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calmloki · 03-08-2008, 10:52 PM

So i've got this brother-in-law.... nice enough guy, kind to animals, ex park ranger... and he should not be allowed to do anything using tools harder than a marshmallow. My Sis had nice bamboo flooring from Costco installed while he was out of state - pretty sure that hard flooring had a good factory applied coating. BIL decided to put down a varathane finish - a nice thick coat in ultimate shiny sheen. Ya know how super shiny shows any imperfections? That floor is covered with craters of the moon and hairs - figure he shook up the can and put a coat down that was nothing but bubbles. Uhhhgleee! and betcha not as durable.
They had a toilet valve leak: first he broke the tank lid - replaced the white tank with a cream color one. Replaced the tank with the mis-match, then broke the bowl while bolting it down. Replaced the white bowl with -tada!- another mismatched white one!
In that house replacing a sink washer is liable to end up with a new faucet at least and could end up with sections of the wall removed and no water for a week.
In my experience fixing what is broke - and only what's broke - is the best plan. Knowing what's broke and if it is of concern is critical. In the OP's case I'm thinking there was a bubble in the original grout job, that the tile is rocking, or that the backer board is flexing at that one spot. Since he only reports a problem on one side of the tile the first option seemed most likely. In any case, unless he's filling that grout separation with water a bunch there's no danger in trying a grout only fix. Houses, unlike submarines, are not under tremendous stresses - a 1/2" hole that allows air -or rain- to leak into the house is not, i suspect, of the same concern as a hull breach at 500'. Takes awhile for a house problem to become critical, and in many cases if not most, a targeted limited repair of the problem area is cheaper and cleaner than the mass destruction many homeowners cause while doing exploratory surgery - and it will last as long as the surrounding area. No point having say, a roof patch, last much longer than the surrounding roof.

03-08-2008, 10:52 PM	#7
calmloki Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Independence Posts: 2,350	So i've got this brother-in-law.... nice enough guy, kind to animals, ex park ranger... and he should not be allowed to do anything using tools harder than a marshmallow. My Sis had nice bamboo flooring from Costco installed while he was out of state - pretty sure that hard flooring had a good factory applied coating. BIL decided to put down a varathane finish - a nice thick coat in ultimate shiny sheen. Ya know how super shiny shows any imperfections? That floor is covered with craters of the moon and hairs - figure he shook up the can and put a coat down that was nothing but bubbles. Uhhhgleee! and betcha not as durable. They had a toilet valve leak: first he broke the tank lid - replaced the white tank with a cream color one. Replaced the tank with the mis-match, then broke the bowl while bolting it down. Replaced the white bowl with -tada!- another mismatched white one! In that house replacing a sink washer is liable to end up with a new faucet at least and could end up with sections of the wall removed and no water for a week. In my experience fixing what is broke - and only what's broke - is the best plan. Knowing what's broke and if it is of concern is critical. In the OP's case I'm thinking there was a bubble in the original grout job, that the tile is rocking, or that the backer board is flexing at that one spot. Since he only reports a problem on one side of the tile the first option seemed most likely. In any case, unless he's filling that grout separation with water a bunch there's no danger in trying a grout only fix. Houses, unlike submarines, are not under tremendous stresses - a 1/2" hole that allows air -or rain- to leak into the house is not, i suspect, of the same concern as a hull breach at 500'. Takes awhile for a house problem to become critical, and in many cases if not most, a targeted limited repair of the problem area is cheaper and cleaner than the mass destruction many homeowners cause while doing exploratory surgery - and it will last as long as the surrounding area. No point having say, a roof patch, last much longer than the surrounding roof.