Tiling - Master Bathroom Renovation Project

Master Bathroom Renovation Project - Tiling

PREP:

Finally it is time to put the tiles. The first step is to install guide bar at the bottom of the wall. To set the height of the first line of the full (not cut) tile, total height is measured and decide where the top and the bottom tiles are about the same size. Put the straight bar (I used 2x4s and some other woods) and temporarily fasten to the wall. All the walls including the tub and shower should have the same height, otherwise it will look awful.

For the floor, I have used Detra underlayment to prevent any moisture damage from the possible crack of the tile. I have used regular thinset as recommended by manufacturer as adhesive (Fig 31).

Fig 30. Tile guide for the first full size tile.

Fig 31. Detra underlayment installation on the floor.

WALL TILES:

The grout spacing that I have used is 1/8 for the 8x12 wall tiles and 3/16 for the 16x16 floor tiles. I have searched the web and the Floor Elf was somewhat helpful. At the end of the first day (Fig 32), I have done quite a lot (it was the first tiling in my life). Before starting, I was eager to get it done so I mixed ALL 55 lbs bag of fortified thinset in a bucket. It did not take too long to realize that this was a huge mistake. I did not cut all the tiles beforehand so unless you have a helper to cut the tiles, just mix what you can finish in two hours or so. I was not able to proceed with the mosaic tiles on the front wall because it was sliding down. I had to discard about 3/4 of 55 bags of thinset at the end of the day.

Fig 32. End of first day of tiling.  The front wall's mosaic was
sliding down slowly so I removed the middle one.

Fig 33. Nails to prevent slipping of  the mosaic tiles.

After the first day is over, I've got severe flu so I could not even move out of bed for 5 days.  When I was little better (but still not able to work), I was thinking how to prevent sliding of the mosaic tiles.  I bought thin 7/8 inch nails and used them to hold between mosaics (Fig 33).  I have used about 3-4 nails for 12-by-12 mosaics. I was able to put the mosaic tiles all the way to the top in a day (Fig 34).

Shower niches will have the same mosaic tiles on the back wall.  The trick of installation is the same but the side walls had to be cut before putting the tiles.  The depth of the bottom wall is deeper so the mosaic will sit on the bottom  tile and the side and the top walls are to be installed after back tile is installed to prevent cutting the mosaic tiles (Fig 35).

Fig 34. Progress in a day.

Fig 35. Mosaic tiles on Shower niches.  (Left: Shower niche, Right: Sink wall niche)

Fig 36. Around the tub tile installation.

Lots of decoration tiles are used around the tub.  Fig 36 shows the tile installation around the tub.  The level was a little bit off on top of the tub so I had to use extra caution to add thicker mortar on the right side than left.

I have learned that the number of corners is directly proportional to the labor time.  For example, the total working time to finish the shower niche was longer than the entire wall with 8x12 tiles.  Measuring and cutting time took way longer than I thought it would be.  The shower wall is complete.  Now I have to select the grout color.

Fig 36. Finished tiles in the shower area.

FLOOR TILES:

Lessons were learned from the first few days. For the floor tiles, I cut ALL the tiles before putting mortar. Fig 37 shows most tricky cuts I made. As you can see in the Fig 2 from my old blog post, my bathroom has a small wall sticking out next to the toilet. There is a tricky cut around the wall. It is very tricky since one side was too narrow so it might easily break. I lost one tile and successfully made the correct cut in the second try. Another tricky cut was around the toilet. I had to make a big circle hole in the middle of the 16-by-16 inch tile. I also wasted one tile and made it in the second try.

Fig 37. Tricky cuts of the floor tiles. (Left: around the wall post, Right: around the toilet bowl)

After all the cutting is complete, I started to put them on the floor permanently.  I have started from the middle towards toilet area. It took me about 4 days to install all the floors.  One single mistake in using spacer will ruin your grout lines and the gap will become bigger and bigger.  So be careful!

Fig 38. Left: Drying the mortars, Right: after applying grout.

GROUTING:

I have selected LINEN (#122) grout color, which is a little bit darker than cream. I bought two boxes of sanded and two boxes of non-sanded grouts. I used non-sanded ones on the mosaic tiles and sanded ones on the 8x12 walls and 16x16 floors. I have the pictures of the shower after grout in Fig 39.

Fig 39. Grouting is completed.

GROUT SEALER:

I have used Miracle Sealants 32 oz. 511 Impregnator Penetrating Sealer (bought it from Homedepot) to seal the grouts and natural stone tiles. It is very easy to apply - just used a small handkerchief-sized cloth and rubbed. It is almost done, although it is way over due and way over budget. :-(

Fig 40. Handheld shower is installed after the sealer is applied.

Stay tuned. The next topic will be the Glass Block installation and the shower door installation.

