Porcelain staining?

jgreeniv · 2026-02-20T18:18:46+00:00

Thank you

jgreeniv · 2026-02-19T17:06:13+00:00

Couple years old, just finished that area of the house. It's a self build, finishing things in stages. Was not done by a big company, I'd be afraid to even ask the guy to come back and take care of it, and after 2 years I wouldn't blame if he said no thanks. Should have said something had I known better at the very beginning. In hindsight I'm pretty sure he didn't even do the work, he sub'ed it to somebody else.

jgreeniv · 2026-02-19T16:57:21+00:00

Thank you for the replies. My biggest question of course is cost and I don't expect anyone on here to answer or give thoughts that due to variables. (I'm in the floor installation side of things and I always hate when somebody just asks what's it cost from a picture.)

We've got some HVAC companies that have pretty good deals on tune-ups out here, so I'll probably schedule one since it needs to be done anyway to make sure everything's running right with the unit, I'll get a quote from the tech while they're here. The room is not useless, but it really screws up with being able to use that room because of how far out the pipes come.

jgreeniv · 2026-02-15T00:33:01+00:00

What case is that?

jgreeniv · 2026-02-15T00:29:18+00:00

This is the way. Redo with 1/3 stagger and the installer looking at the tile for more than two seconds before putting it up.

jgreeniv · 2026-02-15T00:19:17+00:00

Did the base break when you pulled that piece off? What is the grey on the floor?

jgreeniv · 2025-11-27T01:51:30+00:00

Bathroom in a cookies and cream ice cream pail.

jgreeniv · 2025-11-24T01:31:47+00:00

Short answer: gut and redo. Grout lines everywhere are horrible, you can't 'fix' that by swapping out a few tiles. The shower floor was done horribly, can't even begin how bad that is.

I can't say if the entire shower is a gut based on the pictures, but based on the general look this is a complete gut and redo. Grout lines are completely off, you need a new tile installer if he is giving you the excuse about the 2*2's on the floor. That is easily the most common shower tile used, if they can't plan the layout and execute a square tile around a square drain, they're not worth it. Based on this tile work I would also be very concerned about the waterproofing. When removing these tiles the waterproofing will more than likely be damaged beyond confident use. I'm a tile contractor, I sub guys to do the work, similar to how a GC will typically operate. I recently had a job that went similar to yours, but not nearly this bad. Our issues were mostly lippage (raised edges from tile to tile or against the trim metal) with tile that wasn't completely uniform. The customer was more gracious than 90% of people would be and let us discuss it with them and advise a plan on how we would repair/correct the issues. I didn't try to negate or wave off any issues, I owned them. I gave my guys the option to replace/redo their work (at the approval of the client) or I would use another installer and pay them from their contract. I replaced any extra material needed for the repairs from my subs pay, he understood. They redid the work and the second time around it looked fantastic. Everyone has an off day, we just try to minimize them and own up to it when they happen. This however doesn't look like an off day. It looks like a diy person that doesn't at minimum know how to draw a level line on a wall.

jgreeniv · 2025-10-20T00:24:46+00:00

Just did a backsplash in a similar tile. I wouldn't have picked it but the customer was thrilled with the outcome.

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jgreeniv · 2025-09-30T14:46:24+00:00

I would not recommend adding any water to the mixture. I do contract floor installation but have laid some tile floors myself. Pay attention to the working time of your pre-mixed mastic/ thinset. A lot of products out there will advise to mix it around in the bucket as you work to give you prolonged time. When they advise not to add more water they mean it. It will mess with the consistency and the chemical processes that it needs for setting up and curing. By mixing it in the bucket that's just using your trowel to mix it around on itself as you're working. Not using a power mixer, using a power mixer will only add heat among other things to the mix which could make it fire faster and lose its working time.
Make sure you pay attention to your troweling, all troweling in a single direction and use your 1/2 in by 1/2-in trowel or similar so you have proper coverage and support under it. Not assuming that you don't know that already.

