With a stacked pattern in large format tile, our goal is to have a symmetrical back wall. The side walls? You usually want them to be mirror images of one another, but the layout design doesn't have to be centered/symmetrical. One other idea? Have a full 12x24 tile centered on the back wall. On each side of that have an 12x18 tile. Wrap the cut off 6" piece around the corner onto each side wall. Finish each side wall with a full 12x24. If you prefer to keep all the large tiles together, then keep the pattern on the back wall the same, an 18" tile, a 24" and another 18". But on the side walls, have a full 24" tile come out of the corner, and finish each sidewall with the 6" offcut. With a few sketches, you'll find a pattern that appeals to you. It's your eye that is important. When people have trouble visualizing a tub surround, for a typical sized surround I'll sometimes recommend they cut a piece of paper 10" wide by 5" tall. With a scale of 1" of paper equals 1' of wall, that paper encompasses the two side walls and the back wall of a typical tub surround, with the walls tiled 5' above the tub. Adjust the dimensions as you need to for your situation. But for that typical surround, using a 10" wide by 5" tall piece of paper? With the paper in a landscape orientation, measure in 2-1/2" from the left and right sides of the paper and draw a vertical line. Those two vertical lines represent the two inside corners of your tub alcove. You've now divided the paper (from left-to-right) into a 2-1/2" wide side wall, a 5" wide back wall and the other 2-1/2" wide side wall. Draw your tile pattern. Crease and fold the paper on the vertical "corner" lines that you drew earlier, fold each "side wall" upwards so you have a "U" shaped piece of paper. Stand it up on edge and it'll represent the three walls of the tub surround.

Just curious...how'd you come up with 31 sqft for tiling to the ceiling? For a typical tub surround: -poly sheeting: $10 -Half-inch thick Tile backer board, 4 sheets: $60 -Roll of mesh alkali-resistant tape: $7.50 -Tile: Name your price. Say $5 a foot for grins, for 60sqft it's $300. -One bag highly modified thinset $30 -One bag Grout $15 -Caulk $15 So materials, rounding way up, about $150 not counting the tile. Tools? -Stapler to staple up the poly sheet to the studs. -Utility knife and blades: You can score and cut the tile backer board like Hardiebacker with a utility knife. You can even cut holes with a utility knife, score the perimeter with the knife and pop out the center with a hammer. -Stapler to staple up the poly sheet to the studs. Hammer/nails: to nail up the backer board. You could use screws, but you'd need a drill with driver bit. To cut the tile: The box stores will do it for you on a per cut basis. I have no idea what they charge. For for basic tile you can use a score and snap cutter. They can be had for $25-$50. Or you can buy a cheap wetsaw at the box stores for $50. Or buy one on craigslist then resell it when you are done. So...$50 let;s say. Always good to have tile nippers, $20. Have your plumbing fall on grout lines instead of in the middle of a tile and you can nip a hole instead of having to drill a hole. To mix and spread the thinset: -bucket -margin trowel: $7.50 Yup. To hand mix the thinset and grout. The thinset, mix maybe a third of a bag at a time. Pace yourself. Or you can buy a paddle if you have a low-speed drill that has the torque to spin it. -notched trowel: $5, 1/4" x 1/4" to spread the thinset. To Grout: -Grout float: $10 -Grout Sponges: 2- or 3-multi-pack for $5 Basic hand tools, about $50. Add $50 for a tile cutter, so total tools is about $100. Materials: $150 Tile: $300 @ $5 a ft Tools: $100 Total, about $550 Rough guess.

I'm a DIY-er, and I tiled a 3'x4' shower (walls and ceiling) with 4x4s and 6x6's with a couple decorative bands and some inset glass tiles in about 20 hours total. I tiled the 8'x10' floor in 6 hours total, including laying the Ditra but not the grouting. I don't consider myself very speedy, particularly on walls. Is your guy working 8 hour days?

