listening to advice

[jzucosky]

I've been doing a lot of reading of old posts the last few weeks to figure out how to do my next project. It amazes me all the poor work being done and all the people who ask for advice and then argue that its too complicated or expensive or somebody told them you don't have to do it that way.
I built my house in 2005 and did all the tile which there is a lot of. I did a lot of reading and asked a lot of questions. It was on another tile web site. At the time I didn't know this one existed. People like Bill Vincent and RD tile explained the right way to do things and I listened.
I made sure my structure was strong enough then every tiled area has 1 1/4" of plywood topped with 1/4" hardibacker thinsetted down. All the tile was thinsetted. They explained how to build a custom shower and I followed their directions exactly.
The end result is that ten years later I have a custom shower that doesn't leak, no cracked or loose tiles, and no grout coming out. Everything looks the same as the day it was installed.
I would like to thank all the professionals who spend so much time trying to educate all us DIYers. I would have never done such a professional installation without their help.

[Houston Remodeler]

Jack,

I'd like to personally thank all the hacks as well as the homeowners who want to cut corners and save money.

Its due to them I get to live in such a nice neighborhood and drive a shiny new truck.

[Dave Gobis]

And I will never run out of work either.

[vvesper]

Jack, you are right. I have been amazed, too. Paul and Dave - I can appreciate your point of view.

I think the hardest thing for people to accept is when they've already paid alot of money - perhaps as much as they can afford - and then find it's been done wrong. That's a hard pill to swallow. Having purchased two new houses where the master showers were done wrong and they failed a few years later (no, I was NOT involved in the construction of either one), I now realize you can't trust someone just because they're a licensed contractor! Lots of people apparently haven't learned that painful lesson yet, and they're still hiring hacks as a result.

My shower in my current house has been taken care of beautifully and correctly - thanks to the info on this site, which helped me select a tile setter who knows what he's doing. I'm hoping that with the advice here, the backsplash I'm planning to do myself will turn out just as well!

[cx]

The nice part of backsplashes, Valerie, is that they are technically very forgiving. Mostly you just make'em pretty.