Bath tiles gone wrong.. Pros, please chime in.!
This is one of three bathrooms tiled by a general contractor recently hired based on a good vibe. The tiles (6"x18") is polished ceramic. The plumbing/leveling of walls and 1/16" grout line was requested in contract, but ultimately overlooked. As one gets close, the wavy tile becomes clear, grout lines are inconsistent (and large; 1/8"- 1/6", and lippage throughout. An admission of fault/apology/re-do was offered. See attached wall/floor tile photos; wall tile bad enough to demo/re-do? Thoughts?
Comments (17)
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Comments (25)don't laugh but I had this same problem with a garage. I converted my one car garage to a game room/4th bedroom. It was to be my game/exercise room but my son moved back in... anyway..................... Then I thought to move. I asked the realator if I made an error and she told me what I'll tell you. It's a toss up. Half the people will like it and half won't. When you list the house for sale, those insisting on a tub will see in the listing that it doesn't have one. Same with my garage. Those people won't even come to see your house, so in that sense, only interested parties will. And like I am doing now, I had the same question to my contractor when adding my addition. He said "tubs, especially jetted ones and ones with big decks are phasing out". He said the trend is now big walk in showers. With that said, he said that if it was the only bathroom to have a tub, I might want to have a tub. Families with kids who might buy the house would want one. So if you have ONE tub at least somewhere in the house, I'd not worry too much. If not, then I'd suggest a smaller tub and nicer shower to make your life more comfortable and make you worry less...See MoreBathroom remodel gone wrong
Comments (7)I actually like it so much more than most of the ubiquitous fake marble bathrooms that are usually posted here. It has some personality. I think when you start using it and get towels and bath rugs, products on your niche shelf, etc. you might be surprised how much you love it! What is the big black thing above the niche? That's the only thing that I think detracts from your design. When I adjust the page so I only see the floor and niche, it looks way better with that big black hole out of the picture. I can't imagine what it is....See MoreBathroom remodel gone wrong
Comments (20)Not going to lie Rip the darn floor, it was a mistake. Not that vanity either. Put the same tile as shower walls on the bathroom floor. AND simplify the vanity and darker please....... Less bulky hardware for that shower door. You are all over the place /in look and feel. : ) Fix it before you go further. Floor is a re do. You don't like it now, and you won't when you finish. Not the worst mistake in your life, just a floor re do. With an adjustment to the door and vanity selection to make the entire room one cohesive look....and feel. Truth ? "Paint and towels" won't save you from remorse.: ) sorry. You're not wrong in your assessment of the oopsie....See MoreWhat has gone wrong in Design/Education?
Comments (142)A former neighbor of mine wanted to build an addition on the rear of his (row) house, which was smaller than many of the preexisting rear ells, but no longer compliant (encroached on now required open space by a small amount). A neighbor, not a next door neighbor fought him tooth and nail on this insisting it was going to block light from her house, cause water run off issues and so fourth. The guy in general was brilliant, so he ended up having satellite photos and then modeling to show that shadows would not reach her house, percolation studies showing that he could improve water run off and so forth. But since it was a variance she was prevailing to some extent. Finally his permit was getting ready to expire, and he realized that if he could demolish the house behind his, he would no longer even need a variance because there would be no other house to have distances from and lots of green space. So he knocked on the door of the backyard neighbor and said "Hey do you want to sell your house? I will give you cash, name your (reasonable) price, completed the deal and promptly slapped a demolition notice on that house. He even got an architect involved about how he would resolve that missing house on the charming street behind. That finally got enough attention of other neighbors none of whom objected to the original variance requested but had not wanted to get involved at that point....See More
PROBeth H. :
last yearlast modified: last yearright off the bat, why is he using gray mortar thinset w/the white marble tiles? Any light marble should be done w/the white thinset or else it will telegraph through to the front and make the stone appear darker.
but maybe I'm seeing things? what thinset is he using?
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I hope he didn't drill into the waterproofed wall w/the screws that are holding up the level board. that would be unfortunate.
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on the white vertical tile, I see the sides aren't symmetrical. one side cut is larger than the other. don't know why his math didn't wor out.are the niches pre-formed? If not, I would have tried to space the niche between full cut tiles so as not to have sliver cuts on the sides.
At the minimum, I would have brought the box out to this line (to avoid thin cuts) and on the other side. And spaced it evenly on the top/bottom. That's just how I like it.
other than that, I really don't see much to be upset about. (from the pics you're showing) the tiles look pretty level.what;s that terrazzo looking tile? .
Nick thanked Beth H. :
PROMint tile Minneapolis
last yearSeeing CLEAN proper tile prep and a clean jobsite while using A complete system is what every homeowner should see. its a sign of what is to come.
This install meets this detailed scope i referred to above.
"All tile and prep work is to meet current TCNA, ANSI, IRC, UPC/IAMPO and manufacturers instructions."
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Mint tile Minneapolis
last year - PRO
Beth H. :
last yearlast modified: last yearmint, the tiles look level on the screen.
what do you see that's out of whack?
these aren't obscenely uneven. from this angle I can't see a huge lippage. can you?
