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Oh, and you guys really need to wear safety glasses

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You can't see it, but I wear safety glasses (sunglasses with an impact rating) when working with the tile saw. I was wearing them for a while indoors but they fogged up. Because I'm THAT HOT. There aren't really a lot of risks inside; these tiles don't spall when they break unlike ceramic or porcelain or glass.

There *is* a little bit of lippage on the tile that's on the wall, BUT the walls aren't straight, and the tiles are actually of different thickness by about 1/32 of an inch. Unfortunately 1/32 of an inch is visible in this application in a lot of places. Oh well -- the "beauty" of natural stone.

[This message has been edited by superspeck (edited 3/5/2012 9:15a).]

super - these pics make our work this weekend look like a piece of cake!

I'll have to dig up some safety glasses. I should have a few pairs from when we ripped a hole to the sky in my ceiling.

[This message has been edited by AgDrumma07 (edited 3/5/2012 9:54a).]

Nice work.

Is the Prova just put on with thin set? Is it like felt paper or what? I have not heard of it (but I also haven't done bathroom/shower remodels).

~egon

I feel your pain on the niches. I only had two to do, and getting the Kerdi everywhere it needed to be for the niches was a real PITA.

I'm sure you felt very accomplished when it was all done.

Doc - yes, it just goes up with a modified thin-set. The gray colored thin-set is preferred so you can see where it adheres to the Prova. The fabric is very similar to landscaping fabric. It's thick, but fairly easy to cut as needed. Here's where I bought mine:

http://www.indianafloorsllc.com/prova-showersystems.aspx

Egon - The prova is a fabric-impregnated rubber sheet. The fibers are really long, and apparently do something when exposed to thinset and pressed really hard into the thinset, that binds them to one another, making a waterproof seal.

The trick is to get enough thinset under it to activate that, but not so much that it's not actually attached to anything, but not so little that it falls off the wall when you stick the tile to it. It's actually easier than it sounds; it makes sense (to me) as I saw it go together.

I was doing some research on our favorite tile forum and found out that we can easily bullnose travertine on our own with an orbital sander and the right pads for it. That makes the niche SO much easier.

Oh, and just for the people who have actually done this before awnd are reading the thread: We're building the shower backwards, but it's for a reason. NORMALLY, what I would do is:

- Tile the floor, let it set overnight, and then cover it with cardboard.
- Start building up from the floor on the back wall.
- Tile the side walls to match the back wall from the bottom up.

That sequence guarantees that your tile heights match all the way around and is cut properly against the slope of the floor.

Instead, because we missed our window for getting the floor in, and I wasn't certain until I had seen how much bullnose was left and had a few nights to sleep on how I was going to tile the niche, what we're having to do is:

- Start tiling a few runs above the floor on the back and front
- Get all the wall tile done
- Tile the floor
- Cut the pieces of the bottom couple runs to match the slope of the pan.

So the floor, the couple of layers of tile that almost touches the floor, and the curb will actually get done *last*... we'll work our way out from the back wall.

Another complication is that the trim that we're going to put in at eye level is a different depth than the wall tile. The only way I've figured of making the depth match is to cut a little jig that will let me apply a thin bead of 1/8" of thinset to the wall, and then let it set up enough to hold it's own, then put more fresh thinset and the actual trim tile on it.

Lots of interesting challenges with this shower!

[This message has been edited by superspeck (edited 3/5/2012 11:15a).]

If it wasn't challenging, it would just be another "cookie cutter" shower.

Go big or go home!

Picked up some suitable floor tile at HD today:

Shower is looking fantastic!

AgDruma; how much was the insulation? Place is very close to my house and I've been wanting to do my garage since I moved in. Get's hotter than hell out there.

gracer - I paid $40/bag for the unfaced R-13. It had 11 batts per bag. Insulation prices vary depending on the type and R-value. I bought mine from a wholesaler because HD and Lowe's didn't carry unfaced R-13.

If unfaced R-13 will work for your garage, I have at least 1 bag I'd sell you at cost (if you're in Houston).

