Ceramic tile is a good-looking, durable option for home flooring, and with regular care, it should last homeowners a remarkably long time. It’s very easy to maintain, however problems arise when moisture manages to seep into the tiling, allowing mold and mildew to grow in and around your tiling job. Fortunately, you don’t need to remove your entire floor to fix this problem – mildew in ceramic tile can easily be fixed with some persistence.

You walk into your bathroom and notice some discoloration in your tile grout. This discoloration is due to the porous nature of grout. Tile grout is mostly made from Portland cement, sand and coloring. This combination allows for tiny holes to develop. As with any hole, it has a tendency to be filled. Dirt and grime collect in these tiny holes over time if a grout is not sealed when it is applied. This dirt discoloration is called grout haze.

Floors are expensive things. Whether you lay carpet, install hardwood planks or have stunning granite or stone put down, floors make up a huge part of the investment that is your home. The last thing you want is to see your precious investment covered in stains and to have difficulty cleaning it. Stone and tile must have a mandatory treatment with a tile sealer to ensure they remain as pristine as possible for the long term.

Gone are the days of limited choices for your ceramic tile tub surround. We don’t just want to get clean in the bath, we want to enjoy the whole experience of it. Having a beautiful bathroom is as much about the tile and the bath tub as the color of the towels you hang or the view from the window. Think outside the square and go crazy with color, murals and mosaics.

Installing tiles can sometimes involve having to work around pipes, ducts and other floor or wall penetrations that necessitate cutting holes in tiles. At first this might seem simple, but there are a few different techniques for this, depending on the hole size and shape and type of tile.

It you just need a small hole going through ceramic or porcelain tile, it’s pretty straightforward. It is easy to drill holes up to about ½ inch diameter through glazed ceramic tile or porcelain, using a carbide-tipped or diamond-tip masonry drill-bit.