Need advice. Subway tile on uneven kneewall
Michael Coates
9 years ago
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Michael Coates
9 years agoRelated Discussions
old house; uneven floor - bathroom/subway tile...
Comments (4)Instead of running the narrower subway all the way to the floor, have you considered a wider ("taller") tile for the first course, to simply act as a baseboard or transitional piece from floor-to-field? Doesn't have to be an actual baseboard type of tile, or even a contrasting tile. The tile can be the same color as the subway should you prefer it to blend. It can be a simply 6" or 8" square field tile from the same manufacturer. As you know, blending colors may help with hiding a discrepancy, contrasting colors can accentuate it. On the flip side, you could separate the base from the field with a liner or some other detail that melds with details you have higher on the wall, at the chair rail for instance. Again, if the liner contrasts, it may accentuate. A basic 6" square tile, or to keep the subway shape, a 6" tall rectangle, would absorb the floor slope better than a "shorter" tile like your current subways. A 6" tile going from 5" to 6" would hide the discrepancy better than a small subway field tile going from 2" to 3". An 8" tile from 7" to 8" might be even better. If you were to use a true base cove tile like a sanitary cove base, use a basic sanitary instead of a shouldered sanitary, as the shoulder will be cut off due to the slope and that could create lippage or padding out issues as you go down the wall. Sometimes I've even used a taller painted wood baseboard to transition from a sloped floor to the field tile on the wall. An 8" tall wood baseboard scribed from say, 7" to 8" to hide the floor slope, with cap and base detailing, would pretty much hide any height discrepancy from the slope/scribing. The easiest and least expensive "all tile" solution would probably be a basic 6" square tile, scribed and cut from 6" to 5" as needed....See MoreVertical Subways w/ Glass Tile - advice needed!
Comments (9)Thank you everyone for the very helpful input so far...I hadn`t really thought of the larger tiles, but now that you mention it I think they would look much better, since the patterns wouldn`t be competing so much with the larger tiles. I will have to look into those - hopefully they aren`t too expensive, as one of the main attractions of the subway tile was its low price. Then again, the tub surround is not a huge space, and tile is generally forever (hopefully!), so spending a little more wouldn`t be too tragic! Thanks again for the great idea, I will let you know what I find out about the larger tiles!...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 MoreAdvice needed: Tile Job, bathroom remodel, uneven grout
Comments (10)Here are a few quick tips to find out how "correct" the install is (or isn't). Correct meaning 'will not fail' vs. looks pretty. Looking pretty and being correctly installed are two different animals. 1. Caulking is used at EVERY change of plane (ahem...corners). Grout is NOT allowed when tile goes around a corner or goes from flooring tile to wall tile. To check for caulking just poke your finger nail in there and push. If it feels rubbery = caulking. If it feels like hardened sand/stone = grout. **Hint** Look at the GROUT that is sitting all around the wall cubby and the grout that is running down the corner...check the marble floor/tile wall connection. Do you see more grout? 2. Did they use wood (raw wood) at the shower threshold? If you remember seeing a plank of timber being 'tiled' you have issues. 3. Water Draining out of the shower should be even. The shower floor should not have areas that are left 'wet looking' (ie. darker...marble is AWESOME at showing this...which means you can test this very easily for yourself) for hours while other areas look 'dry' very quickly. An uneven drying time tell us water is SITTING (ie. not draining) under the marble. Issues like a mentioned above can be a perfect storm waiting to come crashing down (through the ceiling? below?) around your head. They are also issues that point to a REDO (especially the shower floor stuff). The uneven wall tiles = uneven wall. They needed to shim the walls (when the studs were exposed) and/or float the tile (very difficult and expensive and requires an OLD FASHIONED Tile Pro to get it done properly). You didn't get either. In other words your General Contractor used 'guys' to lay the tile and not the EXPENSIVE Tile setters (ahem...GCs HATE using expensive pros...it messes up their bottom line/quotes)....See MoreMichael Coates
9 years agoMichael Coates
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9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoMichael Coates
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