the art of tiling that would help us both out in the short run.

It's most helpful for you to know the exact tile and grout color choice that you want to use for your flooring before we meet.  I spent a day once going from tile shop to tile shop trying to pick out what the homeowner was 'picturing' in their minds. It paid rather well for I did charge for that.

Grout color is usually matched to the color of the tile, but some folks like opposing colors so that the grout lines accentuate the tiles.

When you are out tile hunting, it's important to find out if a particular tile is an item that's normally kept in stock or if it's a one time deal and no more is to be expected.

This is good to know in case you:

• happen to have misfigured and ran short of tile,
• are thinking about tiling elsewhere in the future with matching tile,
• need to fix broken tiles in the future. Having a few extras here is a plus. 

Wooden floors:

Tile can be laid on wooden floors, but first, there are several items that needs to be checked for quality sake before this can be done. The wooden floor has to be checked for deflection, that is, the up and down movement (bounce) caused by walking, jumping, and any amount of weight moving across it. We want as close as to zero deflection possible so that the tiled floor and grout won't later crack (like as soon as the grout dries).

More times than none, additional floor joists and a support beam has to be added to shore up the subfloor so as to get a solid surface to lay the tile on. After the subfloor has been verified as stout, tile backerboard has to be screwed down over the substrate or old flooring. Any other way is not guarantee-able, at least by me.

Concrete floors:

Already finished concrete floors are best stripped bare to the surface for best result. Homeowners can save a little money here by stripping off the old flooring themselves-or not. I've heard of people tiling over vinyl, but this doesn't set well with me for it doesn't allow for the thinset to bond to anything solid. If the vinyl starts to separate from the floor, so will the tile job. Removal of old floor adhesive is also important, for the thinset won't bond to it. Tile that was set on old adhesive can easily be pried up with a finger.

Baseboards and Casings:

Door casings are undercut to allow the new floor material to pass under it.

On short 3" baseboards, my preference is to remove them from the wall (if feasible) instead of using quarter round. It looks better and works well as long as the wall is painted white or soon to be painted. On wider baseboards, it's more feasible to just add 1/2" quarter round.


Grouting Tile:

Most grouts and sanded grouts are made of a certain kind of cement called Portland cement. Portland cement is an unstable chemical compound that is in the grout bag, of which becomes stable once it is united with water molecules. Adding excess water to grout while mixing it dilutes the chemical binders in the grout which in turn causes the grout to become weak and prone to crumbling.

Warning: This is where the tilers that charge dirt cheap prices make up for their money. When mixing grout, cheap tilers liquefy the grout by dumping the water to it so that it can easily flow in between the tiles. They then pour the grout mix onto the floor and squeegee it into the grout lines. The squeegee strips the tile's top surface clean of most of the grout so that all they have left to do is a quick wipe down.


This short cut method cuts down a tedious procedure that (if done right) should have taken quite a few hours to do down to an hour or so. Of course, the tiled floor looks great when it's done because it has just been grouted. 

As the water recedes in the grout line, the washed out grout will bowls as it dries. The compromised grout will begin to crumble and disintegrate in just a short while, leaving the homeowner with a sub-par tile job.

Once I asked another tile guy if he knew that adding all that water to the grout mix ruins the grout and he told me that he didn't care. Okay.



I feel this is where the old adages of "buyer beware" and "you get what you pay for" ever so fits so perfectly. I included this warning just to give the homeowners a heads up to what's really going on. Take it for what it's worth for not all do this, just some of the select few. Now you know.

A real quality grout job takes time to do, for grout should come out of the bucket like thick pancake batter and has to be worked in between the tiles with a hand float. There is not other way IMHO.

For high wet areas, I use a Microban additive in the grout mix instead of using water. This additive helps retards the growth of bacteria in the grout, keeping the surface sanitary.

A special grouting sponge is used for finishing the grout. All the excess water is wrung out of it to keep the freshly laid grout from getting too wet, a condition that we have been avoiding since the get go.

For the strongest grout possible, 48 hours of drying in a humid environment is best. In an air conditioned environment, a humidifier works best here for it helps the grout to cure evenly to it's rock hard state. Being that this is New Orleans, leaving a window open can possibly work just as well.

A grout sealer is applied to the grout to protect it from any possible future staining. Grout sealer should be applied on a yearly basis to keep the grout protected.

When you are ready to have your floor tiled and want a quality job well done, call me and I'll schedule a home visit to figure you a free estimate.