Tile Installation – Quality Work is My Trademark.
In March of 2016 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced the final silica dust rules for silica dust exposure on construction sites. The rules take effect on June 23, 2016 and construction employers have until June 23, 2017 to comply.
If you’ve been in the tile contracting trade for any length of time you have got to have become a defensive pessimist, or you have not been paying attention. A tile contractor’s motto must be “Be Prepared.”
Once tile has been installed and has dried properly, the grouting process can begin. But, allow tile to set firmly before grouting. Grouting tile too soon, before the setting material has set-up, can lead to problems. Uncured setting material may bleed through the joints and discolor the grout. There is also the risk of destroying the bond by shifting tiles, so allow as much time between setting and grouting as feasible. A day is advisable, but as much as four days might add a level of assurance.
In warm climates particularly, builders have been using ceramic tile outdoors on buildings, walkways and even streets for about 6,000 years.
Tile offer a range of colors and designs unmatched by any other material. It’s also amazingly tough when not exposed to freezing weather. In places like Italy and Mexico you can find exterior tile in good condition despite centuries of wear and tear.
Treasure Coast tile contractors enjoy a tile installation advantage. The vast majority of floor tile installations done here are over a concrete slab.
There is no better substrata over which to lay ceramic tile than a concrete slab. That said, the success of any installation over a concrete slab, where tiles are directly bonded in a thin-set application, can go wrong.
Is it bragging when you point out something you have done that is nearly perfect? If so, my apologies.
While the ANSI A118.4 Dry-Set Cement Mortar specifications have served as the standard for residential tile installation for several years, many past complaint mortar have improved their capabilities beyond that ANSI standard. 
So, a new ANSI specification had to be established to distinguish standard performing mortars from high performing mortars. Thus, in 2013, came the birth of the new standard known as “Improved Modified Dry-Set Cement Mortar – ANSI A118.15 .” This new standard provides another level of classification for thin set mortars.
“Mud-Set” or “Mud-Bed” are terms used for a 3/4″ Portland cement and mason sand sub-surface for ceramic, porcelain & natural stone residential tile flooring. “Mud-Setting” the floor to accept tile is the ideal substrate: to provide a sound, flat and level floor, to provide a water-resistant base, and to add structural stability to new and old floors.
“Thinset” is an adhesive mortar made of cement, fine sand and a water retaining agent such as an alkyl derivative of cellulose. It is usually used to attach tile or stone residential tile flooring to surfaces such as cement or concrete. The application of the mortar adhesive is usually 3/8″ thick or less, thus defining the procedure as a “Thinset.”
If you did a “Fifty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong” type survey on the subject on Mastic vs. Thinset, with the stipulation that only 30 year tiling professionals need respond, I expect you might get a list that looks like this:
That should settle the issue, right? Well, no not really.
For the professional tile contractor and the do-it-yourself consumer alike, the temptation to use mastic instead of thinset for back-splash tile installation is appealing. For the do-it-yourself consumers, who have never worked with thin-set, the appeal of mastic is all the more attractive.
Working with thin-set for the first time is an intimidating process compared to working with an mastic adhesive.