Category: DIY Bathroom Projects

Most guys skip the leveling compound. They think the underlayment will hide the dip. It won’t. I spent three days grinding concrete on a job last month just so the floor wouldn’t click like a castanet. That is the reality of professional tile work. When you see a hairline crack in a brand new shower,…

The Best Tools for Scraping Grout Out of Tight Tile Joints I spent three days grinding concrete on a job last month just so the floor wouldn’t click like a castanet. That job taught me that shortcuts in the preparation phase are the fastest way to a structural failure. Most guys skip the leveling compound…

The physics of the perfect glass tile cut I remember a job back in 2004 that still haunts me. A designer had ordered five hundred square feet of custom hand-poured glass mosaics from an artisan in Italy. The installer before me, a guy who usually slapped down subway tile for tract homes, tried to use…

I spent three days grinding concrete on a job last month just so the floor wouldn’t click like a castanet. Most guys skip the leveling compound. They think the underlayment will hide the dip. It won’t. I have seen fifteen thousand dollar wide-plank installations ruined because someone thought they could eye-ball a three-sixteenths inch deviation…

The myth of the universal color match To match new grout to a 20-year-old tiled floor you must account for two decades of chemical carbonation, mineral absorption, and surfactant buildup within the porous cement matrix. This process requires a deep forensic cleaning of the existing lines followed by a side-by-side wet-sample test of modern high-performance…

How to Remove Old Silicone Caulk Without Scratching the Tub I spent three days grinding concrete on a job last month just so the floor wouldn’t click like a castanet, and that experience reminded me why details matter. I walked into a bathroom where the previous installer had taken a metal putty knife to a…

The No-Mess Method to Remove Old Silicone Around Your Tub I spent three days grinding concrete on a job last month just so the floor wouldn’t click like a castanet. That experience taught me a vital lesson about preparation. Most guys skip the leveling compound. They think the underlayment will hide the dip. It won’t.…

I spent three days grinding concrete on a job last month just so the floor wouldn’t click like a castanet. Most guys skip the leveling compound because they think the underlayment will hide the dip. It won’t. That same level of laziness is why most trim jobs look like a pincushion of putty and wood…

The hidden reality of shower floor failure Patching shower grout requires using a high-quality cementitious grout or epoxy resin to fill voids and cracks in the tiled surface. This process involves mechanical removal of the compromised material and sterilizing the substrate to ensure a permanent bond with the new filler. I spent three days grinding…