My contractor INSISTS on grouting floor/wall shower joints
boymom
15 years ago
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boymom
15 years agopirula
15 years agoRelated Discussions
Shower Floor Puddles - See Pics and Read What Contractor Said
Comments (26)Love the look you have going, the combination of wood look and embossed metal is really great. It sounds like he sloped in the 'inverted pyramid' that Mongo mentions, but then laid the tile accross the corners that lead to the drain, instead of out from them. The floor should be sloped like an 'X', with the drain at the center, the arms running to the corners. Tiles in each section of the 'X' should be laid at a 90 degre angle to its immeadiate neighbors so that the majority of grout lines are funneling water into the X arms. I'm not sure the 'weep holes' issue has been properly addressed, not clear to me though maybe it is to Bill or Mongo. And even though I love the look, I'd worry that this is going to be one slick floor: not enough grout lines, a glazed surface, and a large format, low texture tiles. So, for saftey if not for drainage, I think it needs a do-over. I'd cut the tile into small pieces and try to do a layout like a parquet floor, with plenty of grout lines for grip....See MoreShower floor not grouted - What to do?
Comments (11)Jerry, Thanks for taking your time! Or, yes, they move too quickly there on the Kitchen forum. I cannot find my own posts! LOL. What is pre-slope? The shower floor looks perfectly sloped. That is the reason why my GC prefers this guy. He is very experienced and takes his time. He does a good job for most part, e.g., I cannot imagine a more perfect shower threshold (in the other bathroom). But then he does something very dumb that pretty much negates all other work. I am not even going to start on whatÂs wrong with the looks I am only worried about the functional things at this point. After getting your and BillÂs responses, I did call the guy yesterday and talked to him. Now he says he did grout it. He said he mixed the grout with an acrylic mix. Does it make sense to you? Last time, when I asked why the shower floor grout looked different, he said it was not grout, it was cement. My husband and I were both there and we both heard the same thing. That was the trouble with this guy: he always said two opposite things - often, within 2-3 minutes. Whatever it is, it is not the same grout as on the walls. It looks bad and it is not taking an enhancer (I tested a small area). Can an acrylic mix prevent colorant absorption? I donÂt want to spend $30 on the colorant and wait for 2 weeks to get it  just to figure out that it was not going to work to begin with. OT, to give you an example how hard it is here to get decent work done. I scheduled 3 floor guys for one Saturday (different times, of course) to give me an estimate for wood floor installation. We waited all day  and not even one showed up! We decided to go with stained concrete instead and the guy charged me twice what he charged a friend of mine just a month or two before. Well, his only competition was at least $1/sqft more and would not even remove the carpet. Do you think I was going to say ÂnoÂ? Consumers have no bargaining power here even when they are paying top bucks. Every time I needed a job done (most of them were small - till this remodel), I had to wait for my GC for 6-18 months. Do you want to move and work here?...See Morerectified tile and grout joints... am I asking too much?
Comments (42)I'm stunned at the ignorance displayed in this forum. I've been installing ceramic/stone/porcelain, as a private contractor for over 25 years (i.e. since there were only 4x4, nominal of course, tiles available on walls and only porcelain mosaics or kiln baked ceramics for floors. You know, the ones with the knobs on the bottom side. Think I know what I'm talking about? I am recognized as a superior installer in Bergen County NJ as evidenced by staying in business for over 25 years and never spent a nickel on advertising. I work 6 and sometimes 7 long days a week at a moderately competitive price all by word of mouth. Anyway, on the subject of rectified tiles and how wonderful Porcelanosa tiles are. I very recently installed 500 plus square feet of rectified tiles of which the dimensions were 26 inches by 17.5 inches. BTW no one in this forum has mentioned a tile of that size yet. The degree of difficulty is extreme at that size. I was also asked to space the tile BUTT, not even 1/16 inch joint over an extremely well poured and "flat" slab of concrete.The area to be tiled has a straight run of over 60 feet long by 9 feet wide in a printing factory. Even though I am a very careful and conscientious worker I was given a D minus on the job and was not paid. I might even get sued.The bottom line is, if the floor is PERFECTLY FLAT (which NO floor is : repeat NO floor)you will still get a degree of lippage, no matter how minimal it is. Which leads the the almighty question of how tolerant the homeowner or building owner is when they look at your job. People in this forum have used the word good job. No one has said great job. Job quality is in the eye of the beholder, but rest assured no one can EVER expect a perfect install, with rectified tile. Go to any Porcelanosa showroom or for that matter, anywhere in the continental United States and examine the sample installations for yourself. Learn what to expect before you get your hopes too high. Going from a 1/16 joint to a 1/8 joint will greatly increase your satisfaction. Don.t be fooled by someone who says he can do what YOU want to make him do. We are all trying to make a living. In ending I would love some feedback from anyone who claims to put in a perfect floor (rectified w/1/16 joint, and I am willing to travel anywhere to see this work....See MoreShower Floor Grout Remains Wet Looking
Comments (18)I am definitely not a pro, but if it is a large portion of the floor and staying wet for a week+, then I would say yes. To me that would indicate a good amount of water not draining and standing water with no place to go is never a good thing. Alternatively if it is that the ratio of water was incorrect when mixing the grout, then the grout will be weak and crack/crumble fairly quickly. As I mentioned in some of my comments from my original post, after 2 years with our contractor we gave up as they were useless, but our area at the end of the process was relatively small and it was clear they were not going to fix it. I would press hard for them to fix the problem, it really is the right thing to do. May require them to rip out the floor and pan, but a good contractor should accept that and you will be much happier....See Moreboymom
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