The Tile Council of North America (TCNA) Handbook committee has gone to great lengths to provide guidelines and best practices that will help and protect the tile installer.

The ANSI standards provide excellent guidance in the proper installation of ceramic and porcelain tile.

When bidding a job, look at all of the jobsite conditions, bid them accordingly and stand by your assessment of the job.

Most people will agree that buildings experience significant movement on a day-to-day basis. Accommodating this movement is crucial for a successful installation of ceramic, porcelain and/or glass tile.

Ceramic and porcelain tiles are as beautiful as they are functional, but they are very greedy when it comes to the space needed around them to absorb any movement.

According to the March 2017 American National Standards Institute (ANSI) specifications, new expansion joint patterns have been approved which allow formerly straight joints to follow new non-linear joint configurations.

Lippage unfortunately occurs when one tile edge is higher or lower than the adjacent tile. This topic is constantly being discussed because it occurs entirely too often.

Honoring expansion joints in a concrete floor is critical to the success of a ceramic tile floor installation.

Surface prep, whether for the wall or floor, is critical to the completed job being acceptable to the end user.

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