Tiling a bathroom

[branimal]

I've got a few questions on setting tile around a bathroom. Just want to make sure I'm thinking about things right.

I'm using 4x12x5/16 subway tile. Manufacturer recommends 1/16" grout line.

My plan is to run a ledger board around the room to keep my tiles level. I also have a laser to keep the line as I work. My ledger board is MDF casing with some duct tape or blue tape wrapped around the top edge. That should prevent thinset from grabbing onto it. @ $4 / 7feet it was the straightest thing i could find. Picked up enough for the entire perimeter.

Top of ledger board is set at finished floor +silicone + 1 row of tile + 1 grout line.

Wall Startpoint:
If I start around the lip of the bathtub and then work my way to the floor (finished floor calculated), I'm left with a 7/16" tall piece of tile as my bottom row tile. Pretty ugly.

If I start from the ledger board, then to keep my level line, I need to cut 7/16" off the row of tiles around the tub. This sounds like a better plan.

I found the low point on the floor. I think that's where I should set my ledger board to. Is that correct???

Finish a wall or a row at a time
Should I aim to complete a wall at a time? Or work my way around the room. If I work around the room, I think I have a better shot at keeping the level line around the room.


Outside corner problem
I'm using schluter profiles to cap my top rows of tile. I'm also going to use a profile for the outside corner pictured. The shower wall's tile is going to 96" high but the other walls tile is only going to 44". How do I handle that outside corner. An outside corner's profile is designed to accept tiles from 2 directions at 90* degrees to one another. For this corner, this will work up to 44" and beyond that the outside corner doesn't work.

I was thinking maybe use 2 vertical profiles on that corner. One running to 96". The other to 44".

Is there an elegant solution?

1/16" grout line
Is this really possible? The tiles actually have built in nubs to create the grout line. 1/16" seems like no room for error.

 

[yeldogt]

You have to treat the outside corner as the start -- if you want to use standard tile and not a bull nose. It must be a straight perfect corner. dies into the inside corner joint.

I'm a little confused ... so the wall is only tiled to the black line?

Are you doing doors or curtain ? Normally the shower wall ends after the door or curtain -- not to the corner.

Recommend grout line is just a-guide ... You can go larger ... you have to fudge a bit to make things work -- you don't want tiny tiles. It's all in the layout -- sometimes you have to adjust the room for the tile ... you are past that.

long tiles must be straight and level

 

[branimal]

You have to treat the outside corner as the start -- if you want to use standard tile and not a bull nose. It must be a straight perfect corner. dies into the inside corner joint.

I'm a little confused ... so the wall is only tiled to the black line?

Are you doing doors or curtain ? Normally the shower wall ends after the door or curtain -- not to the corner.

Recommend grout line is just a-guide ... You can go larger ... you have to fudge a bit to make things work -- you don't want tiny tiles. It's all in the layout -- sometimes you have to adjust the room for the tile ... you are past that.

long tiles must be straight and level

I'm doing curtains - so you're right I could end the high tile line on the bathtub wall. Then I could miter schluter profiles and connect them fairly seamlessly.

The wall will be tiled up to the black line. Updated pic below.

Yeah I'm working on my layout to avoid small tiles.


Thanks

 

[TRWham]

Don't miter Schiene strips- bend the corners or use Schluter's corners. If you miter you end up with very sharp corners that cannot be filed without damaging the finish.

ETA: I will add that Schluter has many, many deco profiles beyond Schiene that most people never consider so are hard to find in stock. They promise 3 day shipping under normal circumstances, but I cannot say what the level of service is at the moment.

With tile what looks right is right. Enough of your house is out of square/level/plumb to prevent perfection so you need to split the difference in many cases.

 

[yeldogt]

When the tub/shower area has a ceiling the same as the bath you can stop the tile short of the ceiling joint ... sort of a tile equivalent of a builtin fiberglass unit. But you need the bullnose and the corners. the way you black line goes into the shower area is too low

The only way to to the outside corners without an outside corner tile is if the tiles have soft edges -- the corner is a joint. It's hard to pull off with staggered joints. The only other way is to use another corner type -- metal pencil .. even a plaster bull nose corners were used in NYC for non wet areas.

 

[branimal]

Don't miter Schiene strips- bend the corners or use Schluter's corners. If you miter you end up with very sharp corners that cannot be filed without damaging the finish.

ETA: I will add that Schluter has many, many deco profiles beyond Schiene that most people never consider so are hard to find in stock. They promise 3 day shipping under normal circumstances, but I cannot say what the level of service is at the moment.

With tile what looks right is right. Enough of your house is out of square/level/plumb to prevent perfection so you need to split the difference in many cases.

Are schluter strips miterable with a hack saw and a miterbox? What do you mean by bend the corners? to wrap around an inside or outside corner? How would I do that?

The schluter corners are darn expensive. I might have to buy a few though.

Looking to get the Quadec 5/16 profile. My tile is 5/16 so it should work well.

Thanks.

