Tiling profiles: Make your next project your best

Marble Adhesives Tiling profiles are one of the elements of a tile job that often get overlooked by do-it-yourselfers - and even some pros.They're the long strips of finish material that provide corners, edges and material transitions (between tile and hardwood, for example). Not using them could cost you big. Not only do the profiles look good, but they go a long way to protecting the tile job from daily wear and tear, from tile edge chipping to grout cracking.It wasn't always this way. Before thinner adhesives arrived on the scene, marble thresholds were often used to provide those transitions, and even now you can use caulking to "finish off" an edge (on a backsplash, for example).But in 1975, Werner Schluter, a German tilesetter frustrated with repairing cracked tiles at door thresholds, invented an L-shaped profile to protect the tiles: One half of the L goes into the tile adhesive (under the tile) and the other remains visible as both protection and accent. Schluter may have put himself out of the repair business, but Schluter Systems continues to provide attractive profiles that follow design trends. One of its newest, Quebec, has taken them to a whole new level, with gorgeous finishes from stainless steel to brushed nickel and antique bronze, and bolder sizes that add a design element.All of which begs the question: what else do do-it-yourselfers miss that would make tile jobs last longer and look better?Here are a few of the answers from DIY expert Rob Calvert, a renovation consultant.Floor it: "One of the really big things that people don't think about is the substrate they're putting the tile onto," Calvert said. "They'll try to put the tile over 3/4-inch plywood, and then they're surprised when the tile cracks or pops off. The floor thickness has to be between 1 1/8 to 1 1/4 inches." That's because floors tend to expand and contract as temperature and humidity vary. The more solid the floor, the less likely it is to change size so much that it causes the grout or tile adhesive to fail.Calvert recommends putting a second layer of plywood on over the first layer so the grains are perpendicular to each other, and then screwing the substrate down every 10 to 15 centimetres."The idea is to make that floor rock solid," he said.Waterproof it: Kitchens and bathrooms are notorious for water seepage into walls and floors, even through a tile job (often through unsealed grout)."If water gets through the tiles, the backer board soaks it up, becomes spongy and the next thing you know, you have mould behind there," Calvert warned.If you're tiling in potentially moist areas, don't use plain old drywall as backer board. Go for a product like Dens-Shield or cement board that's designed to provide tough protection against water.Mix it: It can be challenging for first-time tilers to figure out when the mortar is ready to use. Calvert warns that when you're mixing the mortar into the water (always add dry mortar to wet, never water to the powder), you're actually starting a chemical reaction that has a 10-minute window.