anyone do tile work

fishlessman

going with granite tiles, 2 inch square on 12 by sheets. any tricks for sticking them upsidedown on the ceiling of the shower.

Panhandle Smoker

Wear a hard hat in the shower. Really, I would recommend a Hardy backer board instead of going directly to the sheet rock and use a thin set(mortar) with a high bond. Your local tile store will be able to fix you up. I am re-modeling the last room in the house which is also a bathroom. I just finished the demo and ready to start putting it back together. What fun.

fishlessman

was going with plain cement board for the shower, is the backer board better. had been looking at the fiber cement board (looks like it may be the hardy type) for under the cork floor im putting in. is the hardy board as good as the cement board for the shower, its much lighter, looks easier to work with?

RRP

This summer we had 2.5 baths remodeled professionally and added a bunch of tile! In the wet areas the tile guru did all the under work himself using this:


In that 5 x 3 shower ONLY he installed 2 x 2" tiles in the ceiling rather than the 20 x 20" Italian tiles used on the walls due to their weight.


OTOH in Pat's bath using 11 x 17 glazed tiles he mounted those on the ceiling and said they would be fine.

RedBag

I’m curious about the maintenance of the tile. In my previous house I took tile out of the 2 full baths and replaced it with those fiberglass surround rigs. No question tile looks sooo much better but I had enough of cleaning the mold and mildew from the tile grout. The tile in that house was probably installed around 1988. Growing up one of my chores was cleaning the tile bathrooms, thus my distaste for cleaning the grout goes way back.
Has grout changed through the years so it no longer takes as much upkeep? Just curious for future projects as I would definitely go back to tile if I didn’t have to scrub it all the time.

RRP

our guy sealed all the grout with some product that he said would prevent mold for 20 years. By that time I probably won't be here or care about mold if it does start! :laugh:

fishlessman

brother did his a couple years back with an epoxy grout, his would show mold if it were going to happen i still have alot of questions to ask the tile shops, i want something smooth on the small granit squares wall and ceiling, and something with a sand base on the floor where im puting flat random shaped granite stones.

fishlessman

a light, havent given to much thought on that,i think i need it. hows the clear glass on the doors, hard to maintain cleanwise? doing this myself im going slow at it, asking every stupid question i can think of. your contractor did some nice work, nice clean lines

RRP

Without that light the tub would have been a tad dark and even dismal. The light makes the alcove pop out and the band of trim tile stand out. As for doors I decided to have them meant to religiously maintain them. Even though they have some treatment to make them shed water I use a squeegee after every shower and then towel dry them. It only adds about 4 minutes to my routine and I really like how they look. BTW I also applied Rain-X to Pat's doors since she seldom uses the shower and what may splash up beads well and runs off.

I hope you didn't take me wrong when I said the tile guru applied the Hardiebacker cement board himself. He didn't want the carpenters to do it as he said "I'll do it right and have it sealed so you'll never have a problem."

Little Steven

fishlessman,

Lot of it depends on your water. We are on a well and have an iron remover, softener and UV. Ours don't spot up at all. Least as far as I know

Steve

fishlessman

probably pass on the glass door then, or maybe add it down the road. dont want to be cleaning it all the time, curtian works for me, washer is next room over to clean it, yes i wash the 2 dollar shower curtian instead of replacing it and i get alot of grief for that for some reason :laugh: cant tell from the pic but it looks slightly gapped and taped maybe to hold more thinset for a seal or maybe silicned, taped, then thinset.

RRP

Mike,
you said you are open to ideas...I had the foresight to ask the carpenters to re-enforce the studs by the tub so I could add a grab bar or two at a later date and not have to worry/wonder where the hidden studs were and if they would hold without breaking the tile.

Note 2x12 staggered pieces between the studs:


Then covered and with 400 pound grab bar in place!

RedBag

My current house had a fiberglass surround shower with a glass door. After a year I removed the door and replaced it with a curtain. Change the liner once a month and good to go. Low maintenance is the way to go.
I added an overhead light in my shower. If you shave in the shower it’s a huge help.

fishlessman

thats a good idea for down the road. my house was once a plywood shallacked interior, all my inside walls go studs, then plywood, then plastic, then sheetrock or in this case cement or hardie board. its pretty rugged, can pretty much hang anything anywhere

RRP

down the road was my idea too and then I woke up one day and said "Ron, you're 65 - you've started down that road!" So the first grab bar is now a reality!

RRP

just make sure you use a ground fault electrical line!

fishlessman

:laugh: with my back problems ill be putting them in way sooner than that. been on ibprophen since last february just to be able to stand up some days. usually the sciatica doesnt act up this long and passes

Grandpas Grub

not hard at all. Use the proper backing/sheet rock. After I set the sheets I used some cardboard to make sure the spaces were uniform on the squares as the backing will allow for some shift.

I used 2" square on sheets some years ago on the floor. Looked really nice until a few years passed. Then it has horrible to keep clean. When I get around to it I will pull it all out and will only use the 2" squares only as side decoration and as sparingly as possible. Now I wish I would have done the shower with solid sheets for cleaning purposes.

GG

fishlessman

the granite i have is a light green,tanish creme, and a coppery brown speck, hopefully its the same color as mold :laugh: going with 1 inch diameter penny cork for the flooring, im hoping that the polyurethane coating just needs to be reaplied every so many years with minimum care, a revarnish coat shouldnt be too bad as its only a 6 x 7 foot room. already found a mistep with the shower water rough in, have to move one of the lines, good to find it before the wall goes up

Grandpas Grub

 
Remodeling is a love hate endeavor.

GG