Home

Halloween Blog: Winning Submission!

Congratulations to our Halloween contest winner, Barbara Janssen! Barbara sent us the spookiest tile horror story and we just had to share! Thank you, Barbara and enjoy your tile prize!!

----

"It was Halloween time in 2018 - that time of the year when frights and spooks were multiplying throughout my house again. Living in an old house built in the 1920s, I was used to hearing the sounds of creaky doors, whistling windows, and crackling floors every night. But this time, it was all different. I was told in the past that my house was haunted and that the last homeowner was found dead in the kitchen from an unknown cause. I chose not to believe in any of those bloody ghost stories..

I decided that a quick update before the holiday season would be nice for my home and get rid of some of the creepy feel from the old house. I started small by replacing the old kitchen tiles with something more updated and fresh. I wasn't aware that soon everything would become much worse and spookier than ever.

It all started one night when I began hearing creepy, small footsteps in my kitchen. I could hear the light, slow footsteps moving throughout my kitchen followed by weird cracking sounds. Lines started to show throughout my floors like the signs of a bleeding wound. There was no reason to explain this bizarre scene as there was no one in my kitchen but me. My blood ran cold each night until I slowly got used to hearing those noises.

Then one evening, I could smell the fear in my kitchen. What was going on? Some ugly crackling caught my eye on my new floor. As I inspected closer, I could see holes in some of the tile! Some small, some large. The larger holes appeared as if a pair of evil eyes were watching me under the floor. I gasped and retreated backwards, then immediately felt the floor moving underneath my feet. That was enough of a horror story for me and that night and I left the house quicker than you could say "boo". I was almost sure that my house was either haunted or my kitchen was cursed!

Well, I was mistaken. A second contractor came by my house a few days later to install a new sink and he noticed something wrong with my new floor. Then the truth finally dawned on me. My first contractor actually messed up with the tile install and it was my imagination all along. He didn't grout properly and missed many spots, creating holes throughout. I guess I just dreamt up those red eyes glaring at me that night. But hey, I was already scared - can you blame me??

Yeah.. I was the subject of many jokes for weeks from my family. But it's nice to have my house back."

----

Yes, some easily made mistakes can quickly turn a customer's tile project into a creepy horror story. To avoid any of this nightmare in your next tiling project, be aware of the most common tiling mistakes listed below for you.

-Improper underlayment: Proper underlayment prevent tiles from cracking and becoming creepy as well as providing soundproofing and moisture protection. Lack of improper underlayment can cause tenting or movement of the tiles, causing a horrifying flooring surface that will result in redoing the entire space.

-Improper Wall Preparation: Cleaning of all grease and fingerprints from the walls are important steps before starting any tile installation. Dirty walls can lead up to poor adhesion that will avoid your tiles sticking properly on the surface.  

-Wrong Adhesive Amount: Sometimes the mount of adhesive is not enough or spread uniformly underneath the tile that the tiles become loose and eventually crack. The same problem occurs when the adhesive is too strong since too much strong bonding may cause a weak point resulting in cracking again. 

-Bad Grout Application: Too much water in the mixture can leave scary holes as the grout dries and water evaporates. Also joints that aren't filled properly, wiping too much grout out of the grout joint during installation can cause pinholes in grout which means you have to redo the grout again.

Looking at spooktacular installation experiences can sometimes tell you more than the pleasant ones. To avoid another hair-rising story, better be extra careful with how you install your tiles.

0 comments. Write a comment

Empty content. Please select category to preview