Another huge problem...can tile go over an uneven wall??
Comments (14)
User
10 years agoherbflavor
10 years agoRelated Discussions
Help with tile for an uneven floor!!!!
Comments (7)This sounds pretty serious. I personally would make sure I knew all the options before proceeding with an expensive tile job that appears to have a high liklihood of failing. For one thing you need to make sure your joist size and spacing is sufficent. There is a calculator here: http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/deflecto.pl I would definitely also post this question over on the forum at the John Bridge tile site. You should get some good professional advice there. The resident tile experts come and go here, hopefully they'll also chime in!! Lastly, if you go ahead and do mosaic tile in your kitchen, I would highly recommend using an epoxy grout like Spectralock. I used it in my latest bathroom. it is more expensive but it is much more impervious to staining, unlike traditional cementitious grouts that absorb stains and need frequent sealing. In a kitchen I would think that would be a big concern... Here is a link that might be useful: Forum at John Bridge tile site...See MoreHELP - Uneven wall so range doesn't go in flush
Comments (19)Thanks to all for your suggestions. To clarify a couple of points raised. The wall behind the right third of the range is even and level with everything to the right of the range. I believe it's because it's one piece of sheetrock that comes to the frame behind that part of the range. The left 2/3 of the range is slightly skewed or recessed. Again, I think it's because there's a new piece of sheetrock and slightly recessed framing behind that part of the range and wall (apparently the framing wasn't touched by the new contractors and it was an unevenness that existed with the house). In any case, the range can never be flush because there are 2 "different walls" behind it. I like the thought of covering the gap with SS to make it look like a filler piece that likely won't get noticed and will cover the gap, as well as cost much less. The contractors actually suggested that as well as a possibility. By the way, our contractors did everything except floors and granite. The granite and floor guys were great - they actually noticed other areas of unevenness but because there was no continuous granite, I think the granite guy didn't notice it and simply squared each piece of granite to each respective piece of wall. We've discussed the "should" of the contractor having to cover it. We'll see now if they do what they should because they should have caught this earlier. Depressing, sad, etc... The thing is, the contractors are actually really good, creative, etc. -- they are just CARELESS and HASTY. It's the craftsmanship that seems to be lacking these days. BUT, we're just about done and will post pictures of the final product soon. Thanks again....See MoreHelp? Need to tile backsplash on very uneven wall....
Comments (6)I think the problem here is it sounds like the base wall is lath and plaster. Removing ONLY the part between the counter top and cabinets is a bit of a challenge. If it were sheet rock it would be a "no brainer" to remove. That is probably the reason why previous owners did such a patch job on the wall in the first place. I'd look into removing any wood and replacing that with sheetrock, then using the proper sheet rock mud or plaster, filling in all and giving it a good skim coat. That is what I would do so it could be painted, I would not even try to tile over the patch job you described. Like Bill pointed out, you are unlikely to end up with a flat enough surface to get a good tile job unless you use very small tiles. While you volunteered to set tiles, is repairing/rebuilding the wall something you even want to deal with? For me, setting the tiles is always the easy part of the job - in remodeling projects, preparing the surface so it is suitable to put tiles on is usually were all the work is....See MoreREALLY Uneven wall- tile or granite backsplash???
Comments (10)Owner of a 1916 house with uneven everything here who just finished installing running bond subway tile (a DIY job). The installers might be doing some playing around with the granite today to get things level themselves. So, don't make any firm and final decisions until they have done their thing. I just installed running bond subway on a wall behind my range that had about 1/2" difference from one end to the other over the course of about 5". This was a wall that we tiled all the way to the ceiling. I think it is okay. If you tile all the way up to the upper cabinets, how much of this final uneven row would be visible if you weren't sticking your head up under there? In other words, would a causal observer notice is you started with a full row at the counter level and then ended up with the adjustments in that less visible area? If you do stick with the subway (what I'd do in your case because I don't think granite will achieve what you want), don't event think of using a contrasting grout that would just go to emphasize the differences in height. Look for a fairly recent post here called something like Am I out of luck? The poster's question was regarding uneven ceiling and subway tile in an older house....See Morepalimpsest
10 years agopricklypearcactus
10 years ago
cookncarpenter
10 years agogpraceman55
10 years agogwlolo
10 years agopricklypearcactus
10 years agohomebuyer23
10 years agoThanks so much for all your responses. My GC's explanation sounded most like GWlolo, he mentioned thick grout. And also what ctyctm said I think he mentioned mud and tape over it. He also mentioned he could shave a little bit off the pipe fitting (??safe?!).
I still think the idea of an extra layer of thin drywall sounds less risky, but I'll cross this again when we get there.
Heres a picture...
thanks again
Chris Coppersmith
4 years ago
millworkman
4 years ago
Rachel L
3 years ago@millworkman, good to see you here my friend! :)
Cement board went up in my bathroom and a hole was cut for the prefabricated niche. Went over with the niche in hand and naturally it doesn't fit. Why is everything so hard?? The niche flange is sitting at least 1/4" proud of cement board, though it should have been the right depth. Confused as to how this could be happening, I ran a straight edge across the cement board from edge to edge and can see that the center of the board (where the niche sits) dips in. Guess my contractor didn't bother to check if the board was level. So now I'm thinking ahead to the tile job (I picked 6x12" tiles) and from multiple posts, can see that what you are tiling on needs to be flat. I showed my contractor and he said that the wall does not need to be flat and that you can even all the tiles out by adding more mortar where necessary. A whole internet of posts seem to disagree with him. Ugh! So since he clearly doesn't give a crap how my apartment turns out, I'll sort it out myself even though I don't know what the hell I'm doing.
Here's what I've come up with.1) leave the niche proud and try to level around it with thinset, thereby also leveling out the wall. I'm not sure if this is beyond my technical capabilities. I was impressed will all the divets I filled in the drywall (yeah, my GC sucks), but cement might be another ballgame to drywall mud and this is a much larger area.
2) Cement board is quite flexible. Maybe I can add some shims between the board and the stud to bring it out a bit?
3) Cut the outer layer of drywall out behind the niche (it faces a closet). Then the niche flange will sit flat on the cement board and I can feather down the small lip with thinset. The wall itself will still not be flat with this option. Enter the chicken wire mentioned earlier in this post for leveling out the wall. Seems like a great idea and I can pass it on to the tiler!! Is this a common technique employed by tilers when faced with uneven walls or am I going to have to find a creative one?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Here are some pics to illustrate the problem:
At the worst point, the niche flange is probably 1/4" proud of the wall.
Apartment · More Info
Top seems ok'ish, but this is a LONG niche (36")
Apartment · More InfoRunning a straight edge along the wall while holding the two side in place. The center of the board clearly dips in.
Apartment · More InfoRachel L
3 years ago
gpraceman55