What sets CTW apart from most tile contractors? Well, quality for starters. But to answer that question in a little more detail I’m going to introduce you to some of the common floor tiling methods.
The durability and longevity of any tiled floor begins with the tile underlayment! I can not stress how important the foundation or “flooring underlayment” is in tile installation. Virtually every flooring repair job I’ve been called to was the result of an inadequate flooring underlayment.
In the past several years many new products have been marketed to make floor tiling easier and faster. But are they better? Some of the flooring underlayments commonly used are:
-HardieBacker cement board
-Durock cement board
-Wonderboard
-Schluter Ditra mats
-Plywood
Yes, even plywood! I have seen it many times. All of these products have their place and purposes in the industry, but generally are not the best type of underlayment to use on a floor. Why?
All of the above mentioned products are installed by screwing and or gluing the materials directly and solidly to the subfloor of the home. As a home settles, flexes, or breathes with the change in humidity the subfloor is also moving. As a result whatever tiling underlayment you have that is securely fastened to the plywood subfloor will move. Not much but enough to cause stress fractures in the grout or even in the tile itself!
In these pictures you see some pretty severe cracking of the tile. This is not uncommon and it’s becoming more and more frequent that I’m called to these type of repair jobs. In other less severe cases you may see cracking in between the tiles within the grout and grout flaking and chipping away. So why is it becoming more frequent that I’m call to these types of repairs? Because these other types of labor saving underlayment’s mentioned above have not been proven to hold up over time! Sure, you might be ok going with it. you might not having any cracking in your grout or tile. However, if your going to invest several hundred or even a few thousand dollars into your home, don’t you want a guarantee that it’s going to last for as long as your in your home!
So, what is the answer? How can I assure you, how do I guarantee you that your beautiful newly tiled floor will last forever?
The answer will be in the next CTW Blog post. Don’t worry, it won’t be long! Sign up to my blog and you’ll be notified as soon as it’s out! Can’t wait? Do you have cracked tile already that needs to be fixed? Give me a call and I’ll be happy to come to your home and assess the situation free of charge!
~TJ
