2 Responses to “Tile Your World: John Bridge’s New Tile Setting Book (Paperback)”

1. Anonymous
   January 30th, 2010 @ 6:19 pm

   I’m midway through remodeling a 50 year old house, and I’ve become something of a connoiseur of these do-it-yourself books. A lot of books from this genre provide a basic description of the work involved but gloss over the details. These often seem to have been written by someone who writes for a living, and who may or may not own a hammer or a drill themselves.

   Tile Your World is one of the best, perhaps THE best DIY books I’ve read. The author John Bridge has clearly and thoroughly documented what he’s learned during his hands-on career as a tile guy.

   The book contains the requisite sections on tools, types of tiles, substrates, etc. Where it excels is in its detailed discussion of the subtleties associated with tiling walls, floors, showers, outdoor surfaces, kitchen backsplashes, etc. By way of example, the section on tiling a shower spans over 100 pages and includes over 100 photos. Along the way you’ll get advice on everything from plumbing updates to what to do if you discover termites during tearout of the old shower.

   The text is consistently readably and often amusing as well. It’s worth at least a dollar or two of the purchase price just to read John’s advice on how to select fine wines, buried as it is within the discussion on how to ensure that the slope of a shower floor is correct.

   Finally, I have to heap a bit more praise on the tiling discussion forums that John runs on his web page. I gather that I’m not allowed to mention the URL in this review, but it should be *painfully* obvious given the title of the book. Like the book, the quality of the advice provided on the discussion forums rises well above the (relatively low) standard for the DIY industry. Imagine novice tilers posting questions about complex issues, and actually getting timely and detailed responses from industry practitioners who seem to really know their stuff.

   My hat’s off to the author of Tile Your World, and if he’s ever in my neck of the woods here in Kentucky, he’s more than welcome drop by and use my newly-tiled bathroom.

2. Gunda
   January 30th, 2010 @ 7:13 pm

   Doing tile right takes a bit of time and a bit of money. Most “do-it-yourself” books will give short shrift to tile laying, put in some pretty pictures and make it look easy. And they your tile will pop up or crack five years later. Tile should last decades. And sometimes it can take a lot of work to prepare a surface, and some surfaces shouldn’t even be tiled at all. With that in mind, finding good information and digesting it is a must before taking any steps.

   John Bridge’s book does a top notch job of covering a wide variety of tiling specifics and generalities. In addition to all the gory details he has a motivating “can-do” writing style that encourages success. Furthermore, his online website and tiling forums are an amazing resource and clearly demonstrate his willingness to make a major contribution to both professional and do-it-yourself tiling laying.

   Do yourself a favor, get this book and Michael Byrne’s “Setting Tile” before doing a thing. A 15-minute Home Depot “how-to” seminar can be a dangerous thing – get real useful info instead.

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