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Notch and grout line sizes?

13 years ago

I am about to tile my small bathroom with tumbled Ming green marble tile on the floor and polished ming green and glass in the shower. The Marble is 12x12 and the glass is 4X12. What size notch trowel should I use? I will be putting a 4'X30" heated mat for the floor over the hardibacker with the tile over top of it and using a 1/8th sanded grout line.

In the shower the hardibacker is up, but I think I want to put Kerdi up for added protection. I am using a cast iron shower receptor that is an exact replacement for a standard tub. Would I use the same sized notch for the wall with the glass? The big box store guy suggested I use a 1/2 x 1/2" notch. I plan on doing a 1/16th unsanded grout line for the shower. Is that too small?

Do I need to seal before grouting?

I have Tec grout, ant comments on that?

Thanks for any help!

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Comments (4)

bill_vincent
13 years ago
Okay-- 1/4x3/8 notch is fine. As for the mat, you'll do well to bury it in self leveling compound, first (after using the appropriate primer). For installing the Kerdi, you want a 14x14 notch. 1/16" joint would be fie. In fact, I'd recommend it, and no, you should be fine to grout first and then seal.

One question-- how thick is the glass in relation to the stone?
barrybud
Original Author
13 years ago
Bill,
Thanks for the response. The glass tile is just a touch over a quarter inch and the marble is 3/8. SO I assume I need to build up the morter(white)behind the glass. Maybe by back buttering?
The plan is to run the 4x12 glass vertically in a brick pattern. The concept is this, for the bottom row of the back shower wall. The marble is 12x12. It would be marble - 3 of the glass tiles vertically (the middle one cut in half to start the brick pattern)- marble - 3 of the glass tiles - marble. That pattern is repeated 6 rows high. The 2 side walls are just marble.
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I really think it is personal preference and the look you are going for. I do not have subways in my kitchen, but did use them in my bathroom remodel for the shower. I really wanted to see the staggered pattern of the subway so we used spacers (can't remember size...maybe 1/4th or it may have been 1/8th? it was more then the nub width) and gray (oyster gray) grout. The grout line does look fairly large but I like it. Funny thing, on the opposite wall we used 6x6 tiles in a staggered pattern with the exact same spacers and the grout line looks smaller. Go figure? I do think in most kitchen backsplash applications people are going for a more clean simple look....white/light grout and small grout lines. I think if you are using white grout and white subways then why have a bigger grout line then what the nubs provide? But if you really have any doubt, do a test board with your tile and grout. That is the only way to know for sure...I did test boards for both my kitchen and bathroom and I am so glad I did.
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Regarding my questions about sealing, I contacted Linda Kennedy, National Sales Manager at linda.encore@mac.com. I didn't ask Linda about grout. I didn't have the knowledge to have a discussion with my tiler about sanded vs nonsanded grout & the size of the grout lines. GW provides a great education. I lucked out as my grout lines look great & I don't have any visible lippage. I'm sure you know this but be sure your tiler caulks, rather than grouts, where your tile meets your countertop. Also, not a bad idea to play around with your tiles & lay them out as you want them installed in case your tiler doesn't have an artistic eye regarding the color variation.
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I wouldnt go tighter than that, but to answer youre question you can do a few things. A. Call florida tile or refer to their spec sheets for reccomended layout/grout joint width ( they have good spec sheets) B. Measure a bunch of tiles from corner to corner (use the "Burn an inch" tape maeasure rule) and be very accurate. this will tell you how square the tiles are and if you can do a tight grout joint.if you find youre tiles are all within say a 1/32" square you times that number by three for a safe joint size. sometimes you can get away with 3/32" on large format. rarely. -best of luck
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bill_vincent
13 years ago
What I'd suggest is see if you can find a local showroom that might have some scrap Ditra laying around. If not, you can buy a small roll of it at Home Depot. It installs with thinset, you can prefill the waffles with thinset to give you a solid backing, and it'll give you exactly an extra 1/8" to bring the glass out just about exactly flush with the face of the marble.
bill_vincent
13 years ago
Matter of fact, you're going to see it here first-- I took this series of pics this past September for the "how-to section of my website's gallery. I still haven't gotten around to uploading them to my website yet, but here-- this should explain alot better what I'm saying:

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