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tile shower install acceptable?

last year

Is this an acceptable shower tile install? When I initially glanced, I thought it was fine but after looking closer it doesn’t look great but I’m also ignoring in the tile laying world. The install should be a 33% offset stairstep pattern but the tiles never really line up so all the edge pieces are different sizes. Also in the corner there’s 2 tiny tiles that meet instead of one wrapping to the other side (pic in comments). I’d appreciate your thoughts and feedback! Thanks!

Comments (10)

Mbf4604
Original Author
last year
Here’s the small corner tiles I was referring to
palimpsest
last year
last modified: last year
I can't really figure out the rhythm of the layout. I would expect tiles off-set by 1/3 to have a pattern of three repeating rows, and yours does not. Yours seems to have more variation of layout. You seem to have two pretty small slivers on the left wall in about 33 rows. If the pattern were really regular there should either be none at all or more than two.

That said, with a tiled shower pan that can be any size, I think the size of the shower could have been adjusted slightly to avoid the slivers you ended up with. This takes a lot more work than most people are willing to do, pretty much drawing out the entire layout.

The discrepancies you have can be minimized with matching grout. I am not sure I would redo this over the layout.
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Personally, I think you are being picky. Mongoct *is* a professional, and one of the most respected professionals on this site for tiling (esp on the bath forum). I think it looks fine, not anything to withhold payment on, esp if you are asking if it is fine and so you didn't specify and pay for a *perfect* job by contract. If anything, I think the upper, inner, left corner tile (perpendicular to window), could have been "pushed in" just a little more to close your grout line just a bit. But, your pulled out picture demonstrates just how picky you are being. It is fine, and really not noticeable by an average looker.
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The uneven tile doesn't mean the shower will fail, which would be a much larger concern as green designs pointed out. If it was built to standards (it is what underneath that counts even more), then this is an aesthetic issue and probably not unusual for a tract home build, albeit not a professional outcome. So yes, you could ask for a credit, but remember that you cannot tear out a shower floor in the future without re-doing the entire shower pan and up at least 6-8" (needs to be above the pan) so the cost is $$$$. Make sure there is plenty of floor and wall tile left for storing in the event of a problem.
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“The whole shower was waterproofed before it was tiled. You’ve got a pan liner running up the walls and over top of the curb, and then you’ve got a topical waterproofing on top of the mudset.” This gives me serious doubts. When waterproofing, you EITHER use a pan liner in conjunction with a pre-slope and a final mud bed over the liner, OR you use a single mud bed with NO liner, but a topical layer (Hydroban, Redguard, Kerdi, etc.) over the mud...but NEVER both. In using a liner, as he has, residual water is designed to migrate down to the liner and on into the drain's "weep holes." This is referred to a "water in/water out" construction. With a topical covering, surface water stops at the membrane and with no way to move to the weep holes, can have a tendency to saturate the thinset and the marble, thus causing discoloration. Even more so if there happens to be a low spot in the floor. A topical installation has no weep holes and uses a different configuration drain assembly...a "bonded flange" type unit that allows residual water to move quickly to the main area of the drain, obviating any need for weep holes. Might last you...might not, but those are the facts....
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What you can expect is dependent on whether the tiles were flat to start with. If they are not dead flat, then the amount of lippage will depend on the layout as some patterns are a bit more forgiving. I presume you have some leftover tiles, and you could check them for flatness by placing them face-to-face or back-to-back to see if there are any gaps. While this should have been done before the tiling started, at least checking now will tell you if you have bowed tiles or a less-than skillful tiler. My master bath floor has 24" X24" tiles with a 3/32" grout line and the tiles were absolutely flat before being laid and display no lippage at all.
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PRO
Kristin Petro Interiors, Inc.
last year
This looks like a good install to me and consistent with the nature of the tile you selected. I recommend you match the grout to the tile to emphasize the wavy texture of the tile and not a dark grout to emphasize the pattern created by the layout.
Fori
last year
I don't mind it. If you think of the offset as a way to help make the tile layout look random, it might bug you less.
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
last year
I'm with Kristin.
Mbf4604
Original Author
last year
Thanks you all!

Kristin, I had planned a light grey instead of white so I didn’t have to deal with mildew down the road. You think mapei silver would be too dark?
PRO
Kristin Petro Interiors, Inc.
last year
Agree with @Verbo. Mildew will not be avoided or corrected by the color of the grout.
PRO
Floored You: TileDesigners
last year
For future readers, a wider grout line with a close to matching grout color is better for disguising the textural variations that result in grout width variations in undulated tile. It creates more of a whole piece, visually.
Mbf4604
Original Author
last year
@Verbo so it wouldn't work out to be repeating pattern every 3rd row?
chazar
last year
last modified: last year
I actually like it, its a rustic tile, not a straight subway tile. I see what you mean though, and why it would bother you. That said, I think it looks nice and if you ask for a bright white grout that matches the tile, you wont even see it. I had a similar issue with regular 4x12 subway, but after the grout you can’t see any imperfections. Do not do dark grout, it will accentuate everything!! I used Mapei Avalanche. I like white grout because you can bleach the heck out of it.

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