Thursday, September 27, 2007

Day 43: Stupid Home Depot/Omni Grip

I went to Tile Town to check out tiles for my kitchen floor. I found one that is a pretty good match, but it is not due until next week. I hope that batch is going to be OK since each batch is a bit different.

At $3.19/ft, and with the grout, adhesive, plastic waffle stuff and tile cutter rental, a tile floor should be as expensive as (if not cheaper) than lino since I can do the tile myself. And because I don't (or at least hope I don't) have to level the floor with super incredible precision.

To determine when I can install the tile, I need to work back from my cabinet delivery so I only have to be without a kitchen sink for the least amount of time. So, I asked how long tiles that large (12") would take to set. She said 24 hours which blew my mind. After several days my bathroom tile hadn't set. After many days, I figured it had so applied the grout which cracked when I walked on the floor. Fixing the grout is just another project I need to work on. Turns out pre-mix adhesive is NOT meant for the floor. It just doesn't stand up. So, I should not be surprised if my tiles start popping up! I can't wait. Stupid Home Depot for selling me the wrong product and stupid Omni Grip for advertising itself as a floor tile adhesive. Heck, in the first sentence it mentions floor tile...and not because it is warning users against using it on the floor. The part that worries me most is that I tiled the whole floor BEFORE installing the vanity. That means some tiles are half under the cabinet so if I have to retile, it will be hard to deal with those tiles. Aside from one tile in front of the toilet that cracked (probably when toilet was put back on), the floor has held up very well. Cross your fingers and tread lightly when you go into my bathroom! I've included a picture so you know what product NOT to buy.



In other reno news, I put a coat of paint on the dining room wall (the one that had the big openings in them) and it looks FANTASTIC! As long as you don't move your hand over the entire wall, you won't be able to tell that there are some highspots where the old drywall met the new drywall. Now to find something to hang on that wall. Maybe I'll see if the Portuguese artist from Bastion Square is still doing paintings.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

How is the floor now? I just put a new late stone tile floor in my bathroom and got talked into using the freakin OmniGrip. Now I'm freaking out. Worried that in like 2 weeks probably when the crap is "dry" and I grout its al; going to crack! Is your grout still cracking or does it get better over time? UUUUGGHHH. I can't believe I used this crap!

Heather MacLeod said...

My bathroom floor is just fine. I think all you need to do is simply wait until the tiles don't wiggle at all...provided you have the time to postpone the grout part. I dug out all the grout and left it that way for months...set tiles without grout is not that problematic...just ugly.

Heather MacLeod said...

...and now that I have finally finished grouting I've had no problems. I am hoping the horror stories happened to people who also didn't prepare the floor. I had a layer of self-levelling cement to adhere the tiles to...obviously the adhesive was happy about that.

matt said...

Glad to hear the Omni grip tile adhesive worked out...I just laid a bunch of ceramic tile before doing my own research. I should have known better, I've always used a powder mix in the past. I'll let it dry out a few extra days then do the grout.

Anonymous said...

I realize this is an older post..but still very much an applicable issue. I just used OmniGrip on a section of my bathroom floor to adhere small 1" hexagon tiles - so lots of breathing space. I unfortunately ran out of an amazing dry mix mortar I was using and we decided that based on the label, this Omni garbage was the perfect solution - using an epoxy in their mix. 3 days later, the tiles still wiggle and 3 popped out today which I re-stuck down with a 'no nails' super glue. Our project is grossly behind schedule and we need the toilet installed asap so I had to go ahead and add grout today. I'm not holding my breath that this floor (in that particular section) will hold up. Home Depot should not be selling this garbage. I'm quite upset. I hope yours eventually worked out...I haven't read too many inspiring stories.