All right gang, I’m a bit out of my element here and need some advice. Please take a look at the attached pics of the tile work on my Jacuzzi surround.
I’m not happy with the corners of the work. By the corners I mean where the floor meets the angle of the step and where the step transitions up to the deck and then the deck to the wall. I can’t put my finger on what it is I don’t like, but I know there’s something that doesn’t look right. I need help explaining to my tile guy what it is I want there.
It seems to me that, for starters, the lastels (sp?) should wrap around the bottom of the step as it does across the front. It also seem that a better job should have done making all the grout lines line up at the corners.
I also don’t like how there isn’t one smooth line coming up the floor, along the edge of the step, up the face of the deck, and then tieing into the wall tile.
Am I being nit-picky? Or was there a better way to deal with these transitions? I don’t really know what is and isn’t possible with tile work. I can lay a basic floor myself, but I subbed out the tile because I wanted it done right. This doesn’t look right to me. In fact I think it looks like something I could’ve done myself! And that’s a tip off right there. LOL.
Half of me wants to let him finish and see how it looks before I interfere. The other half of me says it’s better to catch it now than wait until it involves more work to fix.
What say you all? We’ve been really happy with the other work he’s done. The shower in the background is coming out nicely with the exception of the ceiling can light that I think needs to be cut in a little tighter. We had him do two other rooms (other bathroom and laundry room) all the way to grout before we had him tackle the master bath. We are very happy with the work in the other rooms, but they are basic layouts in small rooms of floor tile.
Consensus?
Replies
Four things I see in 997.jpg
The feature strip does not run around onto the 45-degree faces of the step.
The mitered joint on the vertical bullnose trim does not align with the corner of the field tile.
The field tile joints on the 45-degree face do not break in the same places as the trim on the steps
The 45-degree faces are 'wider' than the trim above... they could have been returned to the wall at 90 degrees so that the installation was all one width.
Now that you have seen problems you will probably always see them. If the tile was recently set it will pop right off and can be reset with the right cuts. If you let him grout it he will become very resistant to changing it. Think about it... when your lady is coaxing you into the new tub you do not want to be obsessing about tile problems... that stuff can seriously hamper performance! Pop off the offending tiles right now with a small flat bar and have him start resetting tomorrow. No blood no foul, it's your house.
Good. So you guys are seeing the same things as I am. That's a good thing because I feel like I've been staring at this damm addition for half my life and it's only been 3 1/2 months! I don't know how you GC guys do it.
So you're saying that it is possible to do it differently and make it look better? The tiles along the bottom step were just set today. (Yeah, I let them work on a Sunday). The floor was done on Friday and they wanted that done before the face of the step. Makes sense to me.
I don't think I'll actually pop the tiles off myself as I feel that's stepping over my bounds a bit. I'd hate it if someone sawzalled my work over the weekend because they didn't like it, so I won't do that to him. But I will bring it up first thing in the AM.
I just brought my wife in to read your comments and she's howling. Funny stuff.
Thanks David.
I see what you mean.
Now I know nothing about tile.
But I think that it would look better if the stripe on the first step would continue around the 45.
Don't have a clue what to do about the strip on the 2nd step and the surround walls.
They look kind of strange just stopping their.
And I don't like the look of the top row on the two sides of the surround. Don't know why he did not align those joints with the others.
I'm cloudy, take this with a grain of salt.
Did you have any corner bullnose? That would have made the upper tile buil nose line up on the outter edge of the tub. I understand why he didn't follow the lines at that corner, but you are right, doesn't look good when all the rest appears to line up.
The step, yup, the deco tile should wrap around.
There possibly should have maybe been a plane change on the front of the tub and the two side walls.........
I always like to see the homowner in the tub to get the full effect. And NO not you brian.
thanks
A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
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What's this open mike night at the Improv?
Thanks for the comment Cal. I'm guessing he didn't order any corner bullnose. We didn't order the materials... just picked the tile and wrote the check.
