Sweep regularly as this causes most of the dirt to be loosened and removed.  Remember you can use the brush attachment of your vacuum cleaner to do your sweeping.

Place mats or rugs at each entryway. This will help remove dirt that may be tracked across your home. Shake these rugs out often.

Ceramic tile should be damp mopped often. The manufacturer of your floor will have a list of what products are ok to use. Rinse well and wipe dry to create more shine. Textured floors may require a bit more elbow grease.

Avoid using steel wool or any other abrasive cleaners on your floor. They can scratch and dull the tiles. Do not use bleach or ammonia based cleaners as they can discolor the grout.

Clean up spills as quickly as possibly to prevent staining.

Even though ceramic tile is durable it can still crack and chip. Be sure you lift, not slide, heavy furniture over your tile. Use table leg and furniture protectors just like you would if you had hardwood floors.

Sealing grout and tile is another way to prolong the beauty of your floors.

Whats the best way to remove grout and replace? We remodeled our shower, but due to foundation movement, the corners have cracked and now water seeps in. I am assuming i need to remove the old grout and redo. Anysuggestions or insight? – Daniel

Answer:

Grout replacement is one of the methods that can be used to correct minor moisture issues in a shower depending on the leak’s physical location within the shower itself.  If there is grout cracking on the walls or in the vertical corners at a level of 4 foot or higher, a small hand sized grout saw can be used to carefully saw out the joints to remove the old grout.  Thoroughly clean out the cavity with a shop-vac to remove any debris and reinstall grout where needed. On the other hand, when you have moisture seeping into adjacent rooms at levels lower than 4 foot high, this could be a sign of a much larger issue in the shower’s waterproofing system and should not be ignored.   If this is the case, I suggest that an appointment is made with a professional to inspect and address for corrective measures. - Ernie Nogales, Installation Manager

The colors in the room blend and compliment each other very well together. The silver and black flecks in the granite on the countertop and the floors subtly tie the plumbing and appliances together.

The use of a slab of granite on the countertops, the granite backsplash and the same granite cut into tiles on the floor shows how you can use the same material in different forms.

On the floor, there are granite dots placed in the intersections of the granite tiles. Some might say that the number of “dots” on the floor draws too much attention to the floor because the rest of the room is so simple and that a better use of the granite accent dots may have been to use less of them. Others may argue that the floor with all of the dots serves as a focal point for the room.

From an installation standpoint, using the same material for the accent tile as the field tile (main tile) helps with the ease of installation because the materials are the same thickness.

The good thing about this kitchen is that all of the major cost items in this room are all neutral choices. If the homeowners of this kitchen would like to change the look in a few years, they can easily do that with a BOLD paint color or wall covering. Another way to add some punch or WOW to this kitchen would be to add a backsplash. Adding a backsplash made of the same granite may be a little too much of a good thing, but a complimentary ceramic or porcelain tile or a stainless tile might be a nice addition.

What are your thoughts on this kitchen? What would you change? What would you add down the road?

When it comes to using tile in a bathroom, you have two choices about how to approach installing the tile. You can install one tile laid straight to merely cover the floor or you can take advantage of coordinating styles, colors and sizes and create a room that is uniquely yours. Why not create a room that you love to spend time in?

This bathroom has some great uses of different colors, styles and sizes of tile. Let’s look a little closer at what makes this bathroom so inviting.

• First, the tile used in this bath is made to look like natural stone. What can be more inviting than natural stone?
• If you look in the far corner of the room near the steps, you will see that the same border that was used to create a rug look on the floor is used as an accent strip on the wall. That border probably continues around the room to serve as an accent for the tub backsplash. This helps tie the floor tile and the wall tile together.
• The use of the border allows other colors to be introduced into the design scheme. In this case, the darker shade in the border is used to coordinate the color of the inside of the area rug pattern perfectly tying the two tiles together.
• One of the best parts about the  area rug pattern in the room is that you get the benefit of the look of an area rug in the middle of the room, but you never have to take it to be cleaned or worry about it slipping and not staying in place!
• Note how the field tile (main tile) is laid straight and the inside of the area rug pattern is turned on the diagonal. The change in installation direction is subtle, but adds a great deal of style to the room. The area rug installation creates a great focal point for the room. The colors chosen in this room are neutral enough that they allow for a whole new look just by changing the wall color.
• Another step that could have been taken in this room is to use the accent border as a feature strip in the shower or again used as a border to create a frame for an accent on the shower wall.

For more room scenes to gather ideas, visit  out our gallery of floors. To design your own room, try our virtual room designer tool or upload your own room to see what a product would look like in your own room. Feel free to come in and start working with one of our knowledgeable  team members to design the bath you’ve always wanted!