Framing - Master Bathroom Renovation Project

Master Bathroom Renovation Project - Framing

FRAMING AROUND THE SHOWER:

Fig 17. Glass block (Pittsburgh Corning Thinline).
These two blocks were damaged on arrival. Other 28 blocks
were OK.  I was able to get refunds for those two blocks
from Homedepot.

After the plumbing is complete, the walls and floors are to be ready for the tiles to be installed, which includes all the walls where tiles are going to be installed (including the tub and the shower curb.)  The dimension of the shower became 35-by-48 inches after backer board installation.  The wall against the tub had to be installed with extra caution because it has to be leveled as perfect as possible because the glass blocks will be installed on top of this wall.  The glass blocks I am going to use is Pittsburgh Corning's 8-by-8-by-3 inch thickness blocks. 4-by-7 of these blocks will be installed, which requires opening of 31-⅞ wide x 55-½ height.  

Fig 18. Shower curb is installed with three 2x4s.

SHOWER CURB: 

I stacked three 2x4s for the shower curb which will yield ~5-inch of height of the finished surface from outside of the shower and ~3 inch of height from inside of the shower.

SHOWER PAN:

I am very thankful for the deck-mud calculator in http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/showerfloormudcalc.cgi which is a great tool to estimate the amount of portland cement and sand for desired dimension and depth.  Without this tool, the procedure would have been much uglier.  As recommended by the deck-mud calculator, I mixed 58 lbs of Sand Topping Mix with 29 lbs of Play Sand in the medium size of mixing tub.  Also as recommendation of Johnbridge.com, minimum amount of water is used.  

Fig 19. The amount of sand and the Portland cement for my shower pan size.   http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/showerfloormudcalc.cgi

Fig 20. After installing tar paper on the subfloor.

Staple 30-mil tar paper (yes, 15-mil is fine, too) on the subfloor (Fig 20) and metal lath was cut and laid on top of the tar paper (Fig 21).  I have had a final check of the level of the drain.  Desired height was marked around the shower floor before dumping the deck mud on the pan.  The pre-slope was carefully laid using level and finish trowel.  

Fig 21. Metal lath on top of the tar paper.

Fig 22. After the pre-slope with deck-mud.
Sorry, I do not have pictures during the pre-slope installation.
I was too busy to take photos when the deck-mud was wet.

After drying ~48 hours (it is dry in 24  hours), the shower pan liner is installed.  The most important thing at this stage is to minimize cutting of the liner.  I have used Oatey shower pan liner 6x5 feet without cutting (Fig 23). It fits very well with enough heights around the walls and the curb. Corner should not be cut in order to maximize waterproof of the shower pan.  The center is carefully cut and the weep hole protector and the shower drain cover is tightly screwed (see Fig 24).

When the shower pan liner is completely installed, the insulation should be installed before putting up the backer board (Fig 24).

Fig 23. Laying down shower pan liner.

Fig 24. Shower pan liner is complete.
The pink insulation is installed before the backer board.

WALLS:

After the shower liner is installed, cement backer board was cut and ready to install.  I used Hardie backer board because it is lighter and easier to cut.  Wonderboard is a little bit inexpensive but the edges chip easily, which I did not like.  I have used table saw and circular saw to cut the board.  Boards were carefully cut  and used Hardie backer screws to secure them on  the stud.  I have used ones every 10-12 inches.

Fig 24. Backer board is installed after the shower
pan liner installation.

FINISHING SHOWER PAN:

We are not done yet for the shower pan prep - we still have to do the top layer. Again, top layer of deck mud is mixed as directed by the calculator.  The problem was that my mid-size mixing tub was way too small for 117 lbs of sand topping mix and 58 lbs of sand.  I mixed the powder without adding water then split to the bucket.  As you can imagine, bucket is not a good place to mix the deck mud, because of adding minimum water, it is very difficult to mix all the corners.  It is simply too heavy. When I pour the mixed mud to the shower pan, I found some unmixed powders so I had to mix them on the fly.  Again, that's why I do not have pictures while working on the deck-mud. Finished top layer is shown in Fig 25.

Hardie backer board is installed where the tiles will be installed. around the shower and the tub. The finished pictures are shown in Fig 26. The most important thing to remember at this stage is to level right. If you think you can adjust the level by the thickness of the thinset during the tile installation, yes, you can. But it is not a good idea. Believe me. It will be much easier and faster to fix it at this stage.

Do not even think of cutting the Hardie backer board using knife by scoring. Quarter inch board can be cut but still requires lots of labor. I simply used circular saw, table saw, and grinder. Beware, this work creates lots of dust. Use gloves, safety glasses, and high quality dust mask.

Once all the backer boards are installed, it is time to apply waterproof membrane on the joints and the holes where the water might possibly get in behind the backer board. I used RedGard 1 Gal. I only used about a half gallon. Use fiberglass tape at the big gaps and joints (Fig 27).

Fig 25. Completed top layer deck mud.

Fig 26. Backer board installation.

Fig 27. RedGard water proofing membrane was
applied at every joints and the nail holes. 