Why ya cloudy tonight? Couple wobbly pops while taking in the Browns game?
Depends.
What did you pay for it? If you brow beat the guy down on price you may be getting more than what you paid for. On the other hand if your paying top dollar you have, so far and subject to any changes, gotten somewhat less of a bargain, marginal at best for higher than average pay.
It doesn't look great but neither does it look, as a friend would say, 'hideous'. Reminds me of a good solid first or second effort by a studied, dedicated and conscientious amateur. Perhaps one of the first few by a moderately skilled tile setter's helper breaking into the trade on his own.
As the case may be it looks to me like the bases are pretty well covered but the finer points of planning and design are lacking.
What did you pay for it? If you brow beat the guy down on price you may be getting more than what you paid for.
Either you've never read a single post by me here or you're just trolling for a reaction.
Either way, I'm not going to dignify that statement with anymore of a response than this. Opening line aside, thanks for your comments.
Re: ..."I'm not going to dignify that statement with anymore of a response than this."I had expressed the other possibility, setting up a scalar, so I would have to assume your justifiably defensive.Perhaps you trolled the drunk tank with a bottle of MD20/20 for someone who claimed they could lay tile? But don't wish to discuss it because the cardinal sins in capitalism are not showing an ever greater profit and not abusing leverage.Hard to tell from your response. Clarify, or not, as you see fit.You could have simply posted that you paid good money to a skilled and established craftsman and clarified it. What in personality, assumed entitlement or conscience motivated your reaction is actually far more interesting than a less than perfect tile job.Often it is the space between the words that tells the story.
Whatever lets you sleep at night guy.
Pardon me for assuming that those of you that know me would know better than to assume that I hired "from the drunk tank". I thought you regulars wouldn't make such asinine statements. I guess you've proven me wrong.
Wait a minute..... I'm looking for some advice on a tile layout. Remind me again why I need to justify to you who I hired to do the job? FWIW all my subs on my project came from sites I've worked on where I saw and appreciated their previous work. I talked to the respective GC's to get a feel for what their relationship was like in addition to their quality of work. We have yet to make a decision on who we had do work based on price. We've also been fortunate that all the subs who've we've dealth with haven't tried to gouge any pricing. They all charged and were paid their going rate... on time. Perhaps that's because they respect my straight forward way of doing business. Perhaps it's because they took time to get to know me before judging me.
You should be taking notes.
Do you have anything constructive regarding tile layout to add to the discussion or are just looking for some fireworks tonight?
Edited 12/11/2005 9:25 pm ET by dieselpig
The steps are not needed, in fact they are dngerous in many ways.http://www.shelladditions.com
I guess I see things like the others.
First riser - Trim or deco color should wrap corner. First tread - cut on bullnose at the 45 degree corner should match the vertical grout line of the tile on the first riser (and to the right on the other side). Second riser - 45 degree cut on surface bullnose should be altered to meet adjacent grout lines. Or, use larger surface bull, which normally comes the same size as field tile) cut to extend the tile to the corner of the wall. Some bullnose comes with the radius on two adjacent edges so you eliminate the need for that 45 degree cut.
Same for inside walls. Tile should extend to the outside corners or even wrap around.
I probably would have extended the tubs back wall tile to the pitch and I also like my tile all the way up so I would have extended the end wall tiles to the ceiling. Doing it that way does away with the need for a bullnose tile to frame in the field tile.
It looks like it was done by someone with a little tile experience, but probably just simple floor layouts. The joints mostly look good, and it looks like he tried to do a good job, but just didn't know how to handle the details
I'm bothered by the sliver of tile in front of the tub flange. Looks like a half-inch?
"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
No its not you. It looks "horrendous"! Mainly the corner. Looks like it wasn't planned out "at all". Like he did it as he went along, not thinking two steps ahead.
Ralph gave you the right answers. Its really pretty simple and you could have done it better is my guess but one only has so much time in a day and you need to have other people do at least some of the other work.
