“TILE Magazine recently had the opportunity to discuss the topic of “Surface Preparation” with a handful of established installers within the tile industry. In order to get some of their opinions on the broad topic, the installers were asked a series of questions that addressed issues such as common problems faced when preparing a surface for a tile installation and materials that are utilized…”

“…In your opinion, what is the number one problem to an improperly prepared substrate?

Welch: Bond failure, drastically reducing the life cycle of the install.

Woelfel: Two things — one, putting tile on a substrate that’s not flat enough to put it on, especially as the tile gets longer and more elongated. Two, you have a bond breaker situation where the concrete has been over troweled too hard where it won’t accept anything or the concrete finisher puts a curing compound on it where you can’t bond to it with a mortar. Those are the two biggest things we run into…”

To read more about the different issues in floor prep from these established installers click here.

“Installer Forum: Surface Preparation”
The Tile Magazine
By: Heather Fiore
March 18, 2015