My 3 Year Bathroom Remodel

[tillytiles]

I needed to pad out an existing tub wall by another 1/4" so as to avoid having to cut a tiny sliver of a tile. To pad out that wall, I installed another 1/4" Wedi panel over an already the existing 1/2" Wedi panel.

I smeared a bunch of Wedi sealant all over the existing 1/2" panel in areas between where the new panel fasteners went to get some extra adhesion between the two panels and then fastened the new panel as you would regularly.

Now, when I firmly push on both panels with my palm in areas centered between studs, I feel some flex/give from the new 1/4 panel - like it hadn't perfectly "fused" to the existing panel. It's nothing crazy, maybe like a 1/32" or even less in flex deflection, but it's there especially in areas farthest between the fasteners.

Is this something I should worry about enough to rip out both panels and install a single 3/4 inch panel or am I overthinking it?

Thanks.

[cx]

Welcome, Benjaminn.

I'm not sure just where or how you applied the Wedi sealant between your two panels, but I suspect what you did allowed for some gaps, albeit very thin ones, between the two panels, allowing the thin panel to flex.

Ceramic tile installations do not tolerate vertical (perpendicular to the tile surface) movement well at all. Even very slight movement, such as you describe. Without knowing the size and type of tiles you'll install, it's difficult to speculate just how much of a problem you've created, but if you can feel or see the movement, it's a problem.

My opinion; worth price charged.

[tillytiles]

Thank you very much!

I am installing 3x12 ceramic subway tile....laid out vertically in 1/3rd offset.

As much as I hate to have to do it, I may end up ripping it out, furring out the studs by a quarter inch and putting new 1/2" back on. This will get messy but that's what I get for not planning out the layout better ahead of time!

[cx]

I think that would be prudent as it will not require any more work for me at all. Nor extra expense.

[jadnashua]

When laminating things together, you need intimate contact. By using sealant between the two sheets, because the material isn't stiff enough on its own, just using the screws to attach things wasn't enough to make good contact by spreading the adhesive over the entire area, so you had gaps.

You'll run into the same issue if you try to use glue between two sheets of plywood unless you use something like TiteBond liquid wood glue, and spread it out like you would thinset before screwing things together. Using something like Liquid Nails won't cut it. It works on the top of a joist because you have a small area, and when you nail or screw it down, it will spread out...doesn't happen over a larger area...just not enough force per square inch over a wide area from the spacing on the fasteners.

[tillytiles]

I think I’ll end up adding a few pieces of blocking for some of the areas when furring things out. Wedi says to screw every 12 inches and that it’s okay to mount the 1/2” panel to 16” studs….which makes it kind of impossible to have a screw every 12” on center

[cx]

The 12" on center fastener spacing is along the framing members, Benjaminn. They don't anticipate your installing any fasteners between such members.

[tillytiles]

The 12" on center fastener spacing is along the framing members, Benjaminn. They don't anticipate your installing any fasteners between such members.

Thanks @cx

[tillytiles]

Do you foresee a problem with this future niche back panel being secured only to the drywall (liquid nails) that will go on the vanity side and then overlapped with the niche side panels? It is high enough where it will not be accidentally bumped from the vanity side.

The niche is 18x15. The tile that will go on the back niche panel is 3x12, mounted vertically. The top/bottom/sides of the niche will be laid out with 1/2 corian, sandwiching the back panel in.

Anything special I should do, or just liquid nail the back panel to the back of the drywall and then sandwich in the top/sides/bottom for more support?

Thank you!

[tillytiles]

Has anyone heard/used this product? Or know of another that has the same type of functionality?

I need to mount two hooks in a niche area that has no blocking to screw into, so this style would work perfectly. I don't want to use the "commando" style hooks but also don't have a framing member to drill into for a secure mount or a regular hook.

Thank you!

[RichVT]

I used a bunch of them on a job once at the customer's request. The grab bar had to be anchored directly to the framing but the others just slipped behind the tile.

I don't remember if I had to notch the tile for the stud but it looks like I did in the pictures.

[cx]

Benjaminn, it'll help if you'll keep all your project questions on one thread so folks can see what you're working on and what's been previously asked and answered. A moderator can give it a more generic title any time you'd like to suggest one.

I see no problem with your niche plan, so long as no one drives any fasteners into the wall on the opposite side.

My opinion; worth price charged.

[tillytiles]

Cliff Notes: normal horizontal subway layout gives you a full length horizontal line off of which you work for the whole first row. With this weird 1/4th offset I have going, there are 4 different horizontal lines I have to simultaneously keep track of and thus moving laser up and down with each tile for the same row. Was wondering what the proper way for this was.
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What's the best way to get the first row going while laying out vertical subway in 1/4th off-set, but not sequentially (see picture)

From what I read, I should layout all of the full pieces first, leave the 3", 9", 6" gaps, and then fill in.

I assume it's best to scribe out horizontal lines every 3" height and then just move the laser level up and down as I go along laying out the full tiles, lining up the laser with each line to get the proper height where the thinset will be covering the scribed lines?

1 - Just seems like a lot of moving laser up and down. Is there an easier way?
2- And, if I only lay out the full tiles first, what's the best way to prevent sag over the 3", 9", and 6" partial areas?

Thank you!

[tillytiles]

@cx - sounds good. Wasn’t sure of the proper etiquette. I suppose we can name this one “3yrs remodeling one bathroom = 3yrs of bathroom remodeling experience, right!?”

[jeffnc]

Well you can basically do a bunch of "ledgers", for example you could just prop the tiles up with nails and fill in the holes later with a sealant. But I don't know why you would. Just cut the partial tile pieces and install them at the bottom with spacers below for whatever grout gap you want to start with, and then just tile away. The nice thing about this is that as long as you get your measurements correct (and you can use wedge spacers if you need to adjust by micro amounts), and as long as your tiles are a consistent width, you don't need to laser you just tile up. Of course I'd still check it occasionally with the laser and you can make more micro adjustments with wedges if needed.