What else did I say that's so wrong? please, enlighten us w/your expertise. Or would you rather just continue to speak in your condescending manner to make yourself look super-human? which is it?You show some other install that doesn't have any bearing on what OP is talking about, so whats your point? Telling them what they didnt' get? great. now what?
Nick, make sure no grout in the change of plain joints. around the tub, the corners, niche, etc. should be silicone caulking
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Beth H. :
last yearlast modified: last yearI can't find what you wrote about the second shower. did it get deleted or something?
agree w/millworkman. cementboard/waterproofing,,,more cement board and more waterproofing,,,,that could be an issue. Trapping moisture leading to mildew.
Do you know if he did a vapor barrier behind all of that too? (I hope not)
this is one way to do it without a waterproof membrane painted on the cement board.
Why didn't he just rip it down and redo? He seems to know he erred?what's happening w/the marble tile? what's behind that? cement board or the kerdi?
did you ask him why he's not using white?
BTW, heres a quick visual of where NOT to use grout
Nick thanked Beth H. : 
Nick
last yearBeth, I deleted the marble bath reference/photos from here and created a new post to minimize clutter. However, I noticed the new post hasn't came online.
I did point out that the corners and where tiles meet tub should be caulked rather than grouted. Also mentioned that unmodified thinset should be used when installing the floor pan tile over the Schluter Kerdi prefab floorpan. Haven't checked if this was taken to mind.
The contractor clarified that only the center of one side wall had 1/4" hardie board attached (with long screws to stud) to the previously installed 5/8" DensShield. The screws then had red gard applied. He did this to fur out the "sunken" section of this wall and floated the remaining areas with cement.
He also confirmed the thinset used for the white Sahara carrara 3x12 wall tile is Mapei in white color (not the pre-mixed stuff).
There is no additional vapor barrier behind the 5/8" DensShield. The niche is prefab Schluter Kerdi.
What's your take on the layout of the wall tile and the curb? He did 1/3 offset, even though I requested 50% offset. He also has a 1/4" smaller cut on the left side of center wall vs right side. Your take on the marble pencil liner as finish, vs a matching quartz bullnose? He agreed to start over. The curb has no overhang. He furred out the 3 1/2" width of curb to be flush with the 6" marble curb top rather than leave a 1/4"-1//2" overhang. And hardieboard was used to fur out the width. See before/after images.
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PRODragonfly Tile & Stone Works, Inc.
last year- PRO
Beth H. :
last yearNick, you seem to be hung up on that curb.
you say he's going to build out the curb so that it's flush w/the wall? (your last pic w/the tape measure?) Not sure about the cement board. the curb is kerdi and he's going to make it wider using the cement board over the kerdi??
YOu said he's going to start over. he's removing the tile that was already done?
Sorry, it's a little confusing.
Dragonfly is right. It would be easier to send out another tile expert to your place and have them evaluate what's right and wrong.
as for that curb,would it help if I showed you my marble curb?
I had a mud base on my shower. doing it old school (with someone who knows how) is the best way to get a plumb/level wall for your tile.
standing in the shower looking out, you can see the inside of the curb. no overhang. It's 6".
On the outside it's also 6" from floor to top of curb
completely flush w/the half wall
as for the edging, your tile guy should be able to polish the edges of those tile if you want to forgo the pencil tileOn mine I used the bullnose subway tiles. (also notice the niche. I carefully measured out the tiles, placing the niche exactly between full tiles above and below. I hate slivers!.
you can do the same w/your marble tiles. you or the tile guy can do the math and figure out where the niche will go, along w/it's dimensions, it order to have it fit perfectly
The edging I used around the nice and the herringbone accent was a Schluter jolly in black. Around the cement tile on the side wall I used basalt transition molding since I had to go from a 1" down to a 1/4" or so to meet w/the wall.
I need to use this because I had to buy up space from the blk/white tiles to the edge. I had a set amount of cement tiles but was short 6 inches or so. The basalt tile worked out perfectly.
Nick thanked Beth H. : Nick
last yearlast modified: last yearBeth, nice bath. I noticed your tile is about the same size as I used for the marble shower (3x12). Glad to know the curb overhang is more of a personal preference rather than the standard. The curb I have was built with a stack of 2x4's, about 3.5" in width. The orange part is only the waterproofing membrane fabric. The curb was built out on both sides and tiled to be flush with the 6" marble curb top, as shown in the 2nd to last photo. The inside/outside has already been tiled and sits at 6" in width, like the curb top.
What's your take on the 1/3 offset vs 50% offset using the 3x12 marble? I noticed the small cuts on each end of your center wall are similar in size. What I have is a 1/4" smaller cut on left wall vs right side.
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Beth H. :
last yearYour tiles are 3x12? they look a tad longer. I think 1/2 or 1/3 is a personal pref.
did the tile guy do a dry layout?
I did the 50/50 w/mine, mainly because we had enough to deal with in getting the herringbone to come out even. We spent over 3 hrs just dry fitting that center accent
In the end, all of the tiles surrounding it are perfectly symmetrical, as is the herringbone
Since you don't have this, you could do either offset. normally if the tiles are bowed or uneven, the 1/3 layout offers more room for error.Place your tiles back to back and front to front. any space in the middle?
Nick thanked Beth H. : Nick
last yearlast modified: last year
Lyndee Lee