 ANOTHER FRAMING CHALLENGE:

Fig 28. Post installation using two 2x4's.

The biggest design change of this project is the shower back wall where the shower meets the tub.  As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I have decided to used the glass blocks.  To support them, the post should be installed at the corner of the glass blocks and the shower door to support both glass blocks and the frame-less shower door (Fig 28).  Since the thickness of the Thinline Glass Block is ~3 inch, I used 2 2x4s as a frame.  The actual thickness of 2x4 stud is 1.5 inches so It made 3 inches of thickness and the backer board will add 0.5 inches and the tile will add another ~0.5 inch each side.  The total width after the tile installation will be ~5 inches. The total height of the glass blocks will be 55 ½ inch and the shower back wall is about 20 inches from the top of the shower curb.  The height of the shower door is 76 inches so I had to be very careful to raise the bottom of the glass blocks to match the final height of the wall with the shower door (Fig 29).  Since the glass blocks cannot be cut, the height and the width of the opening has to be exactly measured and prepared.  One 2x3 is attached against the wall to allow appropriate openings for the glass blocks.  

Fig 29. Adding 2x4 to raise the wall to match the total height
of 76 inch (Shower door height).   See the gaps filled with
wood chips to achieve perfect level.

Framing is complete and ready for the tile installation. To be continued...

Plumbing - Master Bathroom Renovation Project

Master Bathroom Renovation Project - Plumbing

Fig 11(a) Drain must to be leveled.

DRAIN:

2” drain pipe had to be cut about 2 inches to level with the bottom of the subfloor to install the new drain I bought (KOHLER K-9136-G Square Design Tile-In Shower Drain, Brushed Chrome).  Cutting was not easy because I had to use the saw while pulling the drain trap upward.  After the cut, the edge was ground to be the right angle using 4-1/2-Inch Small-Angle Grinder.  Once you are happy, stop there.  Do not glue it now!  You will have to glue it after laying the tar paper and metal lath later.  

Fig 11(b) Drain fits after cutting the PVC pipe. 

In order to match the colors of the faucets, I bought a new set of tub faucets in oil-rubbed bronze color.  The valves also had to be replaced to match with the new faucets.  Faucet valves and diverters had to be completely installed before I put the tile backerboards.






List of plumbing valves and trims I bought:

Pfister R89-7MBY Marielle Single-Control Shower Only Trim Kit, Tuscan Bronze
Pfister 0X8-310A Single Control Pressure Balance Tub/Shower Valve, Unfinished
Pfister 016-200Y Wall-Mount Slide Bar Shower System, Tuscan Bronze
Pfister 016-DT1Y Shower Diverter Trim Kit with Handle, Tuscan Bronze
Pfister 015-IWDX Two Way Diverter Valve, Unfinished
Delta Foundations BT2796-OB Roman Tub Trim, Oil Bronze
Delta Faucet R2707 Flexible Roman Tub Rough

TUB:

I cut the copper pipe to the spout and then shut off the water of the house to started working on the water inlet pipes.  The cold and hot valves are located in the weird position because of the rubber tube around the Whirpool tub.  

Fig 12. Old tub faucets
that is going to be replaced.

I did not want to solder near the rubber tube because it can melt things, so decided to use Shark-bites for the main water connections.  I soldered the copper pipes for all other locations.  I had to bend the output copper tubes from each faucet valve and connect to the T shape connector.  It was difficult to make them aligned with 90 degrees T connector.  I had to be very careful not to break the flexible copper pipe.  On the last elbow soldering, I was so excited about what I did.  I mistakenly turned on the water before the pipe was completely cooled down.  The solder at the last elbow cracked and started to leak!!!  WAIT UNTIL THE PIPES ARE AIR-COOLED. I had to remove the water in the pipe and re-solder again to fix it.  I should have waited longer until the pipe became cooler.

Fig 13(b) Side view of the tub valve.

Fig 13(a) New faucet valves after solder.  You can also see the Shark-bites behind the rubber pipe around the whirlpool tub.

Fig 14 Elbow at the spout.

Fig 15 New tub faucets after all.

SHOWER:

Fig 16(b) Time consuming job for the
diverter to hand-held shower spout.

Fig 16(a) Shower valve with diverter.

 The next day, I replaced the main shower water valve along with the diverter for the hand-held shower.  It was much difficult procedure than the tub, because I had to make sure the right depth of the valves from the finished wall.  I used Shark-bites on three of diverter valve connectors because I wanted to allow flexibility when installing the pipe to the main and the hand-held shower.  Due to the non-standard stud installation in my shower, I had to scrape the studs for the hand-held shower pipes.  It was very time consuming process.  I used various sizes of drill bits up to 5/8 inch bit as well as chisels. 

Fig 16(c) Completed shower valves.

The next step is to do the framing work including the water damage fixing.  I have a lot of things to cover so stay tuned.

To be continued...