Too late for tile shower shelf?

[AnitaS]

Excited to find this forum! I am tiling my bathroom and realized that I made some "irreversible" mistakes: I forgot to add the corner shower tile shelf but already tiled the walls with thin set totally dry. I don't feel like removing the newly done 12" X 24" size tiles. I am thinking maybe insert some metal or plastic support to the 1/8" grout line to support one side of the triangle shelf (using the same tile material for shelf), then drill a hole or two to do some kind of support on the other side of the wall so that the tile shelf can sit on it. I do not know what exactly to use for the support underneath, yet, but am just brain storming the idea now.

Another thing is that I was not diligent enough to clean up the thin set between the grout lines after tiling. Now I have some lines filled with thin set. How critical is it to remove the thin set before grout? Is it only for cosmetic purpose the removal?

I have also made another mistake that is irreversible: I forgot to install the wired floor heating system before tiling the floor. Don't I hate myself for all these mistakes?! Now that the grouts are not in, yet, I just don't feel like giving up to think of a workable solution for the shower shelf, at least! Next time if I do tiles again, I will pause, think and write reminders on the walls before going too far.

Thank you all!

[lou432]

Anita , welcome . Nice looking shower :-) and we all fail to remember things when "Things" get to overwhelming!
Yes try to get all the thinset outa the grout lines as best you can atleast an 1/8 inch valley but the more the better. I use a dull razor blade/utility knife or a large dental tool being carefull not to go deep enough to harm any surface waterproofing that may be on the backers and being careful not to chip the tile.

And yes the shelves can be put on after the tile goes on but be nice to know exactly what type of shelves your planning on before we guide you in that direction.

As far as the heat goes..... you are outa luck unless one of the others knows of a magical solution on getting the cables under the already
installed floor area.

Post a pic of the shelves if you can and we`ll point you in the right direction.

[Lazarus]

What he said. In addition, Innova makes what they call a "Better Bench" which can be added "after the fact," and may be your solution. The downside is that you DO need to attach it to the studs behind the wall. Not sure how you would find them, but a "Studfinder" (my wife want one of those...) might be useful to locate them. I don't have the link handy, but someone will be around to provide one, I'm sure.

[HooKooDoo Ku]

If you have a dremel tool, you can get a diamond dremal bit and it will make quick work of that thinset between the tiles (you just have to make sure you don't go too fast and start grinding away the tile).

[Richard Tunison]

As stated, you have to be very careful on the depth so as not to penetrate the surface waterproofing if that is what you used. How did you waterproof your shower?

[lou432]

Laz is thinking outa the box ! I hadn't thought of the small better bench
and I use the bigger ones all da time. And they come with screws and expanding wall fasteners when there aint a stud around to attach to. Although they are a bit more of a PITA they do work great.

[Lazarus]

Here Ya go......

http://www.contractorsdirect.com/Con...w/Better-Bench

Includes hollow wall anchors and wood screws.
When installing a Better Bench® over existing tile, we recommend purchasing a 3/8" Porcelain diamond Bit (to drill an anchor hole through tile) and a 3/8" masonry drill bit (available from your local hardware store) for drilling through the thinset and backer-board.

[Art of Stone]

Welcome Anita!

There are almost endless possibilities for the shelf itself and support for it.
To adhere to the existing tile, rather than penetrate what you have already installed, I would think latapoxy 310 spot on, would work just fine.

I would ask them first to see if grinding the surface to be covered is needed, but I don't "think" it will be necessary. I'd get confirmation on that though.

Here is a link to my product recommendation: http://www.laticrete.com/portals/0/p...%20SPOT-ON.pdf

[AnitaS]

Hey, I knew I came to the right place and ought to learn some new ideas that I never heard of. Will talk to my hubby to see what we do with that shelf. The "Better Bench" idea is nice, but should I worry about the drilling to the tile that will give water proof problem? latapoxy is some idea, too. We actually have ordered the glass shower door that comes with some glass shelves. I will see.

I should probably write down some lessons learnt notes to myself in case I have more bathroom tiling projects coming. I am DIFer, but did my 3rd bathroom tiling so far for home renovation. Love doing tile work, although I can see that I could be better had I followed some good professionals, like Lou432's posted tile work.

THANK YOU ALL!

[Kman]

Anita, how you mount that shelf will depend on what waterproofing system you used. Do you have plastic on the studs behind the cement board, or some type of surface-applied waterproofing?

The Better Bench BT-17 can be mounted without hitting the framing. For a shelf like that, it'll actually hold up pretty well since it won't really be holding up much weight. And you can tile over it to match the walls.

[AnitaS]

Kman, ahhh, I guess I made another mistake on water proofing the shower. We used half inch cement board, which was said to be water proof. My hubby decided to not use cover-all plastic behind the cement board. We did so for the master bath shower, not this one.

We rushed for this bathroom redo, planning to get it done by July 4th to receive guests.

By the way, cleaning out the thin set from the grout line is extreeeeemly hard. I gave up.

DIYers, learn my lesson. Clean the extra thin set from the grout line while you tile. You are doing yourself a big favor that way!

[digitalshooter]

I hope you checked with the manufacture of that cement board about water proof versus water resistance.

[Kman]

No cement board I'm familiar with that is waterproof. Could be Densshield or Wedi or something of that sort, but those aren't really cement boards.