Doesn't look too bad to rip off and redo at all.That corner is almost...no ..it IS laughable. Otherwise it looks as though he does decent work. Looks as though he needs to consult with you what is going to take place before he starts.
Its probably partly your fault too for not consulting with "him" as to exactly what you wanted. We've all been there so...... Hindsight sucks!!LOL.
There are several different possibilities and its really a matter of what you like. Even still what he did is atrocious. Not his work, but that corner design....eeeeeeee.
Looks easy to remedy though. Pulling those tiles off is nuttin'. Better now than never.
What was he thinkinggggggggg? Like I said...he wasn't thinking ahead obviously.
Let us know how it turns out. Looks great other wise!!
Be well
andy
The secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides, I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace. I honor the place within you where if you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.
LOL..... now tell me what you really think Andy. Got any specific suggestions on what I can tell him to 'fix' it? I need to talk to him in the morning and the better I can explain myself in "tile speak" the better our chance of not crossing wire again. Thanks for the honesty dude.
Ditto what the others have said.
Also, the rainbow trout tiles up high above the tub look like they were somehow sucked up by reverse gravity directly against the border tiles. Perhaps if they were one field tile down they would look better to my eye. That's not a technical problem as are the 45 degree corners on the lower level, just thinking out loud.
Usually I'll at least mention to the client that if the floor tile is parallel to the walls, then they might think about having the tub surround field tiles at a diagonal, or visa versa. Just an option, or at least it was yesterday.
There's something else odd about the tile and it might be the border tiles. Perhaps this design would look better with some full size bull nose and eliminate some of the busy areas that don't contribute. It would be a cleaner look, if that's what you were after. Again, just nitpicking and I wouldn't expect anyone to change that at this point.
A technical issue that I wouldn't have done is the lack of caulk joints at any change in plane. The tile expands and contracts with heat, the framing does the same but also from seasonal moisture level changes, the floor will do what it does, etc., and the corners will develop hairline cracks without sanded caulking at those intersections. The first step in direct contact with the floor is the clue since a caulk joint needs to be more than a sliver in order to survive movement. If a .010" thick caulk joint moves .020" the caulk would have to survive stretching nearly twice it's length.
However, most residential tile isn't subjected to a great deal of moisture so you are ok as this is common practice in many places. Jackson Hole, with some of the nicest houses in the west, is an example of a town where essentially all the tile setters in town grout everything and rarely use sanded caulk, so you're in good company. Water will get sucked into the cracks in the grout, but it probably won't do any damage if the water barrier was done well.
Upon walking into a bathroom that has a lot of tile, or all tile, and grouted corners I used to bet the GC a buck that there were cracks in all the corners. They'd fall for it and get down close...and see a hairline crack! Then another and another. Tile subs love me. *chuckle*
Congrats on your new digs. The thing that makes finish work so rewarding is watching the details come together.
Cheers,
Don
Got any specific suggestions on what I can tell him to 'fix' it?
You might ask him to sketch the design on a piece of graph paper. Doesn't need to be blueprint quality, but just count squartes and sketch how the tiles will be laid out.
I thinkn I saw someone mention that the floor tiles and the step tile joints don't line up. Looks to me like they are different size tiles, so they never will align.
I wonder if it would look better if he took some of the floor tiles and ripped them top about 2" wide, and used tham as a base or toekick along the step. As is, it looks like the tub and steps were retrofitted to an existing room. It needs some kind of transition between the flor and the step.
"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
Just another .02 worth but I think the feature strip should be mitered and returned on a vertical plane at all points in the tub and step area. And yes, as others have already pointed out, wrapped around those corners on the step. I think a lot of the distraction would be lessened with this minor detail and make a stronger visual statement without looking like it's hanging out there without an anchor point.