 

[branimal]

When the tub/shower area has a ceiling the same as the bath you can stop the tile short of the ceiling joint ... sort of a tile equivalent of a builtin fiberglass unit. But you need the bullnose and the corners. the way you black line goes into the shower area is too low

The only way to to the outside corners without an outside corner tile is if the tiles have soft edges -- the corner is a joint. It's hard to pull off with staggered joints. The only other way is to use another corner type -- metal pencil .. even a plaster bull nose corners were used in NYC for non wet areas.

The black line was drawn that way b/c i couldn't get a wide angle picture of the tub area. My plan is to go up to 8' with the tile in the shower area and cap it with a schluter profile.

I'll look into using metal pencils for the outside corner. Or just use a vertical schluter profile a few inches shy of the outside corner as you previously suggested.

Thanks

 

[Justin James]

Only referencing the Schluter products. I'm in the middle of a bathroom remodel and had placed an order directly with Schluter for profiles and corners. Got a call the next morning from Schluter telling me their shipping dept. is currently closed, nothing going out. If you can find it in stock somewhere you should be good to go, if not good luck. Lowes and HD seem to only stock the ⅜" size, a tile shop may be a better bet. The profiles can be cut on a mitre saw, I prefer to use the corners for a somewhat softer look.

 

[TRWham]

Are schluter strips miterable with a hack saw and a miterbox? What do you mean by bend the corners? to wrap around an inside or outside corner? How would I do that?

The schluter corners are darn expensive. I might have to buy a few though.

Looking to get the Quadec 5/16 profile. My tile is 5/16 so it should work well.

Thanks.

You can wrap around the outside corners. In their training, Schluter teaches us to cut the bracing and bend the corners. Inside corners can be mitered, but carefully. If you are planning to run Schiene strips around the top of the tile around some of those corners, I think you would have to miter, and that will result in some very sharp edges. You really need to avoid that. Good tile is not cheap. The last tile I did in my house, we spent as much on accent and bullnose as we did on field tile. I love Schluter, but mostly for Kerdi and Ditra. Schiene and the other profiles cannot solve all your problems.

 

[yeldogt]

You can do things with stone and solid color porcelain tiles that's just not possible with ceramic and other coated tiles.

Again -- a question of final result needed and required.

The best tile jobs require consultation and planing with the tile setter. Here is my space/ I would like to use this group of tile/ What problems do you see? The best jobs are still full wet beds. The process has not changed all that much in 100+ years. But, obviously this is expensive and sometimes even hard to find the people.

So you make compromises based on the job need and conditions. The Schluter and all the other systems -- they are work arounds. That's not a bad thing as long as you know and understand what you end up with. The metal edge is not very attractive ..

As mentioned above -- the detail tile of any line can easily cost more vs all the field tiles in a job ... but, that what makes for a good tile job.

Is there a reason you are doing the wall ? How are you caping that ? Pedestal sink?

Cheap tile is a bear to work with and it's hard to get clean edges ...

 

[branimal]

@TRWham - I watched some videos on bending the profiles. Good tip.

@Justin James - Schluter is still not shipping due to Covid-19. They recommend you contact an authorized reseller. If you can find an authorized reseller that's open, seems to me their prices are higher than Schluter's MSRP. By a bit. And yes HD just has 3/8 profiles in stock. I went to the TileShop. They have Dural profiles in stock. I'm going to pick up a few today. If I don't end up using some I can return it within 90 days.

@yeldogt - I found matching bullnose for my field tile. I'm going to see if that provides a more elegant solution to my corner problems than metal profiles. I kind of like the metal accent.

What do you mean by full wet beds? Is that what was used before dry-pack showers beds?

I'm tiling around the non-tub walls b/c it looks classier when compared to just paint - not sure if that's what you're asking. My plan is to cap with either bullnose or metal profiles. Sink will be a 32" drawer cabinet and sink.

 

[yeldogt]

@TRWham - I watched some videos on bending the profiles. Good tip.

@Justin James - Schluter is still not shipping due to Covid-19. They recommend you contact an authorized reseller. If you can find an authorized reseller that's open, seems to me their prices are higher than Schluter's MSRP. By a bit. And yes HD just has 3/8 profiles in stock. I went to the TileShop. They have Dural profiles in stock. I'm going to pick up a few today. If I don't end up using some I can return it within 90 days.

@yeldogt - I found matching bullnose for my field tile. I'm going to see if that provides a more elegant solution to my corner problems than metal profiles. I kind of like the metal accent.

What do you mean by full wet beds? Is that what was used before dry-pack showers beds?

I'm tiling around the non-tub walls b/c it looks classier when compared to just paint - not sure if that's what you're asking. My plan is to cap with either bullnose or metal profiles. Sink will be a 32" drawer cabinet and sink.

A wet bed is typically not as "wet" as typical concrete ... but's it's not Gypcrete. I'm not a fan of the metal ... but, that's me.

I was just trying to figure out how and why you were doing the tile around the room at that height -- maybe it just looks low in the picture?

 

[branimal]

I was just trying to figure out how and why you were doing the tile around the room at that height -- maybe it just looks low in the picture?

ha- its low in the picture b/c I couldn't get a wider angle picture to illustrate it properly with my crappy phone.

The bathtub tile height will be 96", outside the wet area it will be 45" or so.