Speed Bump - First time tiling

[clumcw]

Unfortunately, I wish I would've read the advice on this board. I would've applied the tile while filling the joints...

Taking the Hardibacker instructions literally, I applied thinset to the joints with the specified mesh tape. I knew I would have a bit of a speed bump in the joint. But, I thought it wouldn't be enough to cause a problem. However, my concern now is that the bump is too high. From reading other posts, it seems the adhesive can be about a 1/4" thick which would even out the transition. Should I scrape it down or will the adhesive even things out?

[tracy d]

Just how much of a "bump" do you have?

[Dave Taylor]

and welcome to Tile Your World forums.

Did you cover your Hardi seams with alkali resistant tape before thinsetting them?

It can be difficult for new tilers to tape and fill Hardi seams and (at the same time) set tiles with precision.... so I don't often recommend it to first time DIY's.

Get yourself a "Carbide Rub Brick" from any big box store (usually near the cement supplies) for about $20.... and use it to smooth the speed bumps down a bit.

The rub brick works quickly and leaves a much smoother surface.

Hope this helps.

[clumcw]

Yes. I used the mesh cement board tape in the joints. I used what was recommended at Lowes. I don't remember if the packaging stated it was alkali resistant tape. Thank you for mentioning the brick. I had seen that mentioned in another post but I couldn't remember the details. I wondered if that might do the job. The speed bumps aren't that high - less than an 1/8".

[ceramictec]

what type of tile are you using ?
if its a larger tile like a 16x16 or bigger you will use a 1/2" trowel
and the small hump wont be a factor.

[clumcw]

i'm using 6x6 ceramic wall tiles. i got the rub brick today. i'm interested to see how that works out. thank you for the info.