That makes sense in my little "framer" brain. I appreciate your thoughts. I'll share them (along with the others) with the tile guys tomorrow. I think we're all seeing the same things wrong in those pictures. That makes me feel better to know that I'm not either being nit-picky or just ignorant as to what I'm looking at.
The puters not letting me jump back and forth from writing to looking at your pictyres but to try and do it from memory....Its too much to ask to remove all the tile from the top of the platform on the ends and start from the open end rather than the inside corner which is how it should have been laid out short of framing the "step" differently....so...at this point I think the lesser of all the evils is to continue the end tile above the platform and either use a tile with a bullnosed edge to cover the edge of the tile that I would wrap the 3 1/2" return right to the end. This way you can continue it down to the end of the step. Run the blue trim tiles into one another with a small miter.
I know I'm missing something. Wish I could jump back and forth...sorry...but you get my drift.
I think he could only agree. I'm sure you'll have no problem with him. I've satisfied peoples idiosyncrosies way worse than that and this is " BEYOND" reasonable.
Also the floor tiles not meeting the grout lines of the tub tiles (I think you asked that) is fine the way it is. Its actually better IMO this way.
The secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides, I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace. I honor the place within you where if you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.
Edited 12/11/2005 9:27 pm ET by andybuildz
That's good stuff Andy. Thanks for your experience. You're right, he's a really good guy and I don't see him having a problem "correcting" it. I just want to be armed with a little more information than "dunno dude...just don't look right to me". Which is all I had when I started. lol.
Thank god this happened at the end rather than the beginning...who knows, maybe he's on his period...lolThe secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides, I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace. I honor the place within you where if you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.
See, if you'd continued as a remodeling GC you'd know all the tricks that homeowners use to let us know that they aren't happy. All you'd need to do is shoot the tilesetter a look in the morning and he'd be taking it all apart. Then you could get all cheerful on him and offer a cup of coffee at break time.
Dieselpig - I posted this a while ago, but it didn't come up. I may have hit the wrong key, or it may be floating around in space.
On the bottom step face, definitely run the face tile with the strip all the way around the corners and terminate them into the walls.
On the 2nd step and on the tile over the back of the tub, I see a problem with the "black stripe" terminating abruptly, ending at the cap tiles. Since the stripes are part of the tiles, I would have him cut the stripe out of a few tiles to make a feature strip. then I would use them as vertical returns, in a downward direction. That will get rid of the sudden ending.
As far as the non matching grout lines on the back, it can look good either way. What he did, by changing his pattern was call attention to it. have him remove the cap that don't line up and re-set them so they do (if that is the look you want).
Don K.
EJG Homes Renovations - New Construction - Rentals
I hate tiled steps. They just look cheap. Would you consider a nice piece of stone?
LOL.---------------------
Swimming through the ashes of another life, no real reason to accept the way things have changed. Wrapped in guilt, sealed up tight.
I hear you on the steps! A Bigger issue is the Jetted tub, Breeding Grounds for Bacteria.
Own one once, never again.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE TUB IS OFF? IT'S DARK AND MOIST, WITH SOME STAGNANT WATER. DOESN'T THAT MAKE THE PERFECT PLACE FOR BACTERIA GROWTH?
OK - after all the other posts here, I'll weight in: it looks looks pretty poor. I would not want it in my home.
The main thing is that is has very un-clean lines and is too complicated. I would take a hammer to it and get the thing simplified.
I know this will be a pain to pursue with the guy, but I would do it.
Best of luck to you,
TTF
Boy there's some useful information. I'll be sure and let my sub know that TTF wouldn't want it in his house. Got anything useful to add.... like what specifically could be done to make it look better?
Relax bro...sorry ya asked, right? LOL
Its not bad at all...just fix those ends and yer cool...really.
Personally I like having a step and I don't think its dangerous at all.
I did it on a favorite bathroom I built a ways back and it was marble. Really shiny but I never took a dive,,,even when I was drunk...I don't remember taking a dive...hmmmm...lol. It looks dumb without a step IMO.
