Tile surfaces arable,

and—if you’re patient—fairly easy to install. Yet although tile has a hard finish, the ultimate dura­bility of the installation depends on the integrity of what lies beneath.

Choosing Tile

There’s a riot of tiles to choose from, including slate, white porcelain hexagonals, ruddy Mexican pavers, tumbled marble, glass mosaic, brick veneer, cast cement, limestone quarry tile embed­ded with fossils, and so on. You can even paint your own designs on unglazed tiles and then have them kiln-fired. Although some types of tile are better suited to certain uses than others, finding a tile you like is rarely a problem.

SEVEN TIPS FOR SELECTING TILE

► Where will you use it? Does it need to be waterproof? Does it need to withstand kitchenware?

► Sketch the area to be tiled. Include dimensions, fixtures, corners, odd jogs, and adjoining surfaces such as wood flooring or carpet. This sketch is a systematic first step in assembling a materials list.

► Choose a tile store with knowledgeable staff that will take the time to answer your questions. Plan to visit the shop on a weekday, which is likely to be less busy and thus a good time to get extra help. High-end tile stores have room mockups and may also have a Web site showing a wide selection of tiled kitchens and baths. Stores will also display many types of tile in 2 ft. sq. or 3 ft. sq. panels. Such visual expanses of tile convey much more than single-tile samples.

Decorative and durable, tile can handle high humidity and heavy use-making it a great choice for kitchens and baths. A little Mexican, a little Moorish, this bathroom is always sunny.

expensive. Also check on availability. Will specially ordered tile arrive in time to meet your renovation schedule?

► Determine if trim tile is available for the pattern or type of field pattern you select. Trim tile is used to finish edges and corners and is especially important for counter installations.

► Test a tile sample at home. Here, you want to determine its suitability for your intended location by simulating actual use; for example, by scuffing it with shoes, banging it with pots, or dribbling it with water to check for absorption. Does the tile clean easily?

Color and size. In general, smaller tiles are bet­ter suited for small areas, such as counters. Larger tiles are more appropriate for larger areas, such as patio floors. Because light-colored tiles reflect more light, they make a room seem larger. Conversely, dark tiles make a room seem smaller. However, light colors tend to show dirt more readily. Vivid colors or busy designs can provide nice accents, but when used to cover large areas, they may seem overpowering.

Grout is a specialized mortar that seals the joints between tiles. Its color can make a big impact on the overall look. The closer the grout color matches the tile color, the more subdued and formal the surface. The more contrast between grout and tile, the busier, more festive, or more geometric the tile job will appear and the more it will highlight your tiling skill.

Manufactured vs. handmade. Mass-produced ceramic tile is popular because it has a clean classical look, and its uniform size makes it easy to install. Most smaller (й-in. to 2-in.) mass – produced tiles come evenly spaced and pre­mounted on paper sheets or fiberglass mesh, allowing you to simply to align the sheets’ edges.

Trim tile is specially shaped to trim or finish off surface edges, corners, and the like and is thus distinguished from the main body of common, or field, tile. Trim tile is further classified as surface (or surface bullnose) and radius (or radius bullnose). Surface trim is essentially flat tile with one rounded edge. Radius trim, also known as quarter-round, curves dramatically to conceal the built-up bed on which it is set. Both types of trim include a range of specialty pieces that finish inside corners, outside corners, wall joints, and so on.

Handmade tiles offer unique color and a handsome, handcrafted look. But these irregular tiles take greater patience and skill to lay out and install. Often handmade tiles need thinset adhe­sive applied to each back, as well as a thinset layer-troweled onto a setting bed. Because they are irregular, handmade may also need to be arranged with plastic spacers to align their edges with the underlying layout lines.

Sheet-mounted tiles. Some tile comes either face mounted or back mounted, typically on 12-in. by 12-in. sheets. You install face-mounted tiles by leaving the paper facing on till the adhe­sive dries. Then dampen the paper and remove it. Disadvantage: Paper facing obscures tile joints, making them tougher to align. Back-mounted sheets are easier to align, but the bond between the tile and the adhesive may be compromised slightly because the backing remains stuck in the adhesive.

Most noise-related problems can be solved inex­pensively, without major architectural remedies. Basically, you can install materials that absorb sound or try to reduce the sound’s transmission by isolating it.

SOUND-ABSORBING MATERIALS

Within a room, use materials that absorb sound. Absorbent materials are often soft, porous, or bulky, such as carpet, cork, cloth drapes, furni­ture, or a shelf full of books. Conversely, avoid hard, highly finished surfaces that reflect soundwaves.

Fiberglass batts stapled between wall studs and ceiling joists are perhaps the most common means of absorbing sound. Two layers of 58-in. drywall, 358 in. of fiberglass, and the air trapped in the wall will muffle sound effectively. You can also insulate between ceiling joists with fiber­glass batts, nail up resilient channels, and then attach 58-in. drywall to the channels with 154-in. type-S drywall screws. Metal resilient channels are commonly used to hang ceilings and even walls. The resilient channel allows the surface to float, so it can move imperceptibly as sound­waves strike it.

A less common option is cellulose and mineral fibers troweled or sprayed onto walls and ceil­ings, somewhat like an acoustical plaster—the thicker the better. By using a special sprayer, you can apply these compounds up to 3 in. thick. Rigid-foam insulation panels are another option, but because the panels must be carefully fit and caulked to stud and joist bays, most installers opt for friction-fit fiberglass batts instead.

