I’d really appreciate some information concerning a corner shower I want to build into my tiny cottage:
There will be full headroom at the front where the showerhead will be, but there’s a four ft. kneewall is at the other end. The space is small enough that splash protection will be needed on the underside of the rafters above the vertical part of the wall. Should I continue the backerboard and tile up the slope of the roofline? If so, will thinset hold heavy gauged slate in a partially inverted installation? Is there a better way to do it? Thank you for any guidance.
Sam
Replies
Thinset will work once it has set, but you need to support the tiles for several hours.
Consider using lighter tiles for the ceiling, something in a contracsting or complimenting color/pattern. Or use a sheet of frp glued to the ceiling.
"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
Natural slate is quite absorbent, IMHO, it has no place in a shower. You can seal it but I doubt it can be sealed enough.
Heavily modified thinset is your best bet to stick heavy tiles to ceilings and walls.
The awful thing is that beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there, and the battlefield is the heart of man.
- Fyodor Dostoyevski
Thanks for your thoughts about slate. Maybe I should look for a ceramic product that looks like slate.Sam
Wis, Try a porcelin tile. They look more like slate than ceramic.
hope this helps, Lou
Latex-modified thinset will absolutely hold the slate. Make sure you use properly anchored backerboard to hold the thinset. You will need to develop a strategy to hold the slate for a few hours.
I don't have any pictures of tiles on ceilings, but the principle is the same. I actually did a row of tiles after work each day. The next day, I cut each of the supports down enough to hold the row below. This slate was irregular, between 1/16" and 1" thick on some tiles. I think a half hour of setup time would probably be enough to hold the tiles forever, but I was in no hurry.
On a ceiling, I would recommend using a 3/4" strip to control the edge of a row of tiles, and then some 1X1 sticks pushing the tiles perpendicular to the ceiling. If you cut one for each tile, just about 1/4" short, you can use a wedge to get the distance right to hold the tile in place. This is a job for two people. One for setting and holding the tile, and the other for placing the support.
Edited 7/9/2007 4:21 pm ET by Sasquatch
Thank you for the pic of your technique for holding the tiles. Latex modified thinset sounds like the right stuff to adnere them to the backerboard. Sam
Slate is somewhat dark. How about something lighter on the ceiling?
Wayne, you've got a point about slate being dark. I'm thinking something lighter in color and weight for the ceiling. Thanks, Sam
Ca you bear the looks of Corian or other brand solid surfacing? They make it thinner for shower surrounds and such. Easier to install and support while the adhesive bonds, if that's a concern with it.
Hey, MtnBoy: Thanks for your thoughts about my shower surface selection. You're right that Corian or another space age product would be a simpler solution, but my wife is counting on a natural surface. Maybe I'll run it by her again.... Sam
Your wife may be counting on a natural surface, but will she be willing to clean it?Most of the inexepensive slate tiles have a natural cleft surface, the nooks and crannies can catch soap and shampoo residue and get a bit gunked up."Cottage" to me means weekends, and weekends shouldn' mean scrubbing the shower. Chossing the slickest slate for the shower still won't mitigate the additional maintenance, as slate is a soft and water permeable stone.I understand the desire to use it, but it's just not the best choice.DAL does make a pretty good slate look-a-like. Decent coloration, pretty good texture, and enough patterns so you don't end up with repeating tile textures throughout the shower.Look into the DAL Continental Slate series. I've used a fair amount of it and it's a pretty good product. I'll see if I can hunt down a link to a thread with pics of a shower that used the DAL Asian Black slate.Mongo
This links to the middle of the thread, there are some pics of the floor in here:http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=86714.27Mongo
Edited 7/21/2007 10:16 am ET by Mongo
I found the DAL series on the web...the tiles look great...we'll get some samples. Thanks, Mongo!
Oops.The link I originally placed in the previous post was not the right link. It's been edited to go to the right thread.Mongo
Thanks, Mongo. I wasn't able to find the right page. Sam
I don' t know if it's the look your going for...but if you want natural stone with out a lot of weigh...how about something like the Granite Transformations product? Real stone composite...minimal care, and 3/8" thick. We just did our counter top and really like it.