Throw some plants and carpet and chackas in there and it'll look like its supposed to...lived in.
BTW...tell some of the A-holes that are giving ya a hard time to go F themselves. You have my permission : )~
Be an expert on everything...lol
andyThe secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides, I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace. I honor the place within you where if you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.
usualy these tubs are within 4 or 5 inches of appropriate seating height. You sit on the ledge and swing your legs in the tub, I have had 4 of these things in houses i have built for myself. Wait until you need to clean the tub and you have to crawl up your steps and lean down in the thing, Or wait untilyou slip off the wettile step and bust your ####. Steps on whirlpool tubs are an 80s thing. I would like to see a picture of someone walking up their steps to their tub and the hermit crab position they need to get in to get down in the tub.http://www.shelladditions.com
Specifically - see the attached pictures. Have your sub focus on aligning the joints where ever possible - that's "first day on the job" stuff.
Edited 12/12/2005 12:41 am ET by TTF
Diesel - I'm a little late to the dance here and much of what I saw has been said. But FWIW I think carrying the dark line of the feature tile around the steps is a big improvement. The sudden termination of the dark stripe is real noticable. Since that stripe looks like it is part of the tile and not a separate strip, what do you think about having him cut a few strips out of the tiles, then use the dark strips as returns down (vertically, mitered into the horizontals) on the 2nd step and/or the walls? The cap tiles he used just don't do it. I think that would look better than just wrapping tiles across the front because the same problem will occur. You will still have horizontal stripes that just "end", only in a different location further out.
As far as the joint lines not lining up on the back - that's a question of taste. Depending on the tile, personally I sometimes will intentionally avoid lining them up. If he would have been consistent - either way - it would look better. On that one, tell him how you like it.
Don K.
EJG Homes Renovations - New Construction - Rentals
Just a thought here and a quick sketch of a possible corner return, diesel.
This design incorporates running the design tile around the corner and terminating it at the wall. It also allows the various runs of tile to match up as they work their way around the corner.
Hope the holidays are treating you well -
Mac
edited to add: although I wouldn't recommend your tile guy follow my lines exactly! Looking back over it, it was a pretty quick sketch!
Edited 12/12/2005 12:30 am by Mac_Built
Me thinks all them litte white crosses will hurt the feets.
LOL.
Holy Moly. Tough crowd.
All right here's the scoop. Take it or leave it. For those of you who took the time to make drawings and sketches and rework my photographs with notes, I sincerely thank you for taking the time to help me out. I appreciate all the constructive advice, regardless of how hard it is to swallow.
But some of you other cats, I'd like to meet, or at least visit the perfect world you live in for a little while. Although I know I'd never fit in. I don't know about you guys but I don't live in a perfect world. Sometimes I screw up at work and have to fix it. Sometimes I have bad days and brain farts. My tile guy is entitled to the same. And before I go throwing his azz out in the street, calling him a liar for telling me he's more experienced than he is, and smashing out my tile job with a sledgehammer.... I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt and see if he can make it look a little better.
It's just my bathroom. Yes I paid good money, but when the day's done... it's just where I go to wash the dirt off my azz and scrape the hair off my face. Do I want it to look nice? Yes, of course. But I don't need Michael Byrne to install my tile to be happy. (Besides.. he was all booked up. {G}) My work isn't perfect. My crew isn't perfect. My family isn't perfect. And I'm not perfect. I don't need my tile to be "perfect". It's just middle of the road ceramic tile on a middle of the line jetted tub. I just want it to look nice.
And that's all I was soliciting opinions on. "What can we do to make this look better?" I wasn't looking to play "let's rip the tile guy". I wasn't looking to play the "well you musta lowballed him" game. Just looking for a better way to handle the corners of the step on my tub.
For those of you that actually took the time to read my question and answer it thoughtfully I thank you very much. With your suggestions we reached a design we're happy with. It was fixed by the time I got home from work. Is it perfect? Nope. Is it good enough for me? Yup.