ISOLATING SOUND

Isolating sound, such as constructing double walls, generally takes more work and expense.

In addition, wherever sound can be transmitted through the building structure, you should add resilient materials.

If you have a central hot-air heating system, fans can be annoying sources of noise, causing vibration along ductwork. In this case, try to

Options for Deadening Sound

attach flexible collars (neoprene or canvas) to isolate ductwork vibration. Likewise, if your bedroom is plagued by a noisy fan in a heating system, you can reduce the noise either by remounting or replacing the fan or by packing insulation where the ductwork passes through a wall.

Double walls effectively isolate sound, but they require a lot of material and dramatically reduce room space. To further deaden (and literally cut off) the transmission of sound, say, between floors and walls, you can also cut a kerf through the flooring and subflooring between two walls. The kerf should stop short of the floor joists, however. (^) Note: If either of the double walls contains electrical outlets, turn off the elec­tricity and check with a voltage tester before cut­ting such a kerf.

Resilient neoprene or foam-rubber pads above the stud-wall top plates and below the sole plates can further deaden sound transmission. Any opening in a wall will allow sound to enter. If you need an extremely quiet room, minimize the number of doors and windows, and weatherstrip them. Installing weatherstripping gaskets around interior doors also cuts sound. Finally, minimize the openings that run through walls, such as ducts, back-to-back electrical outlets, and so on.

Think twice before trying to restore damaged crown molding, medallions, or other plaster ceil­ing ornaments. Plastic or composite reproductions of plaster elements are good-looking, lightweight, easy to install and—once painted—indistinguish­able from plaster ornaments. Given the hourly rates of a skilled plasterer, replacing plaster with plastic repros is often more cost-effective.

However, if your plaster ornament has a repet­itive pattern with only a few damaged sections, you can cast replacement sections by creating a mold from an original, undamaged section.

Removing an ornamental section. If you want to make a casting, you need to remove an undamaged ornamental section. First, support the section that you will remove. To do this, posi­tion a 2×4 tee, its head covered with rubberized floor padding, under the ornament to cushion and protect its delicate details. Then use a circu­lar saw with a carborundum blade or a recipro­cating saw with an 18-teeth-per-inch (TPI), bimetal demolition blade to cut around the sec­tion. The section should include a complete pat­tern repeat plus 2 in. on each end to allow for some damage when you remove the piece. This is dusty work and you’re sure to hit nails, so wear a respirator mask and goggles.

О Note: There may well be wires or pipes run­ning through the ceiling, so explore beforehand after turning off the electricity to the area. In many cases, ceiling joists will be exposed in the attic above. Plan cuts so they miss wires and pipes. Replacing the section will be easier if you don’t cut through the lath, but that’s sometimes impossible to avoid. After cutting around the sec­tion, you can often slide a chisel behind it, and try to break off the plaster keyed into lath spaces.

Casting replacement sections. To reproduce replacement sections, you must first create a mold. After you’ve removed an original section in good condition, use a toothbrush to remove flak­ing paint; then repair any small damage with plaster of paris. Shellac the section so its surface will be slick. Then let it dry.

Casting Larger I Replacement Molding

When a repetitive plaster pattern is damaged, replace damaged sections with castings made from sections that are intact.

To make the mold, paint on a coat of RTV rub­ber and allow it to dry. Thereafter, alternate strips of cheesecloth and rubber, allowing each RTV – and-cloth layer to dry before applying the next coat. Three or four layers should give you a mold that’s sturdy enough. When the final coat is dry, peel the RTV mold off the original plaster sec­tion, and pour a new casting into the mold.

Here are some thoughts on casting materials. Although plaster is a suitable casting material, it’s heavy. If the original object is large—for example, a ceiling medallion—consider casting with a lightweight polymer like polyurethane or poly­styrene, which won’t shrink, paints well, and is available in different densities. Or you may need to support the mold in a bed of sand, so the new casting material doesn’t distort the mold. For such larger casts, fill a large enough box with sand, and—before peeling the mold from the original plaster section—press the mold into the sand. Then lift out the mold, and peel the rubber carefully from the original plaster. Return the empty mold into the impression it made in the sand. Pour the new plaster (or polymer), and level it off to the top of the mold. When the cast­ing is completely dry, lift it and the mold out of the box, and peel off the mold.

Installing new castings. Once you have cast replacement sections, measure both the damaged and replacement sections carefully so the repeti­tive pattern will match exactly when you install each replacement section. Then cut out the dam­aged ceiling sections, leaving the lath intact and being careful to cut the ends as cleanly and squarely as possible.

Before cutting the new casting to length, mini­mize fragmentation by first scoring the cutting line with a utility knife and then cutting with a fine-toothed hacksaw.

How you attach the replacement piece depends on its composition. If your casting is plaster, use Durabond 90 quick-setting com­pound to adhere the plaster ornament to the lath. Dampen the replacement piece so it doesn’t leach moisture from the Durabond, and use the 2×4 tee to support it till the compound sets—about 90 minutes. For good measure, predrill holes at a slight angle, every 10 in. along the edge of the casting to receive drywall screws with plaster washers. But if your replacement casting is a lightweight polymer, you won’t need screws. A few beads of construction adhesive or white glue will do the job. Before setting the replacement piece, dry-fit it to make sure it’s the same thick­ness as the old plaster; you may need to build it up slightly. Last, fill the cracks or flaws where the new sections join old, before painting the restored ornaments.