Setting Tile – The Elemental Rules by Bart Raguso
Setting Tile Rules by a Tile Mechanic
Philosophy
Since we proceed not in logical and rational straight lines all the time, the rules which govern tile installation are generally not the rules which govern ordinary life. Tilework follows certain irrevocable rules such as being level, plumb, straight, flat, even, and regularly spaced. These are not qualities normally found in nature or the natural world. You could say that the final look represents certain human values expressed in a concrete and specific way. It is not modern art, but it is, however, extremely visible and ‘in your face ‘. A crummy tile job is distasteful to all who gaze upon it.
Reality
In the world of tile, ( ‘the queen of the trades’, so named because it is finish work ), the final work rests on the integrity of all the work which preceded it, and thus the tilework is only as good as it’s foundation and all the work which supports it. If there is a problem with the foundation, the footers, the framing or placement of steel beams, the squareness of the rooms, the crookedness of the walls, or the flatness of the floors, then those mistakes will not only reveal themselves, but will be accentuated because with the even lines of the tile, all the flaws of the substrates become more apparent.
Setting Tile
Then there is the mystery ingredient of how well bonded or well stuck the tile is to whatever it is being attached to. In a bad job, the tile simply follows the greater truth of gravity, and falls off the wall or the floor. Having loose tiles is definitely an unhappy result. Tile which does not remain where it is supposed to be violates the whole reason for setting the tile in the first place.
A tile must be properly “bedded” to be set right. That means pushing or beating the tile into the mortar either manually or with a mallet or beating block ( a carpet covered wood block ). It is amazing that beating on a tile will not break it, but it won’t unless you do not have enough mortar under it or it is an extremely cheap and thin ceramic. Some marbles with a lot of veining or crystal, like onyx, should not be beaten. But generally, we like to say, the beatings will continue until morale improves or the tile is bedded.
Issues
For all these reasons, there are many ways for a tile installation to go wrong. (*see “Common Tile Problems”) Having seen a lot of fouled up installations and repaired them, I can definitely say failure is always a definite possibility and the inevitable result of taking short-cuts in the proper sequence of the installation. Construction work is all about sequence. You do not paint before you sand. You do not run the pipes or the wires on the outsides of the walls, although I have seen it done.
Country Wisdom
Like many other things in life, the seven P’s have to be observed:
“Prior Proper Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance”
I have to credit a country boy for reminding me of this statement. I learned tilework first from some country boys and they taught me true. All good things flow from good values. The eternal verities are called that because they are always right. Integrity in the installation does not happen by accident, but by conscious choices made along the way. Without the desire to do a good job, any endeavor has two strikes against it from the beginning.
How to Approach the Work
I sometimes think that people pay me for my patience and tranquillity, for without those qualities, it is not possible to do good work. All good craftsmanship and good tilework are about the same things. Qualities that make a good craftsman are the same for doing anything well. They are:
1- Putting your mind in a calm state so that you are not ‘rushing’ the job,
2-Making sure you have the tools, time,and materials that you need,
3-Envisioning the final result in your mind before you even begin,
4-Keeping the proper sequence in mind as you progress,
5-Knowing when to take a break ‘when’ not if, your energy or concentration starts to flag. ( A dull knife is dangerous.)
If you can keep these fundamentals in mind, your tile installation will likely be a solidly attached, permanent, and pleasing result of your efforts. Bart Raguso
What do you think of a tile layer who rips out paint grade shoe molding and oak thresholds, and replaces it with plastic quarter round and plastic thresholds, because I did not specify in the contract that I wanted the same quality as was removed. The contractor would not correct.
What is your opinion of a tile layer who says, “I just lay it down as it comes out of the box, because that is they way the manufacturer designed the pattern.” So much for “stone” look tiles, as there are numerous duplicates side by side, which he would not correct.
Philosophically speaking, am I expecting too much?
hello, Robin, sorry for the delay. Practically speaking, I do not think you are expecting too much. The tile installer should be checking with you to determine what you would like to see in the job. Laying the same tile image adjacent to each other was normal years ago when the tiles would only be produced with one or two images. Even then, a good installer would try to mix them up by flipping them around to achieve a more varied and random look. Now, a porcelain tile might be produced with 16 or even 24 images, and sometimes, due to the manufacturer spraying the tiles with the glazing as they come down the assembly line, as they enter the kiln to be baked, there can be almost an infinite number of random patterns, just like natural stone. Sorry to hear the contractor would not correct for those deficiencies, for he has certainly lost you as a customer and of course any referrals you may have given if you had received proper consideration and were pleased with the work.