Forum Archive: Tile

I asked recently how high one tiles when only tiling “half-way” up in a bath. Your responses helped me pick an appropriate hight somewhere above the electrical outlets/switches and below the medicine cabinets. That’s great for 2 of the baths, but I’m still struggling with the master.

The plan is to use a 4×16″ calacatta tile in a running bond pattern. We will do the whole back wall against which there is a 4×3′ shower and the toilet and of course the 3′ section of the side wall where there is the side of the shower. I had wanted to do the rest of the room only half way up because I felt it would be somewhat referential to the older style of the house. The architect thinks we should do either all 4 walls completely or the back wall and the opposite wall where the door and vanity are leaving the 2 sides untiled (except for in the shower).

His argument is that not doing the whole wall with this kind of tile will look like we being cheap. I believe he actually used the word “poor”. Is this what I get for letting my husband pick a wealthy architect?

Personally I think floor to ceiling marble will be overwhelming. It’s about an 8×8′ room with no windows, but a large skylight and about 9′ ceilings. I think that much marble will feel like I’m at some kind of a spa or bath house.

Any opinions? Anyone cap their fancy marble halfway up? Do you think it looks half ass?

I’m at the point in our renovation where I’ve become brain dead, apathetic, and indecisive. We planned to tile the bathroom only halfway up the wall. We’ll paint the rest. The contractor is asking where exactly I want the tile to stop. What’s typically done? What was done in an old brownstone? Is the standard higher or lower than that nowadays? Can anyone run into their bathroom with a measuring tape and see how high off the floor their’s goes. Ridiculous, I know, but that’s what it’s come to. I’d appreciate any direction.

I’m looking to cut my fibrament baking stone in order to fit my new oven. The stone must be cut with a diamond cutter, without water. Any ideas?

Our bathroom has black tile on the floor and cream tiles on the walls. Right now the grout on the walls is white and the grout on the floor is black. The contractor did a kind of messy job where the black and white meet and I’m thinking about regrouting the whole thing with gray grout. Any thoughts about this idea? How does one deal with the caulk around the tub and sink in this case – does it stay white? And is this a project I could do myself? I’m pretty crafty but I’ve never done this myself before …

The contractor who assured us he could build us a house could not tile a bathroom floor to save his life. The job has to be demo’d again and done from scratch. Can any one recommend a person that knows what they are doing when it comes to tiling a bathroom floor. Thanks!

Hey Everyone,

I am going to have my super try to make the hallway floors in our co-op nice again. The pic shows the landings. typical hex tile but there is a lot of paint and other stuff on the tile. what’s the best way to clean and try to make these tiles look nice again? Are there tools for this I can rent?

Also, the floor in the lobby is terrazzo. What’s the proper way to try and restore it’s luster?

Any help is really appreciated.

Hi. We need 5 or 6 replacement tiles for our bathroom floor. We were told that they are terrazzo or composite; they look like marble. We have tried tile stores in Bay Ridge, Gowanus, and Manhattan. Does anyone know where this might come from? Thanks.

Is there any way to change the color of the dots on an Octagon & Dot tile? The room currently has black dots but I want to change the color.

Does anyone know where in Bkln (or maybe Queens) I might find white, 1-inch sq. mosaic tile, like you might use for a backsplash? Oddly, neither Home Depot in Qns or Lowes in Bklyn has it. Thanks for any leads!