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Bill V or Tile Guru...? about tile down to the counter

14 years ago

We are in the home stretch with our reno and the tile guy is coming tomorrow to begin installing our BS which will go all the way down to the SS counter. He recommended using grout between the counter and the tile, but I had always heard that caulk was a better choice because it tended to adhere better to the counter top and had a little more give in it over time. Does anyone know if this is true? He said that the grout color is often different than caulk colors, which I agree with, but my BS tile is white and I think white caulk will look fine....any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Kat :)

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Comments (10)

bill_vincent
14 years ago
but I had always heard that caulk was a better choice

Wrong. It's the ONLY choice, due to the movement between the two surfaces.
lesmis
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks so much Bill, that is exactly what my husband and I had been told. Glad we remembered it and that you confirmed it! Is there a particular type of caulk to use? Silicone?

Kat :)
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From a technical standpoint, my feeling is if it's new construction and it's pretty much just framed, get rid of the window. It'll save you and future owners alot of headaches down the road. If you MUST have the window, though, your best bet would be a fixed window (doesn't open and close), preferrably vinyl, but if it's wood, that's fine, so long as you use a marine paint like Interlux. It's pricey-- last time I checked, something like 150.00 a gallon-- but it'll halp in making your tub enclosure watertight. You can then set the window so that there's a small return, and butt the tile up to it and caulk. I would strongly recommend using Kerdi above this tub, and sealing the Kerdi to the window, as well.
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Bill, thank you for your response. I'd always thought of caulk as not being much of a good fix for most things, because it never seems to hold up well or for long. Wouldn't this be the case here, or is tile different, or is there a special caulk used with tile that you're referring to that is more durable that that used between a tub and a tile wall? After thinking about this some more, it's clear that I need to consider Plan B and do the L configuration if it's to work at all because of the tile situation. So the next question is: --How far back would he likely have put the mud base? When we remodeled our old place, the mud went to the wall at the back of the vanity. --Is this what is normally done? If the tiler slapped down 12 x 12 sheets of the 2" tile, there probably is about 5" under the existing cabinet. If the mud base goes to the back of this vanity, that would give me another 13", giving me ~18" total depth, and I have enough leftover sheets of tile to cover this. --So if the mud base is there, shouldn't we be able to lay tile on it? --If the mud base is too rough, can it be either ground down in the high places or filled in with the setting compound? --How deep can the setting compound be and still do its job properly? Thanks for whatever clarity you can provide! Anne
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Thanks for letting me know, but we've just finished picking out our tile. We met with the tile installer, and he told us that if we went with any tiles from Home Depot or Lowes that he would charge an extra $1.00 per square foot for installation. So we ended up going back to the dealer we went to originally and dealt with someone else. Here's the tile we picked: For the master bath floor: Ragno Riverstone Fuerte For the master bath shower: Daltile Goldrush Klondike White I was all set to go with the Daltile RD-06, but then I saw the Ragno Riverstone. We both really liked the look (and it was only .50 more than our budget). Thanks again everyone for your help!
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If that's the case, then yes you CAN tile right over it, although it's recommended that you start fresh. The reason being then you don't have to worry about the laminate parting, or "delaminating" from the base underneath. However, if you want to go over what you have, scuff it up good with a sander, and then use some thing like Laticrete's 317 thinset mixed with their 333 liquid latex, or Mapei's Kerabond thinset mixed with their Keralastic additive. You want something strong that's not going to lose its bond, and those are about the two strongest thinsets I know of.
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bill_vincent
14 years ago
I prefer using a siliconized latex made by the same company that made your grout, in the same color and texture (sanded or unsanded). That way it looks just like the grout. While fresh, it's also water washable, so your installer just has to lay the bead in, tool it with his finger, and hit it with a sponge, and it looks like just another grout joint.
lesmis
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks Bill. I lost internet shortly after I replied last and just got it back! As it turns out our tile guy stopped by to start the job (after looking at the job several times prior to today) and my husband actually let him go. They parted on good terms but he felt like this particular tile guy wasn't really up to the job. In some ways I think the tile guy was relieved. He'd never worked with onyx before and we have 1x1 onyx tiles to go behind the range. He also was very concerned about the other BS tile I had picked and was concerned about it breaking. Not sure why, it's a very thick tile so maybe he just wasn't comfortable with using tile he wasn't familiar with. I'm bummed because he had come highly recommended, but I'm not sure if he has done much unusual work before? Anyway, I guess we are back to square one.

Another question, have you ever installed ceramic beadboard tile? That's what I purchased for him to install. It comes in 8" by 30" sheets and so we thought it would be a relatively easy installation. We do have brackets under two of our upper cabinets, and a few outlets, but it didn't seem all that daunting to us, but what do we know! It seemed fairly straight forward to us, but is that sort of tile really more difficult than trying to install subway tiles, which are the same thickness from what I've seen?

Area behind range will have onyx with inset bronze tiles and then beadboard directly under cabinets with liner separating the onyx...no brackets on these

Area to get only beadboard with bullnose on the left side only, brackets under the cabinets

Thanks again for your quick responses!

Kat :)
Buehl
14 years ago
You are going to show us once it's done...right???!!!
lesmis
Original Author
14 years ago
I will if it ever gets done lol!
buffalotina
14 years ago
Yes, it looks great! Quick hijack: Can you remind me of your paint color again? Thanks!
lesmis
Original Author
14 years ago
Tina, it's BM Heather Gray.

Kat :)
bill_vincent
14 years ago
Another question, have you ever installed ceramic beadboard tile? That's what I purchased for him to install. It comes in 8" by 30" sheets and so we thought it would be a relatively easy installation.

I've never installed it, but I don't see any big deal about it, either. it may be 30" long, but it's only going to be installed in 18" lengths (because that's the height of the backsplash). I don't know what his problem was, but oh well. Same with the onyx. No big deal. I'm sorry you've been left hanging.
lesmis
Original Author
14 years ago
Where do you live Bill...I could pay airfare! ;-)

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