Mud showers/walls

[jonchicagoland]

For those of you who do a lot of mud walls - how do you handle the transition to 1/2" drywall in a remodel context? With the popularity of LFT, and paucity of useful trim pieces, this is one of the main things keeping me from doing mud walls on the regular.

I've managed to avoid the problem so far by limiting my mudwork to historic homes with lath and plaster walls, but would really like to do more.

[Just In Tile LLC]

Evening Jon, I prefer a bullnose trim that is ripped down to "cap" the edge of the tile. It sounds like it wouldn't look good but in my opinion it elevates the edge and looks more custom.

Another option is mitering the tile which is becoming more and more popular. It takes alot more time so you need to figure more for it.

[Davy]

I do a few things to keep my mud as thin as I can. First, I nail a thin strip of wood along the edge of the sheetrock using very small finish nails. The stick is about 1/8 thick. That stick buys me an eighth inch and it also keeps my straight edge from dragging against the painted wall or wall paper. I make sure my surface BN overhangs the sheetrock just a little to cover the nail holes. The stick makes for a grout joint behind the bullnose (at the sheetrock) which I don't really care for but is worth the benefits to me.

In the same picture as the niche and stick on the right side, I didn't scratch coat the lath between the niche and stick. This is solid 2x4's in that area so it doesn't need a scratch. The finish coat of mud will be about 5/8 thick there since the paper and lath are nailed to the studs.

I also nail my lath to the studs in a way that keeps the lath tight and not bulging out any past the face of the studs. Any thing I scratch is as thin as possible since I know my finish coat will be fairly thin.

[CaliGrown]

Justin & Davy have ya set straight away

I’ve always done like Justin with one-coats and have a jot out that gets a “mud cap” that’s scribe cut onto the imperfect drywall edge.

Lately, I have abandoned one-coats and prefer a scratch and brown, saves the assembly thickness. This usually makes for a finish where the tile edge terminates as if it was set straight onto solid backing. Check your wall for plumb and see where it falls so you can have an idea ahead of time. Before getting proficient with Scratch and Browns, I would do one-coats by recessing my solid backing flush to the studs and floating business as usual when thickness mattered. Pics attached, one coat let’s ya tile same day

Good luck Jon! If you’re on YouTube check out Calidad he’s a muddawg with some video skills

[jonchicagoland]

Thanks for your help guys. I have my eye on a scratch and brown for the next one, I'll definitely try these things.