Does this look right?

[Robert Shelton]

Hi everyone,

I recently had my bath/shower redone, and it came out looking kind of strange to me. He put a border all the way around, and the border tiles were the only ones that were bullnosed, so I can see why he did that. He also used a 50% overlap on the long wall, but only a 25% overlap on the short walls, and I can see why he did that, too.

But to the left of the niche, there are three small pieces of tile in a row, which doesn't look right to me. I don't know how else he would have done it, but I wonder if others would have done it differently. I'm not too happy with the installation job anyway, especially the slope on the niche, which is so steep that everything falls out of it. So I know that some of it will need to be redone. But can you tell me whether this is a proper layout of tiles?

Thanks very much.

[cx]

Welcome back, Robert.

"Proper" layout is in the eye of the beholder. As the person writing the checks, your eye, or the eye of Mrs. Robert, are the governing ones.

Looks to me as though he may have been using up some scraps there, but........

Did you and the tile contractor have any layout discussion before the tiling started? Anything about pre-approval in your contract?

[Carbidetooth]

Big tiles pose some odd layout puzzles in small spaces.

Looks to me like he was following the same pattern every other course. Right by the books I suppose, although it this case perhaps could have been avoided with a drawing beforehand. In all honesty, had he put a single piece of tile there, you might wonder why the pattern didn't follow. A judgment call, I suppose.

I tend to put lots of pitch in niches...it's an obvious slope visually, but better than a pooling crud accumulator. It doesn't look all that bad from here. In a 2x4 stud bay niche, I'd shoot for 1/8" front to back. Technically, it would only require a touch less than 3/32", but when the shampoo and whatever else lives there, surface tension will hold water it until drys, leaving mineral deposits. I guess you pick your poison.

[Custom Builder]

"He also used a 50% overlap on the long wall, but only a 25% overlap on the short walls" That doesn't sound good.

I see why he did what he did in the pic, I would have went vertical or went straight lay with those large tiles in such a small space.

[Jaz]

Robert,

I don't know about the 50% or 25%, but the cuts to the left of the niche are correct cuz the pattern of the full tiles alternates. Looking back, if the pattern was started differently or if the niche was at a different level, you wouldn't have those two small cuts.

Jaz

[Davy]

In my opinion, every other row should be identical only if it's a 50% (half tile) stagger. He has a 25% stagger and has every other row identical. The joint should shift 6 inches (with 24 inch tiles) as you go up each row. Row one should line up with row 5, not every other row.

This is something that should have been discussed ahead of time. I would have started in the center of the back wall and wrapped my cuts in the corners with the stagger of their choice on all three walls.

[PC7060]

Robert, agree the layout looks peculiar. Almost believe he should have skipped the pattern on that one row and put a larger single piece in.

IMO, those large tiles are aesthetically challenging when installed in a offset pattern.


Is that Anatolia Pulpis Grey?

[jwmezzanotte]

Jaz has it right.

It's not wrong, it's just catching your attention wrong.
The full tile is there's, it's just cut through the niche

[Pirate]

Originally posted by jwmezzanotte:

It's not wrong, it's just catching your attention wrong.
The full tile is there's, it's just cut through the niche

That's really it. Unless you have other issues, I would call him back to lessen the slope of the niche, and maybe that would make you happy?

[Premier Designs]

Agreed, it's correct for the pattern ... buuut, I wouldn't change overlaps to fit tile.

That's where I'd have the issue. From the pic provided it looks good, but it is a picture, hard to tell sometimes. I like a little more slope in a alcove or niche also ...

[Robert Shelton]

I really appreciate all the replies. This was some side work that a commercial tiler did for me under the table. So I don't have a contract to hold him to, but on the other hand, at this point I'd rather pay someone else than have him come back for free. I've been a lifelong renter and this was my first house purchase, so I'm new to hiring contractors, and I've found that I'm about as good at hiring people as I am at doing the work myself. (Eventually I get it right, but I waste a lot of time and money along the way.)

Judging from the variety of replies here, I can see there's no easy answer to the problem, but as some have stated, I do wish we'd had a conversation about it. I understand how the layout is consistent and makes sense, but it doesn't hit my eye right.

As far as the niche, the back of the shelf is almost 1/4" higher than the front, and things are constantly falling out. It was a premade insert, and it already had a slope, so all he had to do was lay the tile flat. I guess he didn't notice that, so he added a slope to the slope.

And yes! Anatolia Pulpis Grey. I like it a lot. Except for one little diamond-shaped pattern that stands out a bit, so I notice every time it repeats... could it be that I'm just hard to please? (A known issue. No confirmations necessary.)

Thanks everyone! You've been a big help. I'm still not sure what I'll do, but I'll probably start by finding someone to fix the niche (and a couple of other things) and see if that person has any other ideas.

I can tell that you all love your craft.

[zeaflal]

As others have said, I think the field pattern (that can be seen) is completely consistent. I think the reason it looks disjoint is that the niche location/size/shape is not well coordinated with the tile pattern.

[PC7060]

Finally figured it out. To my eye, it's the smaller niche on top that is throwing off the look.

[Kman]

Is it the shelf or the lower part of the niche that's sloped too aggressively, or both? The lower part that is already sloped, yes the tile could be laid directly to it with no slope. But the shelf itself would have to be sloped by the installer. The sides of the niche which support the shelf would have to be cut at an angle so the shelf would be at the same angle.

I try to cut those with about 1/16" to 1/8" taper to get a good slope. Here's what I've found from having that in my own shower: Bottles, unless they're just about empty, will sit on the shelf with no problem. Soap and empty bottles tend to slide off when first set on the shelf. A film of water and soap gets underneath and gravity takes over. Not much you can do about except press down on the soap to make it stick.

Are you noticing the same thing or is it worse than that? I'll have to admit, 1/4" is more slope than I'd want.

[cpad007]

The niche being EXACTLY the same size as the tile is throwing this all off. Had the niche been placed a few inches higher or lower, it would have looked better.