Bathroom Showers & Renovations

I have spent three decades on my knees with a moisture meter and a level. I know the smell of wet thin-set and the gritty reality of a failed grout joint better than I know the back of my own hand. Most guys skip the leveling compound. They think the underlayment will hide the dip. […]

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 or the tile will hide the dip. It won’t. I have seen it a thousand times in my twenty five years of flooring. You […]

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 saw the same laziness in a bathroom remodel last week. I walked into a master suite where the […]

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 job taught me that every millimeter of sub-surface preparation determines the longevity of the final aesthetic layer. When […]

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 job was for a homeowner who thought a thin layer of foam would compensate for a foundation that […]

I once walked into a luxury bathroom where the homeowner had spent six thousand dollars on hand-painted Italian marble only to have the entire back wall fall off like a shelf of books in an earthquake. They thought they could save money by hiring a handyman who used premixed mastic on a shower wall. I […]

I once walked into a house where a $15,000 wide-plank walnut floor was cupping so bad it looked like a potato chip because the installer didn’t check the crawlspace humidity. That is the kind of heartbreak that follows a flooring man who ignores the physics of water. Most people look at a shower and see […]

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 job was supposed to be a simple laminate install, but the subfloor was a mountain range of high […]

I smell like a mix of WD-40 and fine oak dust most days. My knees have the permanent calluses of a man who has spent twenty five years refusing to trust a subfloor that has not been verified by a ten foot straightedge. Most guys skip the leveling compound. They think the underlayment will hide […]

The hollow knock of impending failure Hollow sounding shower tiles are the result of poor mortar coverage which leads to air voids between the tile and the substrate. This lack of a solid bond means the tile is unsupported. Over time, the vibration and weight will cause the grout to crack and water to seep […]