Tile Tip of the Day - tidbits of info to help hone your skills

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JohnfrWhipple

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The tile in the lower right is not installed yet. What can you learn from this photo?

Lots of things.

1). use a rigid stainless ruler for lots of the fine measuring
2). Remember tile spacers in your calculations
3). A tile like the one shown above needs to be perfect. I first cut the rectangular size and when that is perfect measure for the window cut outs and miters.
 

Koa

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Is it so you can hang the drill from your belt after you're done shortening some plastic pipe?
 

Koa

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Is it so you can hang the drill from your belt after you're done shortening some plastic pipe?

Like in cutting down a PVC or ABS drain line from the inside of the pipe that's below the floor surface.
 

JohnfrWhipple

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Like in cutting down a PVC or ABS drain line from the inside of the pipe that's below the floor surface.

DING DING DING - That is correct. It's a kick ass tool and one few other tools can do. Make sure to stuff a rag or bag inside the pipe below the pipe to catch any debris. I like to rotate the drill counter clockwise while drilling.
 

JohnfrWhipple

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In the photo you see from the top down. 2" PVC pipe. 2" Shower drain OS&B (lower portion). OS&B top collar. OS&B strainer holder. Oil Rubbed Bronze ACO shower drain. If I want the OS&B (lower Portion) to sit 3/4" above the concrete floor what is wrong with this picture?

Not enough room has been left around the White PVC pipe. Now the plumber will need to chip out some concrete to make the drain rough in go where it should. This is needless work since the concrete that is there now was just added.

Next time some kind of cement blocker (like a coffee can) could have been used to keep the space needed. Or the drain could have been glued on and the cement placed around it.
 

JohnfrWhipple

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In the photo you see from the top down. 2" PVC pipe. 2" Shower drain OS&B (lower portion). OS&B top collar. OS&B strainer holder. Oil Rubbed Bronze ACO shower drain. If I want the OS&B (lower Portion) to sit 3/4" above the concrete floor what is wrong with this picture?

Not enough room has been left around the White PVC pipe. Now the plumber will need to chip out some concrete to make the drain rough in go where it should. This is needless work since the concrete that is there now was just added.

Next time some kind of cement blocker (like a coffee can) could have been used to keep the space needed. Or the drain could have been glued on and the cement placed around it.
 

JohnfrWhipple

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What is going on in this photo? What lessons can we learn from this one image?

There is lots we can learn from this photo.

1). The dam corner ideally should be placed under the NobleSeal TS.
2). The NobleSeal TS should be installed higher than shown
3). The nails are too close to the curb height and I would have smeared some NobleSealant 150 over them
 

JohnfrWhipple

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What tip can we learn from the scrap pieces of cement backer board screwed to the ceiling?

I used the cement board to save room for the drywall crew. This way they can slide their sheet into the groove.

I also added tuft tape to the top of the top plate so they could tie in their vapour proofing easier.

I could have skipped either step. It took less than ten minutes to do these two things and will net my client a better build bathroom.

Often a shower build happens out of ideal order - its good when all the trades play nice together and each respect what the other's job is.
 
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JohnfrWhipple

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Yesterdays Tip and Answer Below


I need to cut out that stud to make room for the shower niche build. What tip do you see in this photo?

That stud is an old growth fir stud. Hard as rock. Drilling the holes makes cutting the stud much easier. The more holes the better.

Once these holes where drilled I used my Japanese pull saw to finish the job. Channel locks help pry the old stud out.
 
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JohnfrWhipple

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John, I fear your nocurb site may be hijacked and turning into the worlds first shower site!

LOL - NO - that's me. Just giving the viewers what they want. Seems more people are searching out shower sex than no curb showers.

My last post makes me want to book a flight to Chicago and catch the show.... :)
 
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JohnfrWhipple

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Yesterday's Answer

61ca0d8307d6a4ba0c94b13aaaa562d0.jpg

This is an old install of mine. Look at how close the drain is to the doorway to the bedroom. What trick did I do here to make this install a little safer?

See how the wall tile comes down into the drain channel. That's the tip. No way for water to travel over the edge of the drain lip or tile edging this way.
 

JohnfrWhipple

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Where is this work taking place? What country? What is he building?

This fellow is from Australia. He is building a shower curb and setting the Hebel blocks with thin-set. Wood is not allowed for shower hobs or curbs in Australia.

They are not allowed on my projects either!
 

JohnfrWhipple

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Helpful tips. I am liking the idea of having a bench in the shower. I am guessing it will take a longer time for me to finish showering once I have this.

That can go two ways. If you build your bench wrong it will be a moody mess and gross you out. Then I think showering will be shorter.

If however the bench is built for two - then maybe you might get more enjoyment out of your shower sessions. Then you will stay longer.

I'm working on my master ensuite now and will have my benches heated!!!


02_04b.jpg


Where is this work taking place? What country? What is he building?


This fellow is from Australia. He is building a shower curb and setting the Hebel blocks with thin-set. Wood is not allowed for shower hobs or curbs in Australia.

They are not allowed on my projects either!
 
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JohnfrWhipple

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da918a29004d573b_5890-w660-h495-b0-p0--contemporary-bathroom.jpg


This wonderful shower show cases an ACO shower drain with tile insert grate. But the real design winner in this shower build is the design of the bench. What element does the bench have that makes it such a winner?

I like the fact that Mark designed the support of the bench to fall back to the back wall. This reduces the thickness of the bench face and does add more foot room in the shower.

The bench is also large enough to lie down on. That by itself is a design winner.


The shower was built by Tarkus Tile - http://www.tarkustile.com
 

JohnfrWhipple

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This waterproofing membrane is installed. Then below I pull the corner back. WHY?



What I'm showing in these two pictures is something called a pull check. The pull check allows you to see how you are doing for coverage. The thin set needs to be bonding to the fleece and the wall. The thin-set needs to be even.

You should not see trowel marks or bare spots with no thin-set coverage.

attachment.php


This photo shows some poorly installed Kerdi membrane. See how the thin-set did not make full coverage with the surface or membrane? This is why a pull check is so important.






This is a tile process shot. Why did I use the diagonal cuts in the floor? The square thing in the center is the drain for this barrier free shower.

The angle cuts allow me to keep the edges level in the shower and use large format tile to the center drain location.
 
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ShowerDude

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It would appear that you once again are embracing orange.

Making another hybrid shower ,

And adding some extra gravity flow help to the weeep hole sytem w/ ditra drain and noble weep .

Im seeing ardex, noble, laticrete, orange, aco, and how many others? !!! I like
 

JohnfrWhipple

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It would appear that you once again are embracing orange....

No. I have roughly 60 square feet of this Ditra Drain left to get rid off. I would never use it as they recommend or as an exterior deck building component - to improve on Plumbers Candle Wick. Yes. That job the Ditra Drain can do for me.

I used some Kerdi Fix and Kerdi Band on this build to bridge the glass and metal compounds to the Ardex 8+9 wall treatment.

The shower floor got NobleSeal CIS - the dry zone got NobleSeal TS. I made the mud pack onsite. Fun job. I flew up Sunday Night and just got home now. Lots of planning on this build I did with my client vie email and conference calls. I shipped up the Noble order with the Ardex materials and extra's out of Pacfic Rim. They went up before me.

My client did not want her crew practicing with the products so she paid for me to come up. Charged her $1,600.00 4 x 400. Worked my ass off. Logged a good 35-38 hours while I was there. Got to see Alaska's coast from the Masset Beach one night out for a walk.
 
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