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May. 24th, 2005 09:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickPretend that you have a tile bathroom wall where a damn fool has ripped off one of the two embedded-in-tile towel rack supports and made off with it and the crossbar. The wall now has ONE embedded-in-tile towel rack support, no towel rack bar, and a gaping hole in the tile where the other support used to be. (I'm skipping over the parts where the same damn fool DRILLED THROUGH THE TILE WALL ON THE GROUT LINES and SPALLED THE TILES and INSTALLED A DIFFERENT TOWEL RACK AND THAT DAMN POORLY because taking deep breaths isn't helping me deal with that so I've moved directly to full frontal denial. Fucking idiots...)
1. Make sure that you have extra tiles that match your existing tiles exactly. If all else fails, wait for someone with decent insurance to crash a car into the side of the building so that you get to redo one of the bathrooms and then you can save up all the undamaged tiles from there. (That's how we got the extra tiles for our project.)
2. Carefully remove the gaping hole tile and all the crufty bits around it. (The crufty bits are called "grout" if you are talking to the hardware store guys.) Do this by carefully chiseling around the tile with the tile chisel, working slowly and carefully. You can't pry much against the surrounding ceramic tiles or they will spall from the pressure. (Yes, that is a technical term.)
3. Carefully remove all other tiles that you loosened while getting out the tile with the gaping hole in it. Try to stop before the whole wall is tile-free. Clean these tiles off so that there is no crufty stuff on their edges and no cement stuff stuck on their backs. It's best to work from the back of the tile to knock the grout off. You can usually press it off with a chisel and hand pressure. Try not to break the tiles. If you do break tiles, note that the edges of broken tile are razor sharp and will cut you to bits. Danger, Danger!
4. Remove the OTHER towel rack support. Do this by using the chisel and hammer to work around the towel rack support and its tile. Break all the grout you can see. Then, grip the towel rack support firmly and pull steadily to see if it wiggles any. Work slowly -- it's like pulling a tooth. With luck, it will come free in one reusable piece so that the NEXT time some asshole rips one of the two embedded-in-tile towel rack supports off the wall, you can stick this one in the gaping hole in the tile and have it match. :) Store this towel rack support with the extra tile from running the car into the building so that you'll be able to find it again when you need it. Remove the tile-with-hole-in-it because you will not need that anymore.
4. Scrape the old tile cement off the wall using ye olde chisel. Try not to gouge the wall surface. You want a flat, clean wall surface. This is important so that the tiles will fit level. Ceramic tiles do not flex or bend AT ALL to fit uneven walls.
5. Go to the hardware store and buy ceramic tile adhesive. The hardware store guys should be able to help you find what you need. You'll also need a scrapey thing to scrape it on the wall. Ask about that too but don't call it a scrapey thing. If your hardware store people cannot help you with this, you need to find a better hardware store.
6. Read directions on tile adhesive. Follow them. It's a lot like putting down carpet cement. You put it down and you comb it and then you mush the tiles in place firmly. The tiles will move a bit after they're set in place, so you can nudge them to line up like the pre-existing tiles, unless you didn't stop before the entire wall was naked. I told you to stop before the wall was naked. Make sure your spacing around the edges is even and matches the existing tiles or it'll look like hell when you're done. Grout cannot entirely disguise shitty tile setting.
7. Go to hardware store and purchase a suitably-sized wall-mounting towel rack with what they call 'hidden screws'. You will mount this on the plaster wall about two inches above the tile line so that when (not if, when) the tenants rip it off the wall, you can patch the plaster, which is a lot easier than patching tile, and rehang the damn thing. Make sure that your towel rack comes with pound-in plastic thingies to hold the screws in plaster. (There is a technical term for these. Anchors? Something. They'll be on the box content list.)
8. Install towel rack as per instructions. Make sure that "hidden screws" are on the not-visible side (facing the floor) when the towel rack is mounted. This lessens the odds of the tenant messing with them. Tenants do not know to look underneath for the hidden screws.
