Brian's Master bath remodel

[cx]

I dunno. Does your tile manufacturer indicate that the tile meets the A137.1 standards? If so, you'd know the maximum warpage allowed. If not, it is what it is. That's how's come I posted that part about the standard in bold, don'tcha know.

My opinion; worth price charged.

[Bdobz]

Due to holidays, trips and work this project has been super sssslllllooooowwww.
Anyways I am back at it.

Quick layout question.....

I am in the process of working out a storyboard design for my master bath project back wall layout.

My space is 72" 60" shower pan with a 12" bench built into the alcove. Minus an inch of backerboard my width is 71".

Leaving the standard 1/8th in from each side wall and 1/8th inch grout I come up 1/4" short of perfectly fitting with no cuts which causes a problem. Obviously I would rather be a little over to have the ability to trim each edge piece.
Had me thinking if I increase the side gaps to 1/4(where back wall meets side walls) I am spot on with sizing. Figure the large gap would not be visible since the two side walls will go in after and the tile I am using is 3/8th's thick plus the thinset.
Am I correct that this would be a solution, or am I missing something?

Thanks,
Brian

[cx]

If I understand the situation, Brian, no, you're not missing anything. If you leave a larger gap between tiles on the back wall and the end walls that will be covered by the edge of the tiles on the end walls, that would be acceptable. The actual problem you would encounter would be come time to apply flexible sealant to the vertical gap between the back wall and end wall tiles. You would have a hole there that did not at all lend itself to making a proper profile with your sealant. It's a very common problem even when there is not a large void in that corner and the most common result, I'm quite sure, is that the void gets mostly filled with the sealant and the sealant does not really provide the movement accommodation that it is designed for. But it probably works, anyway.

If you wanted to leave only your initially planned 1/8th" gap between back wall tiles and end walls, you could simply cheat your grout joints on that wall by just a tiny bit and make the layout fit perfectly. It's done on a regular basis to make layouts fit in many different applications. For someone who is doing as much planning as you seem to be doing, it wouldn't be a difficult task at all.

My opinion; worth price charged.

[Bdobz]

Excellent, thanks for the reply!
Appreciate the other option to "cheat" the grout lines. I wonder if I filed the gap with silicone before I put up the side wall tiles would be a sufficient backer for the final silicone sealing. Not actually sure if you can apply silicone over silicone? Maybe backer rod would be an option too....

[cx]

Fresh silicone will not adhere to cured silicone. But, depending upon just how your joint ends up, you would not want your new silicone to stick to the old, anyway. The old silicone would be acting more like a backer rod, but the geometry of the joint might be such that you have no tile on one side for your new silicone to adhere to.

Below is a drawing of the perfect joint that you'd usually be trying to duplicate. That's the type of joint that would be tested to determine the characteristics of the particular sealant in the laboratory. In my experience it's pretty rare to achieve such a joint in actual practice, but it's what you're striving for.



My opinion; worth price charged.

[Bdobz]

Ok, so I am finally getting close finishing off prep and get to tiling the walls.
Just some tape/mud a little waterproofing and I am good to go.

I will be laying 12x24 Porcelain tile in a vertical fashon.

I can tell already I will need four tiles cut with large U cuts. One on either side of the window and same for Niche.

I have seen where you score your line in the center of the tile, then use your wet say to cut the two lines from the edge then snap off the piece.

My score cutter from my previous project is only good for up to 20" tile, so I am wondering how I am going to accomplish these cuts.
I could try my angle grinder but I am afraid that will not result in satisfactory results.

Any ideas?

[cx]

Does your wet saw have a plunge feature, Brian?

[Bdobz]

Unfortunately it is a fixed blade with a sliding table. So no....

[Bdobz]

Well, I guess I will practice with my grinder when the time comes ans see how well I can do.

Another thing regarding accent tile strip.

My accent tile is same thickness (3/8th's) as my field tile.
But....the field tiles are 12x24 and will need a 1/2" trowel.
The marble pebbles will be a huge mess if I used that much thinset.

On my other bathroom I used a small strip and modified a plastic trowel to screed the thinset.

This method won't be easy with the full 12 inch mosaics running vertially up the wall.

I have read here about affixing Kerdi or other membranes to the tiles so no worry about thinset squishing thru all the gaps.

Can I use my go to thinset, CBP Prolite if I decide to affix some Kerdi to the back of the mosaics and then attach to the wall with a small v notch?

I am assuming that using a small v notch trowel on the accent and 1/2x1/2 on the field tile would result in the two being not even?

[Bdobz]

Anyone have experience with using a sheet membrane as per my above question?

[cx]

Brian, that's only gonna be effective if your accent tiles are thinner than your field tiles.

If you think you really need a 1/2" square notched trowel to set those field tiles, I'd recommend you use the same trowel in the accent area, but knock down the ridges before setting the accent mosaics. Still requires finesse to get the necessary coverage on the back of the tiles while keeping the mortar from squeezing out of the grout joints, but it'll help.

My opinion; worth price charged.

[Bdobz]

Isn't 1/2x1/2 pretty standard for 12x24 tiles?
My thinking was that the amount of thin set from the large trowel would makeup for the thickness of the Kerdi.

[Bdobz]

Ok, so I am 1/4 inch away from being able to fit that 5th tile in.
I could either cut 1/4" off up to the bench top, but then I am getting really tight in the corner on the sixth tile and would possibly need to cut that one down a smidge too.
Wondering if I just cut the 1/4" off the whole tile and the same for the rest going up the wall if that would be noticeable from the other tiles that are 11.5 inches wide.

The piece of Travertine is just there as a placeholder for my accent.

[cx]

A quarter-inch difference in width would not likely be very noticeable in your tile field, but if your cut edge is different from the factory edge, that may be very noticeable. I'd make the cuts at the end of the wall if at all possible.

My opinion; worth price charged.

[Bdobz]

Thanks CX, I was able to notch the single tile and all fit without any additional cuts