For those of you that just saw this as an opportunity to point and laugh and feel better about yourself.... well.... you can respectfully kiss my azz. If I listened to you guys I'd be led to believe that you've never worked on, near, or around anything less than museum quality work. Funny how it's the same guys who never have the stones to post pictures of anything they've had a hand in building. Sorta makes you think.......
Yall know which side of the line you're on.
Dieselpig, (i feel comfortable with your name) I would love to see everyones bathroom pics posted on this site...I know you would have some humble-pie-eating gentlemen saying very little. For the majority of Americans, your digs are tough to beat. stinky
I could show you a pic of our current bathroom but then I'd have to kill you.
Thanks Stinky. And I love your name..... that's fantastic!
I stopped reading the replies, but I think you should consider floor tile on the tread of the step. That wall tile is going to be slippier than sh!t when done washing you a$$. I think it would help solve some of the awkwardness with the tile pattern.
Anyway, bullnose tile always look awkward to me. I know there is no other alternative. It just never lines up right. Just commenting in general.---------------------
Swimming through the ashes of another life, no real reason to accept the way things have changed. Wrapped in guilt, sealed up tight.
You know Dustin, I agree that the step is going to be slippery. But sometimes She gets what She wants, you know what I mean? Ever try to convince a customer that they weren't making the best decision.... but you knew they already had their heart set on it anyway? I like being married more than I like being right sometimes.
And yes.... it will make it more awkward to clean it too. Good thing I don't clean our bathtubs, huh?
Anyway... it's done. And it's staying done until it's time to remodel the joint in about 20 years. Thanks for having a look at the pics.
I didn't realize it was done, done. Guess that's what I get for not reading all the posts.
It's probably one of those things you stew over now, and a week from now you won't ever think about again.---------------------
Swimming through the ashes of another life, no real reason to accept the way things have changed. Wrapped in guilt, sealed up tight.
Any chance of seeing the 'after' pics following the repair? Just like to see how your concerns were resolved. If you'd rather not, no problem-o.
"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Invictus, by Henley.
Yer kidding, right Nick? We're happy with the way it was resolved and that was the goal of this thread.... making it look better without starting over. No way I'm throwing gas on the fire and giving the critics more ammo. I'd be happy to email one to you if you email me your address. Can't attach files through the site email.
Sorry my first response was "take a hammer to it" - I should have posted the suggestion pics right up front. It wasnt very constructive.
Good luck! If you have a solution that you like, that the most important thing.
Funny how it's the same guys who never have the stones to post pictures of anything they've had a hand in building
I hope I was on the right side. Anyway, here's my bathroom floor. 4" and 6" tumbled limestone tiles, mostly chocolate color, with 1" glass accents and a border of blanco color 1x2" tiles. DW was very happy. It's cold as he!! on the feet in the morning, and she won't put rugs over it. The material was not cheap, the labor was free (it was either lay the tile, or kiss my a$$ goodbye). The colors in the pic are more subdued than in real life.
"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
It's all good Eddie... and that's a great looking floor. Where were you when I was interviewing tile subs? {G}
Me thinks it'll look fine, I'm not going to comment on the layout etc, you've been down that road, one thing to keep in mind, once it's grouted, so long as the grout reasonably matches the tile, most of the small imperfections you see now will dispear.
now some diehard tile fanatics will disagree and say grout won't mask problems...
that and most anyone you have over and looks at the bathroom, ain't gonna notice squat.
you want me to tell you a story about how we re-tiled this lady's backsplash 3 times till she liked it and it was "perfect" our tile sub was ready to kill someone ;)
"most anyone you have over and looks at the bathroom, ain't gonna notice squat"
...or they are going to notice, then look at how big, mean and ornery Dieselpig can be, and just keep quiet. <G>
Don K.
EJG Homes Renovations - New Construction - Rentals
Wouldn't it be funny to see a bathroom that was built by committe here at BT? :-)
DieselPig, Great attitude about it all. It was a good brain teaser.