I just finished a Swanstone install over a 72" Laurel Mountain whirlpool tub. This is the second Swanstone surround I have done. (I got a lot better at it this time) I was a professional tile installer for 10 years and didn't want the maintenance of grout in a tub area. Here is what you should know about Swanstone: 1) There is caulking (and the associated periodic maintenance) in the corners where the panels meet and also at the base of the panels where they meet the tub. This will have to be re-done every 3-5 years if you dry your tub/shower after use. If you don't towel down your walls, you'll need to do it more frequently. 2) Swanstone requires carbide blades to cut. Dont even think about reusing a carbide blade for cutting other materials after it has been used on Swanstone. Even carbide dulls quickly when cutting this material. YouÂll destroy a hole saw and probably 3 or more scroll saw/saber saw blades during your installation. Plus a 40 tooth finish grade carbide circular blade. Consider it part of the price of your project. Make sure you have extras before you even start. 3) Scribing and coping the panel walls so they fit closely in the corners and against the tub is a must. Swanstone is easy to sand with a belt sander (makes a mess, use a good respirator). An Accuscribe tool makes this a lot easier. 4) 2 people are required to move and dry fit the panels. They are unwieldy and the material is very dense. Both people need good dry leather gloves on. The edges, when cut with carbide blades, are sharp. 5) You want a really solid backer board behind Swanstone. The panels are a quarter inch thick so they can bow unless adhered to something that is quite rigid. I used Durrock cement backer board. The backer board should be primed with a good primer (Zinsser) before installing the Swanstone product. 6) Acetone!! They say you can clean the Swanstone product well enough with alcohol before caulking. DonÂt waste your time with alcohol. Use acetone. In my experience, Swanstone is impervious to acetone and you will create a much faster drying and oil free bonding surface for silicone caulk with acetone. I wiped all sides and edges with acetone to remove all oil and fine dust after cutting & coping and dry fitting prior to installation. The bond to the walls is very strong. 7) The biggest headache is the required 2x4 bracing. Setting this up is a royal PITA. Use masking tape to hold vertical 2x4Âs in place against the panels while you position and wedge into place the horizontal 2x4Âs that create the side to side pressure. Measure the inside dimension between the vertical 2x4Âs exactly and then add 1/16 of an inch, this is enough to create sufficient side to side pressure. Make sure you pre-drill holes at an angle through the horizontal braces so that you can screw them to the vertical braces. If a horizontal 2x4 falls out, it will damage your tub and you get to start all over. Bracing the back wall panel with shims takes time and patience. Do not be in a hurry, you have plenty of time before the silicone adhesive sets up. 8) A word on framing: Use Timberstrand studs behind the cement backer board. This will draw a lot of comments from folks, but here is the line of logic: Timberstrand is delivered with a much lower moisture content than any other kind of stud except steel. It is also perfectly straight & square. Due to its low moisture content, it undergoes much less dimensional change once installed. This is critical behind tub & shower walls. Timber strand is 3 times more expensive than regular lumber, but it is worth it in this area. When you frame with it, take the time to get everything perfectly square and plumb and you will have a much easier time with coping and fitting the Swanstone panels. Further up in this thread, there was a comment made about redoing grout in tile after 3 years. Yeah, that is true in my experience if the lumber behind the backer board was "wet" (high moisture content) when the tile was installed. This is common. Problem is, it becomes a self perpetuating problem that requires major tear out and remodeling in pretty short order. The cycle goes like this: Tile & grout is installed over high moisture content lumber. The lumber twists and shrinks as it dries out causing micro fine cracks in the grout (grout is brittle). Folks shower and the walls get wet which introduces more moisture that gets behind the grout and ultimately the tile. Do this daily for a year or so and the backer board is now wet. The backer board transfers moisture to the studs so they undergo expansion causing bigger gaps to appear in the grout and more water to be added to the system. Leave it untreated for 5 years and your studs will begin to rot and tile starts falling off the walls. Plus you have mold growing in cracks in your grout that is really tough to keep out. IÂve done two bathrooms in my current house with pretty intricate tile work. They are beautiful! Nothing looks as nice as well done tile. However, both are occasional use bathrooms that get used maybe 10 times per year. I did Durrock over steel studs in both tiled shower areas and they should hold up for 20+ years with nothing more than yearly resealing of the grout. The two daily use shower areas are Swanstone over Durrock with Timberstrand studs in one and steel studs in the other. They should now hold up for 20+ years as well with twice daily use and once every three years re-caulking of the seams.