I read that to install the glass tile on shower floor in a mud and lathe shower, bed has to cure a week but my tile guy says no?

That's the first I've heard of that. Additionally, it doesn't matter whether your shower is mudset or thinset-- the floor is always mudset. That said, I have to say I question the wisdom of using glass tile on a shower floor. I might be wrong, but it would seem to me that it would be a pretty slippery floor.

Thanks for your reply Bill. The glass is textured and very small (1" X 2") so I was told that the grout would prevent slips along with the texture and the mfg said it was okay for shower floors.

So, it isn't true that the bed has to "cure" for a week? That's a big relief! I thought that it had to "settle" so the glass won't crack.

What grout do you think I should pick? This is driving me insane!

Would you pick?
A: tiny grout lines on shower walls and unsanded white grout with the silver spectralock for the shower and bathroom floor?

B: Larger grout lines to use the silver gray spectralock all over the walls and shower floor and bath floor?

C: All white or something else?

Is there somewhere else that I can read and educate myself more about grout other than John Bridge? I've read every post there as well and some love love Spectalock which is why I wanted to use it but there reallly isn't a "sure fire" way to pick what kind, brand and color. If I leave it up to the tile guy, he will just use whatever is in is truck! The people at the tile stores were surprised that I even asked about grout but after seeing all the pictures here, I know what a big decision it can be.

Thanks so much. I really love your work and how you help us all so much on this board!

Actually, there is. Go to the bathrooms gallery, and you'll see a tile FAQ thread. There's alot in there about the grouts you can use, from the first post to the last, and it would answer many of your questions.

I can't find that specific FAQ on grout but searched the whole forum on "grout" and found tons of posts and still can't decide.

What is your advice? I figured from your past posts to go with Mapei or Laticrete unsanded for the shower walls and do the tight joint lines that are possible with this tile. Can you get the mold/mildew preventer in with the unsanded?

How light of a gray can I go and still get the benefit of not having dirty looking white grout? What about the silver color? Do either mfgs. have a color you'd recommend?

The shower floor joints are larger, so can one get sanded and unsanded grout to match colors? Forget the epoxy on the shower floor? (This seems a wise choice since my tile guy hasn't used it before and I don't want to be his test case on my beautiful glass?) Use sanded with an additive?

Should I do the white bathroom floor unsanded in gray too?

Thanks so much for your opinions or ideas. I have been working on this bathroom since June and have made a ton of mistakes so hopefully I am on the home stretch and this is the last decision I have to make!

As to "what people say" you can or can;t use, white versus gray...the heck with "people."

This is your shower.

As to glass on the floor, it can be done, it has been done. But Bill brings up a good point regarding traction. And as you noted, the more grout lines, the better traction.

With epoxy grouts, do be careful of two things...one is to not use epoxy in the floor-wall or wall-wall corners. Epoxy is strong enough to where if you get any flexing at the corners, the tile can break instead of the grout joint flexing. Caulk those areas.

As to color transitions from floor to wall, yes, you;re using different tiles on the floor and walls, so different colored grout (white versus gray versus silver) would work fine.

You're already aware that epoxies can yellow over time, it's most apparent in white epoxies.

My opinion here, but epoxy grouts are typically overkill for residential showers. I can see your desire for it on your floor with all that grout. However, you can feel comfortable keeping cement-based grout on the walls so you can go with the tighter joints.

White grout can look stark. I think a gray or silver grout almost always looks nicer.

Do also be aware that should you try to match your epoxy floor grout with your non-epoxy wall grout, even if they are the same color from the same manufacturer, the colors may not be a perfect match.

Close, but not perfect.

Mongo

Thanks Mongo, I spent a long time today at the tile store looking at all the grouts and decided only this so far: set the wall tiles tight with unsanded grout.

But I am having a terrible time with picking the type/color for the floor in the shower and the bathroom. I looked at Mapei, Custom and Laticrete (sp?) grays and none look right. Many almost looked purple or blue not silver at all or else they look way to dark against the rest of the floor.

The tile store had bunches of people helping me, all women, luckily they were not busy and the general consensus was to pick Customs Snow White for both the silver glass shower floor and the bath floor and the avalance on the walls. Next to the Avalanche the Snow White did look "a little" gray but isn't that still too white for a shower floor that I paid almost $600 for silver glass so I wouldn't have a white floor in the shower!? Ack! Said to do the walls in Mapei "Avalanche" and the lines would disappear because the color was almost dead on and the lines will be tiny.

