Is glass tile in a shower a bad idea?
Does anyone have experience with glass tile in their shower? Are you finding you need to squeegee the glass tile and the actual shower glass after each shower?
I'm currently using a shower that doesn't have much glass and I squeegee it after every shower. I don't hate it as much as I thought I would but it is a small shower and I'm tempted to skip the squeegee when I'm in a rush. My master shower is much larger and with this tile I'll have glass on all four walls. Having to squeegee the entire shower after every use will get old fast. Especially when I'm running late for something.
Does it make a difference if the glass tile has a pattern that should hide water spots between showers? But the water here is fairly hard so I worry about getting permanent hard water spots if I don't squeegee every time. The tile I'm considering isn't cheap and I don't want to regret installing it or worse, ruin it.
Since I'm sure someone will ask, here is a photo of the glass tile. You can't see it in a photo, but the concave pattern creates a holographic effect that kind of makes it look like it's floating off the wall. When you touch it, it's as if your hand is going through the tile surface. Never seen anything like it. The tile color is uniform but the right side looks darker in the photo because of lighting.
Sorry for posting a duplicate thread but I wanted to edit and it was past an hour so I just decided to delete the first thread and re-post since nobody had responded.
Comments (13)
ShadyWillowFarm
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Is it a bad idea to tile on top of existing shower floor tile?
Comments (13)If I correctly recall your saga, you had a supposedly well built mud bed with supposedly well installed marble tile over it. Then you brought in a friend to seal it. After sealing is when you had the issues. If I recall, when the drain was later pulled, there was evidence that the sealer had percolated down into the mud bed. In a properly working shower, tiling over existing tile can be done. My understanding is your shower is broken. My understanding is that what forensic work has been done to your shower has not resulted in a cause of failure. It has only resulted in people pointing fingers at the other guy. The sealer guy points at the tiler. The tile guy points at the sealer guy. The GC shrugs his shoulder and points at you because you brought in the sealer guy on your own. You point at the GC and ask when will my shower be fixed? If no one can define the problem, how can they come up with a solution? They can't, so they all wink at each other and say "let's cover it up!" The only way to properly install new tile over bad tile that is on a bad mud bed is to completely isolate the new work from the old. There are three important points of contact: That means a NEW membrane has to be installed on top of your old work to prevent water from percolating down into the old work. That means that around the floor perimeter, the new membrane has to be tied into the wall's drainage plane or the wall's membrane that was installed behind the current wall tile. That means that the new drain has to be properly detailed into the old. So, what can you do? You can simply do what has been recommended. Simply cover over what you have. Bury it. Fingers crossed. Hope for the best. It's the easiest. You might have no further bad symptoms. Or the pan might start showing problems, 6, 12, or 24 months down the road. Or you can cover it up keeping the three points of contact in mind. Do understand that this route would require a conscientious and competent mechanic. Or go with the choice that over the long run will likely involve the least amount of labor, be the least expensive solution, and have the greatest chance of success: Have a competent mechanic remove the failed bed and install new. I wrote too much. (sigh) Good luck!...See MoreIs DIY tile backspash a bad idea?
Comments (20)No pics yet, we're still finishing up everything, but boy did we learn a lot! We used paper cut-outs taped to the wall to figure out my design & glass inserts prior to starting, VERY helpful! It helped us space our inserts around switches and outlets. Be sure to use thinset, not an adhesive. Ours is a 'U' shaped kitchen with 2 inside corners and 2 outside corners around kitchen garden window. We used a 4x4 glass insert above the stove, so we centered it on that wall and worked our way left and right. We did a 45 degree cut on the tiles for the outside corners, looks nice. Then we again worked our way towards the inside corners. On the left inside corner we weren't able to properly 'wrap' the design around, but it was pretty close. On the right inside corner we were able to 'wrap' it around and it looks good. The JB forum has some great pics on how to do corners. We got into a really good routine. DH would cut the tile and I would set them. Use the spacers, but also rely on your own good eye, as the tumbled travertine is not perfect. Sometimes I would space a little wider/thinner than the spacer to keep the overall grout line the same. Sometimes I had to tape the spacer in to keep it from slipping. I'm sure the pros have some tricks for this. Be patient, it takes longer than expected, but well worth it! I'm sure Bill V. has some additional advice or corrections to what we did, please listen to him and the JB forum, they are the Experts! Good Luck!...See MoreAre windows in showers a bad idea?
Comments (13)We were remodeling and pretty much had to have a window in the shower. My gc said it would be fine. We replaced an old jalouise window (the ones with the moveable slats) with fiber glass in and out. And we opted for engineered quarts framing the window as our gc preferred this to tiling it. He would have been willing to tile it, but he felt the engineered Quartz was easier to get right in terms of waterproofing. And I liked the look...See MoreBad tile job on shower niche?
Comments (3)get some clear plastic shelf liner stuff that has holes in it / looks like expanded lattice and cut it to fit. It will be generally unnoticeable and will grip your bottles AND water will drain out. I guess alternatively, you could find some clear silicone or rubber dots / stips like you put on cabinet doors and stick to the tiles. These solutions are cheap, replaceable and fairly invisible. And if the rest of the shower was done well - 1000% non-invasive....See More
Fori
4 years ago
uscpsycho
4 years ago
PROCreative Tile Eastern CT
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agouscpsycho thanked Creative Tile Eastern CT- PRO
Creative Tile Eastern CT
4 years ago ShadyWillowFarm
4 years agoUser
4 years agouscpsycho
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago- PRO
Creative Tile Eastern CT
4 years agoA larger size will be more susceptible to fracture simply due to structural movement. Adequate movement joints will be most important. If someone grouts a inside corner instead of a proper movement detail you can pretty much bet there will be a fracture.
"Regarding setting material, isn't there a product that you can just know will be good enough for any glass tile? " No. There are basically three types of glass. Cast, fused and low temp. Some glass requires mastic instead of thinset mortar. (not many but they are out there) Mastic can not be used in a wet area. I really don't make this stuff up:)
On top of that there are manufacturer quality differences in each category. That is why the manufacturer must provide the installation details. Once the installer goes forward he/.she owns it. I hope you work things out as I really like your glass selection. Your willingness to spend $$ for proper products and methods is appreciated by professionals throughout the trades.uscpsycho thanked Creative Tile Eastern CT uscpsycho
4 years agoplan2remodel
4 years agoI am in So Cal as well, and ended up with a full wall of 2"x6" glass tile in my master bathroom shower, although that was not the original plan. I do not squeegee the tile, but clean it with a mixture of 50/50 water and vinegar about once a week. Also, I changed out my NuVo "water conditioning" system to potassium water softener.
This is Ann Sacks Jute glass tile, which does have a pattern to it. I realize that your tile is much larger, so your experience may be different than mine. I've had no issues with tiles breaking.
uscpsycho thanked plan2remodelplan2remodel
4 years ago
Creative Tile Eastern CT