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Had my tile guy call me out for not back-buttering last month
He pointed to a loose piece in my shower floor and said, 'this is why you always back-butter,' so now I spend the extra 45 seconds per tile and havent had a single hollow sound since, anyone else get called out on something basic they were skipping?
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the_patricia4d ago
Do you really back butter everything though, or just stuff that's more prone to issues? I've had good luck with just a solid notch trowel on walls, but floors are a different animal for sure.
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val_taylor4d ago
Wait, you've been skipping back-buttering on floors? That's like the one place where it matters most besides maybe a steam shower. I learned that lesson the hard way when a 12x24 porcelain tile popped right off my shower floor after three months. The thin set had just skinned over on the back and never bonded to the floor mud. Took me a solid afternoon to chisel that mess out. You really trusting just a notch trowel on a wet area floor?
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