I left there and went to another store and they only carried Customs and the 2 men/owners there said right away-wall tile-bright white, bath floor-snow white and shower floor Platinum. Told me to set the wall AND the floor tile tight-unsanded on the floor and wall both. It took them about 30 seconds but neither store would let me bring home the little sticks so I still don't know what to do.

None of them recommended any epoxy (not Spectralock or Opticolor) once they heard my tile guy hadn't done it. Said I did NOT want to be his test case for a glass shower floor. The second store said Customs "polyblend" grout already has mold and mildew inhibitors but will have to be sealed yearly unlike the spectralock. Geez, this is 2008, can't they just put the sealer in the grout already-lol.

Please give me your advice! Thanks so much.

(I swear this whole bathroom is giving me an ulcer! In CA, so had the hotmop done and while it didn't leak, now it won't drain because of a big puddle lower than the drain's weep holes-ack. Just had the drywall guy finish up and the painter came and did primer and all the tile is here and ready to go but now this-grrrr. Hopefully the hot mop guy will just come out and do more on that lower part but still, another hold up.)

As to the pan and sealing the floor grout, if your pan isn;t draining, get that fixed.

The worst thing you can have in a shower is a pan that holds water. That'll turn your pan into a festering pool and after a few months it won't matter what color grout you chose, as it'll be a not-so-lovely gray/green shade.

With a properly pitched pan (1/4" to 1/2" slope per foot) that will lead to a well-draining floor, you won't need to seal your grout. For what it's worth, I have never sealed the grout in my own bathrooms.

Mongo

Thanks so much Mongo! The hot mop guy refused to come back unless we paid him the original amount again! So the tile guy brought in a bucket of "cold mop"-looks the exact same-and has been building up the low spots over a few days. Tomorrow I will be able to retest it BUT he said the drain was full of construction debris-chunks of cement, tile and even a giant bolt and we can't get it out. The GC put in a new drain and we are shocked he didn't see and repair this problem.

Is my only option to have someone crawl underneath and cut the drain and replace it? What a nightmare, the crawl is only about 18" not including the areas where the vents and pipes make it even harder to fit under.

The tile guy put in all the paper and metal lathe yesterday but geez, what is the point if the shower will never drain-ACK!

Still he wants to do the Spectralock on both the shower and bathroom floor so what color gray should I pick? He said he was only joking and has used it many times=ugh-no time for jokes as I now have to go back to the store and look at the laticrete strips again, He still wants me to do white on the bath floor, not gray but I still think both floors should "match" abnd the white will turn yellow? What color gray spectalock would look good with white tiles?

Now I am in a panic! The "cold" mop didn't work, not enough to build up and the pan still won't drain. The puddle is about 8-10" acrss and 4" the other way and now it is 1/2" deep. It never even evaporated.

What is my option at this point-tear it out? The tile guy doesn't care and wants to forge ahead but I KNOW this can't be right. Will the lathe have to come down too or can it be worked around? Help!

Just following up on my own post in case someone else searches needing help on the same problems. The original hot mop guy came back and redid the shower pan. He was not at all happy but it was obvious that it had to be fixed. Thank goodness for this forum and john bridge or I would not have known what to look for "after" the water testing to be sure that it drained.

Also, the mud DOES have to cure for 7 days before installing the glass tile. I finally got the directions from the mfg of the glass and they have a lot of specific directions including brands of thinset as well as grout. Also since my shower is mud and lathe construction, the tile guy had to float the mud stripe for the thinner accent glass and let that cure for a week too. In any event, all my shopping for grout colors was wasted so now I have to do that again! Wouldn't you know they recommend Prism Sure Color and the old posts give me shudders that people had so much trouble-hope it is all fixed now. Good thing I finally got the directions though, Spectralock would have been a big mistake, maybe even cracked the glass according to the mfg. (Wouldn't you think the tile guy should have checked or at least asked at the store?)

When I do the other bathrooms, I will know to get the mfg directions for all tile before I make up my mind and place the order! There is a lot to know other than just picking something you think looks good when you find out the specific details of all the installation instructions.

In any case, other than fighting about the granite bench going in against the wall tile instead of under, the wall tile is mostly up and I love it. It is so pretty, I really could have done away with the glass accents and saved myself a big bundle of money. The glass is silver and doesn't even sparkle like I expected.

The granite curb is in and it looks beautiful, black galaxy that sparkles and sparkles even with just one light in so far. I think the granite, more than the glass, makes the room just using it on the bench, vanity, curb and a tiny windowsill to pull it all together. Hopefully, soon, I will be posting my finished bathroom....