Cheers,
Don
Where were you when I was interviewing tile subs?
You wouldn't pay mileage.
"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
Very nice floor Fast Eddie. Your wife has good taste in tile and setters!!
[email protected]
It's Never Too Late To Become What You Might Have Been
aaaarrrrrrgggggggghhhhhh! Here's me stones laddy!!!
Put a damp towel on the step if it is slippery.[email protected]
It's Never Too Late To Become What You Might Have Been
Looks like you did a nice job on the Waterman tiles, but I can't stand the look. Are they metal finish?
"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
Here's a kitchen backspalash I did as part of a whole-houre remodel. The tiles are split-face stone, about 3x6", and very coarse and uneven. Really, really tough to grout. And she used them behind the cooktop. I can't imagine trying to clean spaghetti sauce off this stuff. (Not grouted in this pic.)
"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
Field tile is glass. "Thames", mind you. Big red stamp on the box=MADE IN CHINA!!
The silvery ones are plastic! Yup, seeing more and more of this. Actually, I think some kind of cast resin type of stuff, then a foil layer of SS, then a layer of clear resin on top. Cut 'em on the wet saw.
Looks cool, but not my taste either.
SS will be the "white" of the 00's.
How DID you grout those tiles?? Grout release would help but huh?
Eric[email protected]
It's Never Too Late To Become What You Might Have Been
I put on a coat of sealer, maybe two, then grouted small secxtions and wore out several sponges. It's a nice look, but he!! to grout.
I did a small backsplash recently in some kind of plastic tiles. Looked like a bronze finish, but it has a resin core. They cut eassily on a miter saw. The HO was impressed, I was underwhelmed. Came out of somewhere in Vermont.
"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 cut eassily on a miter saw.
Ditto.
I did a bath with a 2x6 deco border, the tiles were made to look like limestone, actually fooled me till I droped one and it bounced! Then I read that you can cut them with wood working tools.
They had an intricate design on them, so I taped them off from the feild to grout and went back doing the joints only and carefully. The grout stained them in the areas where I applied it. No one noticed but me, and I think it showed up more in the photos I took.[email protected]
It's Never Too Late To Become What You Might Have Been
glad U found a compromise.
U were stuck .... and .. the tile guy was a bit stuck too.
I was gonna sk if the bullnose measured up "exactly" to the tiles ... lotsa times ... they don't ... and the tile guy gets a bad rap for using the materials he was given.
same deal with that border ... unfinished edges and all. Nice ideas to run it everywhere ... but I can see where he was left with an unfinished edge ...
looks to me like he decided to run the top of the rear splash ... then have everything else match that layout. Usually not a bad compromise.
as for the grout lines lining up from the floor to the walls behind the tub ... that's what I shoot for in my tile layouts. Tehn again ... I am a trim carp first and a tile sub second. I've subed miles of tiles ... and have worked around many miles than I've set ... and I've learned over the years ... a "tile sub" ... usually doesn't take the time to layout and shift as much as I do.
So yer first mistake was hiring aguy that's a professional tile sub!
How dare U!!
U shoulda found a trim carp turned tile artist ... who's bid was twice that of every other professional tile setter ... and who worked way slower too boot!
... maybe all them lines woulda lined up ... but ya still woulda kinda screwed the guy by throwing in that border that had no place to go.
To me ... that one can't be "made perfect" ... but I bet the re-do looks just fine.
I actually told a customer once ... "build a new universe" ...
I stood back from a tight/tough layout ... said to myself ...
"wow ... that looks almost perfect" ... which .. is my highest compliment to myself ...
he over hears .. says ... "I'm paying for perfect"! In not too joking a manner ...
so ... I just said ... "Then build a new universe and call me when yer done ... 'cause nothing in this one is perfect" ...
Don't worry Bud ... mine's not perfect either ... it's all in hiding the imperfections.
jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa