Saw a DIY tile job at my cousin's new house that was a total mess

Nancy Nguyen · 2026-07-28T11:30:04.401363+00:00

Visited my cousin in Phoenix last weekend and he was bragging about tiling his own bathroom floor. Looked fine from standing up but when I got down on my knees I saw the grout lines were cracked in 3 spots and some tiles were lipping like crazy. He used those cheap plastic spacers and I could tell he didn't back butter a single piece. Has anyone else walked into a friend's place and spotted DIY work that's gonna fail in a year or two?

laura_schmidt822mo ago

Cheap spacers and no back buttering is a recipe for disaster lol. I've seen that exact combo fail within six months when the grout starts crumbling. Your cousin is gonna be real sorry next time he showers in there.

5

piperbailey2mo ago

Back buttering is the only way, @seth_singh20 can tell you that from experience.

2

seth_singh202mo ago

Dude called me last week asking how to fix lipped tile. Told him good luck.

1