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Calling Tile Experts

15 years ago

Tile experts, can you give me some advice? In my new shower I am planning a bench to be built out and tiled, running the width of the shower (about 40"). The girl at the tile store told me that I could use my AO greenwich village subway tiles on the top and front of the bench, but my contractor said no- I need to use my shower floor tile on the top of the bench (which I really don't want to do). What do you think?

Also, my contractor said I needed to use some stone rather than tile for my shower curb. Thoughts?

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Comments (5)

kgwlisa
15 years ago
It shouldn't matter what kind of tile you use as long as the bench is properly constructed and waterproofed.
acountryfarm
15 years ago
Not a tile expert but we have subway tile in our surround and used that on all the benches and soap dishes. Also used the subway for curb. As far as I know (read & research) you can do so as long as it is prepped right.
Our tile guy used metal lathe (sp), and then floated with thick mud, so you then get a nice solid curb. Then put on the subway.
I am not positive but I believe you can also put backer board on curb as well, then tile.
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While the tile may be water proof (as in stops all water movement and is not damaged) the grout joints between the tiles will wick moisture while not being damaged Cement board is 'waterproof' only to the extent (like grout) it is not damaged by water. It still wicks water very nicely, and starts to rot the faces of the studs it is attached to. You still need a water barrier. I prefer membranes over ANY field applied barrier. you are at the mercy of the person painting on a field barrier to leave a correct thickness film and not have any 'skips' or thin spots. You want a moisture barrier, NOT just a vapor barrier. It is capillary action between objects, not water vapor that is the problem. Moisture barriers are ALSO usually vapor barriers, but not the other way around.
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Hi Nancy-- He did what's called "spotting" the tile. IOW, instead of spreading the wall and just slapping the tile up, he just put spots of thinset on the back of the tiles. The thing that gets me is this is usually used to make sure all the tiles sit nice and flat to each other and the finished wall stays nice and plumb, in spite of what the subsurface of the wall may be doing. Just about any time I set marble on vertical surfaces, I'll "spot" them. A backsplash, though-- I don't think I'd waste the time. For that small a space, it's usually not necessary. One way or the other, so long as he gets it flat, I wouldn't worry about it. You might ask him to fill in any empty corners you can see, but beyond that, don't worry about it.
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I have a very similar problem. I was really good at measuring the cabinet placement and had plans that in theory were perfect. All of a sudden things didn't quite fit the way they were supposed to....part of the problem being that the Craigs List cabs that I saw out of their boxes and brown butcher paper were perfect. I assumed those cabs that were still wrapped were the same. Nope. So we had to switch a few cabinets and in doing so a couple cabinets ended up being larger than the plan. Enter: Switchplates in places that tile shouldn't go. I think by the time we came to that part, I was soooo tired of the whole thing I said "Leave it! Don't worry about it! Who's gonna notice!?!" And honestly, nobody notices until I point it out to them. But again, honestly, now that it's all put together, it does bother me.... a LOT. I haven't been any help but just wanted you to know that there are so many of us out there who have run into the same situation.
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plants4
15 years ago
OK, so what makes something officially "shower floor tile" (and am I about to learn something I don't want to know??!!)? I've picked out something that's not slippery....
bill_vincent
15 years ago
OK, so what makes something officially "shower floor tile"

Anything that's got a little bit of a texture to it, and is 4" or less.

The girl at the tile store told me that I could use my AO greenwich village subway tiles on the top and front of the bench, but my contractor said no- I need to use my shower floor tile on the top of the bench (which I really don't want to do). What do you think?

Your contractor doesn't know what he's talking about. The subway tiles will work fine, even on top of the bench.

Also, my contractor said I needed to use some stone rather than tile for my shower curb. Thoughts?

Okay-- I somewhat agree with him on this. It's not necessary-- you CAN use tile, but especially if you're getting a glass enclosure, the use of a marble threshold will give your glass guy a much better surface to work with. I won't tell my customers they HAVE to use the threshold curb top, but I will recommend it.

Concerning the bench, though, Lisa just gave you about the best advice anyone could, with respect to proper construction and WATERPROOFING. Get past that, and the rest is a cake walk.
spincrazy25
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks all! I won't have a glass enclosure, if that makes much of a difference.

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