7. Wait 24 hours for the tile cement to dry. (This is what I'm doing right now.)
Next, you will need to grout the tile. I don't know much about grouting, but I do know that you use grout to do it. If some unenlightened soul suggests to you that you employ CAULK instead of grouting the tile with proper grout material, do not listen to that seditious talk. If caulk were the proper material for grouting tile, they'd grout the tile with caulk the first time around. The fact that professional tile guys [Lala's husband Mike is a pro tile guy.] use actual grout to grout tiles should give you a clue about what you want to use.
1. Make sure that you have extra tiles that match your existing tiles exactly. If all else fails, wait for someone with decent insurance to crash a car into the side of the building so that you get to redo one of the bathrooms and then you can save up all the undamaged tiles from there. (That's how we got the extra tiles for our project.)
2. Carefully remove the gaping hole tile and all the crufty bits around it. (The crufty bits are called "grout" if you are talking to the hardware store guys.) Do this by carefully chiseling around the tile with the tile chisel, working slowly and carefully. You can't pry much against the surrounding ceramic tiles or they will spall from the pressure. (Yes, that is a technical term.)
3. Carefully remove all other tiles that you loosened while getting out the tile with the gaping hole in it. Try to stop before the whole wall is tile-free. Clean these tiles off so that there is no crufty stuff on their edges and no cement stuff stuck on their backs. It's best to work from the back of the tile to knock the grout off. You can usually press it off with a chisel and hand pressure. Try not to break the tiles. If you do break tiles, note that the edges of broken tile are razor sharp and will cut you to bits. Danger, Danger!
4. Remove the OTHER towel rack support. Do this by using the chisel and hammer to work around the towel rack support and its tile. Break all the grout you can see. Then, grip the towel rack support firmly and pull steadily to see if it wiggles any. Work slowly -- it's like pulling a tooth. With luck, it will come free in one reusable piece so that the NEXT time some asshole rips one of the two embedded-in-tile towel rack supports off the wall, you can stick this one in the gaping hole in the tile and have it match. :) Store this towel rack support with the extra tile from running the car into the building so that you'll be able to find it again when you need it. Remove the tile-with-hole-in-it because you will not need that anymore.
4. Scrape the old tile cement off the wall using ye olde chisel. Try not to gouge the wall surface. You want a flat, clean wall surface. This is important so that the tiles will fit level. Ceramic tiles do not flex or bend AT ALL to fit uneven walls.
5. Go to the hardware store and buy ceramic tile adhesive. The hardware store guys should be able to help you find what you need. You'll also need a scrapey thing to scrape it on the wall. Ask about that too but don't call it a scrapey thing. If your hardware store people cannot help you with this, you need to find a better hardware store.
6. Read directions on tile adhesive. Follow them. It's a lot like putting down carpet cement. You put it down and you comb it and then you mush the tiles in place firmly. The tiles will move a bit after they're set in place, so you can nudge them to line up like the pre-existing tiles, unless you didn't stop before the entire wall was naked. I told you to stop before the wall was naked. Make sure your spacing around the edges is even and matches the existing tiles or it'll look like hell when you're done. Grout cannot entirely disguise shitty tile setting.
7. Go to hardware store and purchase a suitably-sized wall-mounting towel rack with what they call 'hidden screws'. You will mount this on the plaster wall about two inches above the tile line so that when (not if, when) the tenants rip it off the wall, you can patch the plaster, which is a lot easier than patching tile, and rehang the damn thing. Make sure that your towel rack comes with pound-in plastic thingies to hold the screws in plaster. (There is a technical term for these. Anchors? Something. They'll be on the box content list.)
8. Install towel rack as per instructions. Make sure that "hidden screws" are on the not-visible side (facing the floor) when the towel rack is mounted. This lessens the odds of the tenant messing with them. Tenants do not know to look underneath for the hidden screws.
7. Wait 24 hours for the tile cement to dry. (This is what I'm doing right now.)
Next, you will need to grout the tile. I don't know much about grouting, but I do know that you use grout to do it. If some unenlightened soul suggests to you that you employ CAULK instead of grouting the tile with proper grout material, do not listen to that seditious talk. If caulk were the proper material for grouting tile, they'd grout the tile with caulk the first time around. The fact that professional tile guys [Lala's husband Mike is a pro tile guy.] use actual grout to grout tiles should give you a clue about what you want to use.
