Properly laid and sealed tile will keep water from getting into unwanted areas for decades. But sometimes caulking isn’t perfect and it can dry out and crack. Taking the time to make a good seal the first time around can prevent expensive repairs later.

One way to do that is to get tile to fit well during initial installation.

In the shower, the spout and shower head pipe often have to come through tile. Measure carefully and ensure that the hole is no larger than necessary. That will make final caulking easier and more secure.

One good way to do that is to take one or two pieces of tile and lay the pipe onto the tile, then score the tile around it. It’s possible to simply take the stated pipe size as a guideline. But people often get confused between inner and outer diameter. Stated pipe sizes are of the outer diameter and, for threaded pipes, of the threads not the pipe body.

Measuring the actual outer pipe diameter gives an exact answer. It also prevents any errors introduced from using the measurement of the threads rather than the pipe itself. These should be the same, since the threads are created by grooving the pipe, but small differences can occur.

It may be easiest to use a single tile, score it and break it in half, then use a tile saw to carve out a perfect half-circle on each half. The two pieces should fit back together very closely with only a very small gap between the pipe and tile. Using one piece broken in half helps ensure the edges will fit together accurately. Leaving only a very small gap helps reduce any caulking errors.

After fitting everything in place, seal the gap with a thin bead of caulk using a caulking gun. Before it has time to dry fully, take a very slightly damp sponge and wipe away any excess from the tile to leave a nice clean result. A wooden cuticle tool or ice cream stick makes for a handy device to ensure that the bead is even around the entire circumference of the pipe.

After it dries, inspect the results carefully to ensure there are no small gaps anywhere. This is the time when you make the difference between a well-sealed pipe or virtually guarantee a later repair job.

-The Fixie Chick

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Brenna Hartmann also writes for the Democrat and Chronicle’s Living Section in Rochester, NY. In addition she writes monthly for The Property Source Magazine and the Home and yard Handbook which she was the founder and since has sold the handbook entity in order to spend more time with her family and children.

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The handheld type of wet tile saws is great for jobs for heavy and large tiles as they offer high portability and convenience. It is rather difficult to secure the tile onto the saw and might lead to harmful effects. If you intend to carry out precise cuts, then you may as well consider the overhead motor tile saw. It offers absolute simplicity and convenience as the materials will travel along the rail on the table and have the cutting wheel above the tile thus easier cutting along the cut line.

If you search through the list of tile saw Home Depot models, the overhead motor units are often attached with stands or come with separate stands. The use of water is supplied through the fresh water delivery scheme or the submersible pumps. However, if you are seriously considering the purchase of this tile saw, be prepared that you have space to assembly it as it is known to be the largest tile saw in the market.

Another renowned type of wet tile saws used among the enormous field of construction is the table top tile saws. These saws have strong resemblance to that of table saws especially used for cutting composite materials and wood. The cutting procedure will have the tiles being pushed across the table undergoing a diamond cutting wheel that has been fixed below the table. The diamond wheel will rotate amidst the water to maintain a cool temperature of the wheel as well as preventing particles from penetrating into the atmosphere.