CTEF Blog - About Tile Education and Installer Certification

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.

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

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).

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.

Do You Honor Expansion Joints in a Concrete Floor?

You do, right? Honoring expansion joints in a concrete floor is critical to the success of a ceramic tile floor installation.

Have you saved December 1st for #GivingTuesday? It's a great way to support organizations such as CTEF...

How prepared are you for installing Large Format Tile (LFT) or Gauged Porcelain Tile Panels (GTPT) and ensuring you have a surface that is adequately flat?

It's a big deal and worth considering before you get started. 

Have you seen this video by Sal DiBlasi about the hands-on Certified Tile Installer (CTI) test?

If you haven't and you're considering becoming certified, we encourage you to do so. We've even embedded it into this article.