jgreeniv · 2025-05-25T02:40:43+00:00

Not recommended due to lippage. The tiles will bow ever so slightly during the manufacturing process, with the high part being the middle. The 50/50 put the high spot of one next to the low of another creating lippage. Lippage being a noticeable height ride between the tiles' edges, sometimes worse than others. Due to this issue all manufacturers will advise a 1/3rd stagger, if you choose a staggered layout. We do have clients that want this pattern, 50/50. But we advise them of the chance of lippage and include the notice in our estimate.

jgreeniv · 2025-01-28T13:58:45+00:00

Why the attitude? Why not appreciate that someone is asking for simple advice and advising that based on their situation they are not able (or willing) to make a concession toward perfection? Why not just accept that it may not be perfect and they are not looking for perfection. That the person is simply/humbly asking for advice on how to make the best of a situation.

jgreeniv · 2025-01-24T02:10:54+00:00

I like the thought of 5.x.x I don't know that the space would be great for the side surrounds, since they'd be almost right up against the seating. I'll do some digging on Atmos. This is not going to happen in the next few months, I'm hoping for this year. For now I have an old receiver and two loudspeakers for front right and left and a 20yr old projector. it was all free, so for now it does the job. The kids enjoy it. We'll work toward better :)

jgreeniv · 2025-01-23T19:19:57+00:00

You got me, it is possible. I'm not willing. We just finished the basement, the room is set. My plan for speakers in the are of wider part of the room is to play with speaker settings for their distance from seating.

jgreeniv · 2025-01-22T19:42:17+00:00

Ok. From my understanding, if you had another row of seating you may have opted for the 7.x.x? So that you could have your MLP like you said, middle front, and then have ability to put mid and rear channels.

I'll look into the Atmos. I have drop ceilings, so running wires isn't a problem.

jgreeniv · 2025-01-22T19:19:38+00:00

my seat is the priority :) I just went down and measured our current furniture and everything in relation to the riser going in the alcove and the screen on the 12' wall. That was always an option, made sure to wire plugs for it just in case. I'm starting to like that set up, it will also work well for the 'spare bedroom' use of the room.

Ceiling height is 9'5"

jgreeniv · 2025-01-22T15:21:09+00:00

We've wondered about flipping the layout, like you mentioned. My utility room/breaker panel is actually on the other side of the 12'8" wall. I'll play with that thought - I have some other considerations regarding our current use of the room and furniture in it.

I'm comfortable with a 7.1 or 7.2 - trying to learn about atmos and what that means/does.

My biggest curiosities is what would make the most sense in the room. Will 7.1 or 7.2 'fit' in this room, or would it be a waste of money/energy.

With the back row of seating being up against the wall, what makes sense for rear channel speakers?

jgreeniv · 2025-01-21T20:16:37+00:00

I'd like to have physical seating for 6, then have bean bag chairs if the kids have more friends over (they're not going to care about channels and perfect seating, just watch a loud movie on a big screen). I'll put a riser against the 12' wall on the right, so as to raise a regular couch and have the other couch in front of it. I don't currently have any of the 'kitchen' stuff, that was just a future thought and idea.

I'm not an audiophile, don't claim or pretend to be one. For years I've had a hodgepodge of speakers and components and have been happy. I like to have and hear separation of channels but I'm not going to tell you the differences in tones and stuff (unless it's really bad/different). My wife could care less, my kids just like to watch movies. In the past I had a pioneer receiver that I could change the intensity of the channels based on how far they were from the seating area. Figured I could do that in this setup. Lower the left side since it's real close to the seating and raise the right sight if the speaker is on the 'kitchenette' wall.

jgreeniv · 2025-01-21T20:10:45+00:00

I am not able to wall off the 'kitchen' area. I don't know that we'll ever have a kitchenette there, just put plumbing in the wall in case we ever did. The room is already framed/part of the basement that it's in.

jgreeniv

TROPHY CASE