I’m currently working on a project dealing with subway tile as wainscotting throughout a master bath. My questions concerns layout. The floors are not level in this bathroom since it’s in a century old house. How do I layout the wall tile especially if the first row of tile has an outward 90 degree curve from the wall toward the floor tile. If I lay this first row and follow the floor, when I start laying rows, I’ll be out of level when I get to the top row? If I start at a level line and work down, I won’t end on a full tile for the bottom row. Any ideas?
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Have you considered wood base molding...you could level it off the floor and use a shoe molding to make up the diffence.
Also...is it that off that if you level the top course that the last/bottom course will be "that" noticable when cut?
You never mentioned how unlevel it is.
"Revolution is not something fixed in ideology, nor is it something fashioned to a particular decade. It is a perpetual process embedded in the human spirit."
Abbie Hoffman
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
I'd screw a level strip to the wall, slightly lower than the top of the "lowest" imaginary first row tile, tile up from that strip, then the next day pull it out and piece in a first row of entirely cut ones.
I have done this.
Forrest
I agree with Forrest."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
First row tiles have a 90 bend outward, so I cut the tops instead? (Obviously, I can't cut the bottoms, since the bottom of the tile is supposed to a butt the floor tiles (which are those annoying octagonals...) In other words, there is now wood base/shoe moulding, it's just the tiles. How noticeable will these tiles be?
Personally, I don't like how wood and tile mix.It sounds like you have base cove for the base piece. How out of level are we talking? What is the difference between the high and low point, over how many feet? Is your base cove a full height piece, or just a short little cove?I would start with a level line slightly less than two tiles up from the lowest point. Do the upper tiles, let them cure, and then come back and work the bottom two rows in, trimming as necessary. I'm assuming your base cove is full height.
The base piece is ceramic. In other words, they're attempting to mimic the old school tile wainscotting, including using the little one inch hexagon tiles which take FOREVER to install. I've upped my price to ten dollars a square foot for installation and their installing roughly 228 sq ft. It's a big job. I think the solution is to level the floor. I'll screw denshield to the floor, and then do several layers of self-levelor. What do you think? My original problem was that the first row of tile (the base) the bottom edge flares out at 90 degrees. If you look at old school bathrooms circa 1930's, you'll see the bathroom ensconced in tile wainscotting. The bottom tile meets the floor tile, so there's no edge to hide like you would with regular baseboard. My problem is, if the floor isn't level (it's an old house) when you start laying out the first row, you won't be even by the time you get to the top of the tile. In other words, I need to find the high spot, and work upward and fill in the low spots on the floor.
What do you thinK?
Do not use denshield on the floor. Extremely bad idea. It is nothing more than glorified sheetrock.
Didn't the hex tiles come attached to a mesh backer in 12x12 or 12x24 sheets? And they do sell half-hex tiles to fill in the borders.
"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
They sell half hex? Man, I wish I'd known that! I've been cutting those little bastard down, and filling in by hand! It takes forever! So durrock on the floor instead? The subfloor is 1" x 3" t and g pine that's patchy at best. I'm going to screw it down, then screw down the durrock, and then put on several coats of self-leveling concrete to solid it up and hopefully, flatten and level it out. I hate working mosaic tiles on the bathroom floor. It's unavoidable in the shower area, but I always attempt to talk clients out of putting it on the actual bathroom floor. How much do you normally charge for mosaic 1 x 1 hex?
I am not a tile expert, but play one on the internet.I don't think that you want to put CBU directly on a board sub-floor no matter how solid it is. And you said that yours had problems.I would want plywood over the sub-floor.Then depending then self-leveling. Maybe ditra next depending on high high you are getting..
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
go over to this forum http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?s=a6696a563491ef352797b842813b95ae&f=1
a lot of pros on it.i believe you need a min of 1-1/4" flooring before you install the backer board.i like hardie bb better than durrock, easier to work with.needs to be set in thinset and then screwed to floor.you could level floor first then install plywood then bb.
I agree with the mud job. If you put down CBU, see if you can get some of the leveling done between the subfloor and the CBU. I'm not sure if that is possible or not though.I have a bathroom like you are describing. If you can level out the floor, you should be able to get the base cove installed fine.
Depends on how far out you are, but generally install the bottom row, then find the lowest point, install a full tile above that, and draw your horizontal line out from the top of this tile. Fill in with partial tiles as the wall gets higher on either side. Of course, you either need a saw or need to be good at nibbling to create the partial tiles.
[Of course, what Bryan suggests is equivalent and probably better -- IMAGINE you've installed the bottom row and one tile above that at the low point, then install the upper tiles. Come back and do the two bottom rows, trimming as needed
Edited 6/1/2007 6:49 am by DanH
How far out of level are we talking? If it's "pretty" close, here's a suggestion I just did a shower.
I measured around and found the spot(s) that would support a full tile, and drew a line on the wall establishing a level line on the wall. The first row is trimmed to meet the line and maintain the gap at the bottom, all remaining courses will be spaced off the now level first row.
When it's done, unless you know what to look at, you'd never notice the bottom row was trimmed.
Good luck,
Rip
How much out of level is it? You can use a tile sanding grid to sand the spacers off the edges a bit and use toothpicks to expand the grout line at the other end and tilt each row of tile about 1/32" or so. That builds up to something like 1/4" slant by the time you get halfway up the wall.
Base cove is what you are describing. Not for the faint of heart or inexperienced installer...............
Mud job to level the floor or possibly SLC.
[email protected]
We just finished up a bath where I was able to cut tapered shims along the tops of the framing to correct an out of level floor.
It is also possible to nail/glue/screw material along side the framing to accomplish the same end.
Eric[email protected]
What Eric said,
dry-pak or SLC, without good prep, your going to be fightin' all the way through.
" Base cove is what you are describing. Not for the faint of heart or inexperienced installer...............
Mud job to level the floor or possibly SLC. "
ditto all that.
especially when the "floor" of the base cove is thicker/thinner than the "matching" floor tile.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
C,
I had a similar situation recently. We flipped the tiles (3x6) to a vertical position along the floor,,,,,, a soldier course if you will. No way to notice the floor is out of whack.
You could also run your cove tiles, and then a row of soldiers, then the standard running bond.
Best thing to do is level the floor.
Harry
Many thanks to all who gave advice. I love this forum. Good pros giving other pros information in order to grow in the trades. Wish there was a round table like this in my city to talk face to face. Everything doesn't have to be about competition. I like the brotherhood of this site....