Reminds me why I'd rather work on someone else's house than my own.

And from somewhere back in the beginning,

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Good lord, gotta love the fancy wiring on that GFI. How does it even work? It doesn't look like there's even a ground!!!

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GFCI receps don't need a ground to work. It looks for a differential in current. What goes out, must come back. If that doesn't happen via the conductors like it is supposed to, then it happened via the hairdryer in the bathtub and the GFCI would trip.

The shower is going to hit Sexy Level 11 tomorrow when the glass accents go in.

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If unfaced R-13 will work for your garage, I have at least 1 bag I'd sell you at cost (if you're in Houston)

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I have almost 2 bags of the same product - also in Houston.

super just sent me an updated pic:




[This message has been edited by AgDrumma07 (edited 3/8/2012 1:35p).]

Awesome!!! Is he working on this during the day? Dude, you're going to have to compensate him for that!!!

Drumma & RTT, I'm going to need some of that unfaced R-13. Not sure how much yet, but I'll buy it off you. Let me measure this weekend how many feet I need. How many feet are in a bale?

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Drumma & RTT, I'm going to need some of that unfaced R-13. Not sure how much yet, but I'll buy it off you. Let me measure this weekend how many feet I need. How many feet are in a bale?

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Mike, for the stuff I have, there are 11 batts per bag. I have 2 bags total (super might be taking one, not sure yet). Each batt is a little longer than standard ceilings, so a little longer than 8 feet. They're the same width as standard stud spacing, so 16 inches I think.

I think I'm going to be tiling this shower forever. Still don't have the floor in, but the next 5 layers past the trim in the above picture are done (so almost up to the ceiling) and two of the four niches are done. The niches are taking about 2 hours apiece right now.

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I think I'm going to be tiling this shower forever. Still don't have the floor in, but the next 5 layers past the trim in the above picture are done (so almost up to the ceiling) and two of the four niches are done. The niches are taking about 2 hours apiece right now.

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Those dam* niches, taking all yo' time. AgDrumma07 you're going to come help us at the rental house too, right?

Progress, all cleaned up

And I thought my shower took forever ...

Ok, what I've learned here is that the niches are nice, but a PITA to construct. I've been to the Prova (Indiana Floor) website and I like their system. I notice they sell pre-fab niches. Based on your experience constructing your own (Speck & Drumma), would you (1) buy pre-fab next time and (2) is four too many (perhaps only 2 niches)?

I used Kerdi, but HELL YES I would use a prefab niche.

Definitely the pre-fab niches.

The main problem with the niches I built is it that they're not *perfectly* square -- also, the wall isn't perfectly level and flat, but that's a separate issue.

If the niches were perfectly flat and square, it'd still be a little bit of a pain to make all the cuts, but I wouldn't have to do stupid stuff with extra thinset, tile scraps, etc. to build the niches out to (somewhat) square, and it'd be a lot easier to pre-cut the tiles to the size they should be instead of having to measure and cut each. and. every. single. one.

I would do no more than 2 niches, but I would make them nice and large. There's a lot of good ideas in this thread on the John Bridge Tile Forum.

Or you could size the niches so they fit the tile sizes you already have eliminating a lot of cutting.

...lots of help from the peanut gallery!

[This message has been edited by agracer (edited 3/9/2012 10:00a).]

Yeah, see, that would require foresight, planning, measurements, and math... none of which are my strong suits.

I don't know why my pics keep coming out all fish-eyed. It makes the walls look like they're bending in (more than they already do).

Just appky the second universal theory of construction
1. Beat it to fit
2. Paint it to match

The last shower I did, we used a single tall niche in the control wall and used glass shelving on supports installed in the grout joints. Not that it helps you in any way shape or form now, but for future projects it may be something worth considering.

^^ the glass looks nice but constant waterspot would bug the crap out of me

Guess I won't be getting glass doors either...

"Shim and file to fit"

~egon

I didn't put in a niche when I tiled my bathtub, but I thought the ones on this website looked nice.

Walls are done. Tomorrow...floors.