CTEF Blog - About Tile Education and Installer Certification

Ceramic tile is infinitely versatile. It is also sustainable. And, in the case of the Spa Lobby created during Coverings16 Installation Design Showcase, it is also the stuff of healing environments that engage all five senses. That's thanks to inspired design from Healing Environments and expert tile installers.

In this article, we connect with Susan El-Naggar, ASID, NCIDQ, LEED Green Associate. co-founder with her husband Tarik El-Naggar, AIA, of architecture and interior design firm, Healing Environments to learn more about the experience of bringing together inspired design with expert tile installation.

If you're wondering why you need to include expansion joints when installing tile, you've come to the right place. Let me explain why they are so important.

For perspective, we originally published this article in August 2016, and expansion joints continue to come up in conversation, during training sessions, and also in comments.

Does the word flat have the same meaning as the word level when it comes to floors and, more importantly, tile installation?  If we look in various dictionaries, flat and level can have almost the same definition which can be confusing. 

Close collaboration between design and tile installation teams matters intensely as we are discovering from connecting with the Coverings Design Installation Showcase participants. In the case of Architecture is Fun's Boutique Hotel X Lobby, it also makes for a fun and playful environment given the bold use of wood plank tile in a herringbone pattern.

>> Synergy Between Ceramic Tile Installation and Design? Critical Says Alena Capra

>> When Expert Tile Installers and Designers Create a Retail Space at Coverings16

>> Thin Tile Installation Expertise Creates Clubhouse Bar & Lounge

Glass tile has truly captured the hearts of consumers in both the residential and commercial marketplaces, making it important for tile installers to understand how to avoid trowel ridges and marks that are visible through translucent glass tile.

Do you know the proper technique?

When you install tile in wet areas, do you ensure that everything slopes to the drain? If not, please read below.

Let's consider showers.  Showers can be a beautiful part of the bathroom especially when the tile is part of the finished product.  The beauty, though, will not be long-lasting if the installation standards and best practices for tile installation are not followed.

Thin porcelain tile in large-size panels enables beautiful installations. However, gauged porcelain tile panels or slabs - as thin porcelain tile is now known as - requires specialized knowledge and expertise as you will learn from this interview with Dan Welch, President, Welch Tile and Stone, a second-generation tile, stone, and terrazzo installation company based in Kent City, Michigan.

During Coverings, the largest tile & stone exhibition in North America, the best and most expert tile installers collaborate with the most talented architects and designers to demonstrate what's possible in a tile installation. Depending on the venue, that process unfolds over the few days of the show.

During Coverings 2016, Artcraft Granite, Marble & Tile Company, a third-generation family business, teamed up with Designer Alena Capra, principal of Alena Capra Designs and the Coverings Industry Ambassador, to create a magnificent retail space for the Installation Design Showcase (IDS).

Are all tile installer certifications created equal? The short answer is NO!

Ceramic tile installation and design must work together.

In fact, as designer Alena Capra, principal of Alena Capra Designs and the Coverings Industry Ambassador, explains it's critical. There must be synergy between the two. She should know given her  involvement in the Coverings Installation Design Showcase, how frequently she features tile in her designs, and her long association with Coverings.