# Bowed tile



## SpruceRidge (Jan 31, 2012)

Just did a basement shower for a friend of mine, once I started I realized the 9x18 ceramic tiles (for the shower walls) are bowed out in the middle. Not to mention he wanted a brick pattern...
What might some of you guys do to deal with a problem like this?

He didn't care, just wanted the shower done so I did the best I could with those out of shape tiles... Very frustrating to say the least


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## ohiohomedoctor (Dec 26, 2010)

When you say bowed do you mean cupped? I would like to see pictures of that.


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## tileman2000 (Feb 14, 2011)

I would like to see pictures of that myself. 

How did you get good coverage with the bow in the middle?


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## SpruceRidge (Jan 31, 2012)

I'll have to take a picture when I'm back over there. Basically there's a crown on the finished side of the tile. If you placed the tile on the ground with the finished side up there would be a small space under the center of the tile. (probably about 1/16") I just made sure to back butter the tiles and use a little extra thinset in the center to have the whole tile bonding to the surface.


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## JHC (Jun 4, 2010)

Just put them in the over for a few hours and they will flatten out. :jester:

I always check tiles thoroughly especially if the homeowner buys them cheap. I have seen such junk these last few years.


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## SpruceRidge (Jan 31, 2012)

Exactly, if it were anyone else (I told him he said he didn't care) I would definitely have taken them back but oh well... I was just curious to see if anyone else has encountered the same problem.


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## Ceramictec (Feb 14, 2008)

If you install them in a 1/4 offset pattern it wouldn't have been that bad.


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## Ceramictec (Feb 14, 2008)

you can even go back and forth rather then on an angle like this travertine backsplash pattern I did.
it would work with any size tile.


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## SpruceRidge (Jan 31, 2012)

That's a really good idea, I'll definitely put that one in the bank for next time


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## kevjob (Aug 14, 2006)

Always check bigger tile for cupping and square. The plank tiles sometimes have a lot cupping in the center making brick pattern nearly impossible to make flat.


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## woodworkbykirk (Sep 17, 2008)

use to see this quite often when i worked for a gc who was a total cheap ass.... he would recommend using the cheapest materials because he was worried the homeowner would run out of money and not pay him.... his explanation is that all tile are like that.... no... only ****ty cheap tile from building supply clearance centres are like that.. 

buying from a tile supplier you get better quality material.. if theres bad tiles.. they'll replace them


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## SpruceRidge (Jan 31, 2012)

I was actually quite surprised, the tile supplier is one of the more popular ones in my area (not my tile supplier) but I think I'll probably avoid them in the future... I was already unimpressed with their customer service but this is the icing on the cake


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## ohiohomedoctor (Dec 26, 2010)

Ceramictec said:


> If you install them in a 1/4 offset pattern it wouldn't have been that bad.


That is the geddis 3 step. I thought I invented that, guess not. :thumbsup:


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## heathwwilson (Jan 31, 2012)

Cheap tile or expensive some tile is just like that especially a plank tile thats I had a rep come out and tell me that once he also said that the standard for lippage is a dime thick. I told him if I did a job with dime size lips every where id be out of a job with the picky ass people im always working for but he assured me it would still be within tcna standards. I hate reps never have known one who knew anything about actully being on a jobsite doing the blue collar work.


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## SpruceRidge (Jan 31, 2012)

That was exactly the problem, the end result looks good but there's lips that I would not normally accept if it weren't for a friends basement that he gave me the go ahead
Dark cell phone photo


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## bluebird5 (Dec 13, 2010)

This is the first tile floor I ever did by myself. I noticed the same thing that on the large tiles, the corners curled down a little. I didn;t have a wet saw then, so I made all the cuts with a circular saw with a diamond blade:laughing::laughing::laughing: how nieve I was. I borrowed my old boss's wetsaw to do the backsplash and used omnigrip mastic on the floor it was 50 bucks a bucket so I thought I was using the good stuff:laughing::laughing: Well looking back, I'm lightyears ahead of where I started, but all in all it turned out nice and the tile job sold the house.


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## overanalyze (Dec 28, 2010)

Better to have middle bowed up than edges..IMHO.


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## JohnFRWhipple (Oct 20, 2009)

These bowed tiles are a big problem with shower floors that have less than 2% grade built into them. At 1% or .6% a bow like that would make a dish for water in a shower floor.

As for the tile layout I think 1/3 off set is the most your currently aloud to spec on the larger format tile.

JW


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## heathwwilson (Jan 31, 2012)

It looks nice on my phone buy you really can't tell the lippage from a picture id say as long as you believe you did your best with it and the customet is happy youll be fine but I do thing its pretty normal for the tile to be a little bowed but also makeing sure you use a straight edge to guage the flatness of your wall helps extremely with a brick joint because onece you let the tile take on any sort of bow in the wall its especially hard to get your edges smooth


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## Groutface (Jan 20, 2011)

All "95%" of lft are in the vowed or crowing category......manufacturers hav not found a way to make them flat.....its in the cooling process that this happens no biggy .....let your customer know before hand next time......


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## Groutface (Jan 20, 2011)

Bowed or crowning....Jesus......spell corrector


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## Taurus Flooring (Jun 1, 2006)

There doesn't seem to be any quality inspection these days. I have seen this a number of times now and it's always a problem. What gets me, is when the customer still expects a flat floor.


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## astor (Dec 19, 2008)

Is it bad as this??:laughing:
A client shows me some tiles 6X24 and 12x24 are for $3.99 and the same tile on 24X24 format is $18 per sq.ft. And asks me why..when I looked at the back of the tiles, the pattern shows that smaller tiles were cut off of same bigger tile. Logically, I think the manufacturer cut and market the bowed tiles at much lower prices. Due the heating process of making tiles I can imagine maybe 10-15% of 24x24 tiles comes out off oven true flat.


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## Groutface (Jan 20, 2011)

Omg......that's hilarious.......practice yer putting on that floor.....lmao


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## bluebird5 (Dec 13, 2010)

astor said:


> Is it bad as this??:laughing:
> A client shows me some tiles 6X24 and 12x24 are for $3.99 and the same tile on 24X24 format is $18 per sq.ft. And asks me why..when I looked at the back of the tiles, the pattern shows that smaller tiles were cut off of same bigger tile. Logically, I think the manufacturer cut and market the bowed tiles at much lower prices. Due the heating process of making tiles I can imagine maybe 10-15% of 24x24 tiles comes out off oven true flat.


That looks like some kind of fancy roof


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## astor (Dec 19, 2008)

bluebird5 said:


> That looks like some kind of fancy roof


It is actually wall tiles(bricks)  I had just turned the pic sideways..
here is another color(s) and loose pieces.


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## Groutface (Jan 20, 2011)

Beauty


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## CO762 (Feb 22, 2010)

bluebird5 said:


> I made all the cuts with a circular saw with a diamond blade:laughing::laughing::laughing: how nieve I was.


The tool doesn't make the tradesman anymore than a gadget does.


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## Aaron Tritt (Feb 4, 2011)

I always give the customer the option when dealing with this situation. 

I normally default to a 3/32" grout joint, but with this issue sometimes a larger one is useful to minimize the problem of the cupped tiles. 

Otherwise, I will stagger 1/3 of a tile and let the customer decide if the pattern should go back and forth, or run like a set of stairs.


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## Evan1968 (Dec 5, 2010)

LMAO @ Astor :laughing:


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## ohiohomedoctor (Dec 26, 2010)

astor said:


> It is actually wall tiles(bricks)  I had just turned the pic sideways..
> here is another color(s) and loose pieces.


I think those tiles are cool. Not very grout friendly though..


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