CTEF Tile Tip

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CTEF’s Director of Certification and Training Scott Carothers explains why the popular 1/2" square notch trowel may not be the best choice for tile installations. 

CTEF’s Academic Director Scott Carothers urges tile setters to check the label and points out two of the most critical pieces of information to confirm prior to an installation.

Are you holding your trowel at the right angle? Scott Carothers, academic director, Ceramic Tile Education Foundation, challenges tile installers to take another look at the angle at which they are troweling thinset.  

Scott Carothers, academic director, Ceramic Tile Education Foundation, walks us through the industry standards that are in place to help you achieve a successful cementitious backer unit installation under tile. 

Scott Carothers, academic director for the Ceramic Tile Education Foundation, solves the mystery of large-format tile terminology and explains how the established definition helped determine its subfloor requirements. 

Floor flatness is imperative to the success of a tile installation. Scott Carothers, academic director, Ceramic Tile Education Foundation, gives an example of a tile installation that does not adhere to the industry standard required for flatness and how that can impact the installer and the customer. 

Scott Carothers, academic director for the Ceramic Tile Education Foundation, highlights how shoddy tile work around a bathroom drain in a restaurant could have been avoided if the tile installers had referenced ANSI Standards, industry best practices—and a little common sense. 

As installers approach a floor tile job, there are numerous questions that need to be answered before the first tile is set. Is the floor substrate suitable for receiving tile and is it flat?

Everyone in the tile industry needs to push the quality bar to the next level and beyond.

Proper water management can help avoid failure with the installation of tile or natural stone on an exterior roof deck or balcony.