My kitchen tile job turned into a three day nightmare

I thought I could lay down a simple backsplash over a weekend, but nothing went right. The mortar mix was off, so half the tiles slid down the wall before it set. I had to scrape it all off and start over, which wasted a full day and a bag of thinset. Then my wet saw blade chipped every single cut on the expensive handmade tiles. My wife walked in and just said, 'It looks like a puzzle a toddler gave up on.' Has anyone found a good way to keep those smaller tiles from sliding without using a crazy amount of spacers?

3 comments

3 Comments

wyatt13524d ago

My mosaic tile shower wall did the exact same slide-down thing.

kim.nina24d ago

Been there, @wyatt135. That slide-down is almost always a bad mortar mix or not enough coverage on the back of the tile. You have to pull it all off, scrape the wall clean, and start over. Use a proper polymer-modified thinset and really press those sheets into a solid bed. Let it cure fully before you even think about grout.

leo_black7624d ago

That sliding tile problem is brutal, @wyatt135. For smaller tiles, have you tried using a margin trowel to really press and wiggle each sheet into the mortar? I found making a thicker mix and letting it sit for ten minutes (they call that slaking) gave it way more grip. A small notched trowel for the tile backs helps too, not just the wall.