With the holiday rush coming the calls have started and this question is at the top of the list. I know we have run this subject in our posts before but it doesn’t hurt to repeat the fact that anytime you use Beveled tiles you must use a quarter round trim to finish off any exposed edges. Nuff said!

This is the time of year when we always receive frantic calls from clients wanting to order and have their tile shipped immediately for the contractor who is practically on his way to the client’s house. With the holidays around the corner most folks are trying to get their tile in, installed and completed before the Turkey hits the dining room table.

We always answer the same this time of year when we receive the “can you rush my tile calls” and say that the time to order is now because for in-stock orders we like to have 24 – 48 hours to process and ship an item before sending it on it’s way. For items that are not in stock the deadline has already passed to take delivery prior to Thanksgiving however there is still time to have the tile before Christmas if your order is placed right away.

Here are the Top 3 customer problems we encounter when a customer is rushing to complete their tile project:

1.) Not enough tiles ordered: in the haste to get the order in and shipped, inevitably there was a mis-measurement of the project area or even an area forgotten and the amount of tile ordered is not enough

2.) Trim pieces when required are not ordered (forgot) or the amount ordered is short of what is actually needed. Be sure to measure the surface area and the edge areas properly so you have enough trim on site to complete the job

3.) Placing the order without receiving the measurements from the contractor and then finding out later that a trim piece or a decorative piece is needed to complete a job. Get together with your contractor now and discuss all of the items needed to properly complete your job. This will save having to place a second order and even incurring shipping costs on orders below our Free Shipping threshold of $299

We look forward to working with everyone who will be sprucing up their Home for the Holidays. Call us anytime for questions or assistance on placing your order and we would be happy to help.

As always, we appreciate your business and your support!

With the holidays coming up and all of us wanting our homes looking their best for holiday guests, now is the time to make those tile purchases and schedule your contractor to complete the job (that is if you need one!)

Were moving in to the slower time of year for many general contractors and tile contractors so this is the perfect time to take advantage of open schedules for getting your tile installed. Order your tile now as those who have their tile at their home will take priority over those still waiting for their tile to come in.

Call us anytime if you need advice on your tile selections or how much to order. We will always do our best to offer professional advice and assistance to help you get your project underway.

As always, thank you for your business and your support!

For those considering our Harmony Wood tiles, how to install these beautiful decorative tiles is one of our most frequently asked questions we receive. We thought we would take today’s post to review some of the points involved in installing these tiles.

Following are a few items to consider when installing our Harmony Wood tiles:

* let the tiles acclimate in the home or installation location for 4 – 5 days before commencing the installation of the tiles

* install the Harmony Wood tiles over a solid substrate such as concrete or Hardibacker

* use Epoxy thinset

* use Epoxy grout

Follow these simple rules and you will have an error free installation and a beautiful completed project when done.

We have been testing some urethane grout products from a company called Star Quartz out of Baltimore, Maryland. Our initial tests have involved the Quartz Lock line of grout products and our initial tests have been favorable.

We have been testing the Solid Buff color with many of our existing along with several of our new products and we have to say so far that the results are positive. The grout goes on easily and cleans up smooth when finished. The Quartz Lock grout forms a nice bond with a wide range of product types and dried pretty accurate to the color chipcard that we have and which we used to select our color from.

More importantly, the grout was easy to work with because it comes pre-mixed and doesn’t require any mixing with water and eliminates that potential for human error.

All in all, the Star Quartz product is a very nice grout product and we encourage our clients to consider using this material when planning their tiling project.

We spoke to a client recently about installing paper-faced tiles and she brought up a point that we don’t talk enough about so I wanted to cover it in our Blog today. This applies mostly to the DIY’ers out there who will be installing their own material.

When installing paper-faced mounted tiles such as our Kawaii glass mosaic tiles, care needs to be taken during the installation process when setting the tile in to the adhesive. Since the tiles are paper-faced mounted, the paper should be removed from the face of the tile when the adhesive is cured enough to hold the tiles in place in the mortar, yet not too cured so no adjustments to the tiles can be made as the installation progresses.

When to remove the paper from the face of the tile depends on a number of factors including the weather and how hot or cold it is at the location where the tiles are being installed, what type of mortar adhesive is being used and how long the mortar takes to “set up”. Trial and error is the name of the game and installing paper-faced mounted tiles has been and can be installed by DIY’ers and Tile pro’s alike.

Paper-faced mosaic tiles have been around for years and they serve their purpose for some mosaic tiles vs. others. Feel free to give us a call anytime if you have questions about installing your Kawaii glass mosaic tiles.

We seem to be getting more and more instances where customers are contacting us months after they order seeking small amounts of additional tile to finish off their projects.

Based on what we can tell contractors are not giving their customers good guidance on ordering the proper amount of tile to complete a tile job. When there are lots of cuts involved to a project, when there are small nooks to an area, bay windows, or shower niches in a bathroom project all of these areas require more tile than simply a flat wall.

A good rule to follow is to order 10% – 15% more tile than the square feet which you calculate when measuring your project area. This should allow for errors, miscalculations, and unforeseen circumstances that could hinder a project.

And the most important reason to order sufficient tile for a project is due to what is called in our industry – Dye-Lots. When we receive a shipment of tile from our factory it is made under a certain production run and our company tracks the shade of each and every production run. Every new production run has a new shade number which allows us to track the shade of tile that a customer receives. This procedure is true for every tile company since manufacturing processes for making tile are the same within our industry. The color of a tile will not change between dye-lots but the shade between production runs might mean there are slight differences in color shading from one production run to another.

You should be happy to work with a tile company that tracks Dye-Lots which ensures that if you need additional tile to complete a project, tracking what shades are shipped to a customer ensures that you will always receive the same shade as was shipped with your original order.

We have been doing quite a bit of grouting lately and we wanted to pass on a little tip that is helpful to us and will also help you in removing any grout haze from tiles during the grouting process on your tile projects. Once you’ve cleaned the grout and you have removed as much of the grout residue from the face of the tiles as you can wipe the tiles and grout clean with a dry (and clean) towel or cloth to both dry the grout and remove any initial haze that may appear.

Wait about an hour or so for the grout to set up and harden somewhat then once this occurs go back over your tiles and wipe them gently with cheesecloth or a clean, dry towel to remove the grout haze that may have settled on the tile surface. Doing so after the grout has begun to “set up” but has not completely cured allows you to remove any haze on the tiles without wiping any grout away from the grout joints.

Grouting tile is relatively simple and straight forward but one should remember to be careful during the grout clean up process in order not to ruin the nice job that you are about to complete. When wiping away the excess grout from your tile be careful to wring out your sponge very well so as not to introduce too much water in to the grout thus weakening the grout because of too much moisture.

Also, take care when wiping the excess grout so you don’t wipe the surface area too hard causing some of the grout to be removed and leaving you with little gaps and pockets in the grout joints where the grout was washed away.

Just a little tip which could make the difference between a perfect grout job and one that looks like it was done by an amateur.

This is definitely not the most interesting of topics to talk about but important nevertheless to the folks installing tile out there everywhere. What size trowel do I use on my project?

The best way to answer this is to say that the proper trowel size is basically the same as the tile size. The smaller the tile, the smaller the trowel and the larger the tile the larger the trowel. For example, for smaller tiles and many mosaics use a 3/16” x ¼” V notch trowel.

You want a mortar bed that will cover most of the back of a tile so there are no hollow spots or empty spaces with no coverage. You can “back butter” your tile in cases where the mortar might not be spreading evenly.

Hopefully these tips help when selecting a trowel for your project.