# Mud in my eye and uneven tiles



## angus242 (Oct 20, 2007)

Tom, no doubt you are doing the honorable thing!

Not that it can help with your current situation but perhaps if you have some large format tiles to install in the future, look into a leveling system. Readily available at the homey depot is the Lash system. It's not my favorite...by far...but it will help you get those pesky 18's a lil more flat.

There's the Tuscan system. It's great but very expensive, especially for the initial investment. For my money, the best all around one is the Raimondi leveling system (RLS). 

Just some food for thought. I use the RLS not because I need help with keeping floors flat but because it speeds up my production. I can get my tiles flat AND do it quickly. 

A leveling system is no replacement for properly learning how to get tiles flat, but in a pinch they can be helpful.


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## TheItalian204 (Jun 1, 2011)

astor said:


> ... a pro TILE SETTER, not a mason.


Now thats kinda offensive. I am not greatest tile setter out there but it does not mean I cant do great job.

Not all masons born the same :clap:


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## moorewarner (May 29, 2009)

I just want to pipe up and stand up for self teaching yourself new skill sets. I suspect most of us generalists wouldn't do a fair chunk of the things we do if the only path to doing them were working under an established specialist first.

Some of us older guys newer to the trades have far fewer opportunities and time to hump under a master, we have to find ways to compress the learning cycle and get it into production, correctly. That's just the truth of it.

I say good on you RiverMan for wanting to get good at a thing, and more importantly being *willing* to come here and lay out your failures, and most importantly eat the time and cost to make it right. The final grade isn't determined by how familiar you were with what you did, or how long or twisted the path to the result, but the result, always and just the result.

That's all I personally ask of someone coming here; keep bringing your results and questions, keep demanding a correct finished product of yourself, and most importantly *start* bringing pics.

...we like pics. :laughing:




p.s. One thing this forum has taught me is just how much science goes into tiling, HO's have no idea, most non tilers have no idea (from the subs I've used even some tilers could use a few more ideas :whistling). Showers... Chris Wright's thread on the highend tiled bathroom that was done by an established company, that was totally effed up and is getting ripped and replaced... every non tiling guy that want's to tile should have to read that whole thread and pause and think long and hard before they take the job they are considering.

It's you tiler's threads that have kept me out of tiling, opening my eyes to how sizable the commitment in time/learning would be to get correct results.

Hats off to you brothers. :thumbsup:


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## RiverMan (Oct 24, 2011)

O.K. 

So I spoke with the HO. He doesn't want me to replace any tiles, he's afraid of "opening a can of worms" and that it will just make things worse. We are talking about 6 tiles that were poorly set. Two of those tiles stand out to me particularly bad. I would really like to make the repair but the HO doesn't want that right now. We have some other work to do for him this week, so my thought is to keep working and keep trying to convince the HO to let me make the repair. Seems like the only thing I can do, I'm not going to do the repair behind his back so I think I just have to talk him into it.


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## VinylHanger (Jul 14, 2011)

If the homeowner is fine with it, just leave it, unless it is a tripping hazard. The more you bring it up, the more you end up looking like you don't know what you are doing. The homeowner is aware you know, you offered to fix it, they are fine with it, move on and don't do it next time. 

We all notice things in our work that the homeowner doesn't. That doesn't make us hacks, we just look at the small stuff where the homeowners looks at the big stuff. 

I know where all my skeletons on each project are. All I can do is give them a good job that they are happy with.


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## stonecutter (May 13, 2010)

TheItalian204 said:


> Now thats kinda offensive. I am not greatest tile setter out there but it does not mean I cant do great job.
> 
> Not all masons born the same :clap:


I cant speak for the guys that made those comments compairing masons to tile setters but I think their point wasn't that masons can't set tile. Many do and they do it well. The problem is knowing your own limitations and passing on a job rather than botching it or have an experienced tradesman with you.

Its good to wear many hats in this economy but attempting a project beyond your knowledge base and skill set is asking for problems.

Hats off to you Riverman for trying to do the right thing...and learning from your mistakes.


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## stonecutter (May 13, 2010)

angus242 said:


> Just because I buy paint doesn't make me a painter. A seasoned tile setter would have seen your issue before it was too late. That doesn't make you an idiot, it just proves the point of being experienced in a trade before performing a task is a wise thing.
> 
> It's a personal peeve of mine. Most people think tile setting is easy. It's not. It's surely not rocket surgery but if you don't know what you're doing, the error(s) will be staring directly at your customer once you leave.


Isnt this true of any professional trade? I wish I had a dollar everytime someone told me they can do stonework or masonry.


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