[RetroJoe_1]

well I was installing glass tile on the walls around the bathroom a friend of mine who said he is Schluter certified, which I believe, was installing the mosaic tile sheets in the shower install. The shower stall is Kerdi board. All the seams have been properly taped off with Kerdi band and I used the Kerdi floor system which is tapered down to the drain. The problem is what he put the Mosaic sheets in he didn't leave any space between each sheet so where they meet he left no grout line whatsoever. There are approximately 9 Mosaic sheets in the shower floor. And it doesn't seem like I'm going to be able to get any grout in there. When I confronted him about it he said that if the tiles are that tightly against each other than water will not penetrate it. But I know all about water and it will go where it wants to go. He said also because the floor is tapered most of the water is just going to go to the drain. I'm not sure what the solution is at this point because I didn't notice it until two days after he set the floor. When I got down there I saw that he didn't use spacers and I'm aggravated. But he was doing the work for free so what am I supposed to do? The Kerdi drain is already set and everything is in thinset and cured. What is the solution? I don't want to ruin the Kerdi floor system underneath this mosaic. Any advice other than you get what you pay for it would be much appreciated at this point. And keep in mind the drain assembly is already secured in there.

 

[ktkelly]

I went through this same thing, and my solution was to install a floating Ipe wood floor over the top of the bad tile work.


In my case it raised the floor by one inch, as I bridged with Ipe strips and then glued the Ipe boards to the bridges.


Made it just under the exact dimensions, and have a small hand hold in it in order to lift it up for the occasional cleaning.




Hope this helps.

 

[de-nagorg]

And just how many beers were in this "friend" at the time?

I would grout what I could, then get a container of clear polyurethane, and apply that over all the surface.

Protect the drain, you don't want the poly to get in there.

use a sparing sprinkle of sand to add traction to the poly, to prevent a slippery shower.


ED

 

[Msradell]

I'm thinking you could take a diamond blade in a saw and open up a slot between of tiles under butting against each other. Then you could grout everything. I highly doubt you would notice the tiles being narrow because of the light color.

 

[FrodoOne]

Surely your building code requires waterproofing similar to this.

If the walls, floor and joins have been waterproofed in this manner any additional "waterproofing" using grout is unnecessary and grout may develop cracks and not remain "waterproof".

Taking a diamond blade in a saw to open up a slot between of tiles under butting against each other would not be a good ides, since it may damage the waterproofing underneath.

 

[RetroJoe_1]

Yes building code does require waterproofing but as I mentioned I have the Kerdi board. I'm not concerned about the water getting through to any building material. I'm concerned that because of the cracks and the grout not being able to get in there that the water is going to continually get under the tiles and make them pry up. I don't think I would take a diamond blade to cut that slot however it's a good concept. I have a Dremel tool with a 1/8 inch Diamond bit and I can set a depth stop so it only goes halfway down the depth of the tile. The tile is a quarter of an inch thick so I could set that to 1/8 of an inch depth so there's no way that it would touch the Kerdi membrane. And then put grout in that slot. Would that be an option?

 

[chandler48]

Your friend may be Schluter certified, but he sucks at tile laying. That is totally unacceptable. I would not worry too much about water intrusion, but the ugly is there to stay.

 

[RetroJoe_1]

Your friend may be Schluter certified, but he sucks at tile laying. That is totally unacceptable. I would not worry too much about water intrusion, but the ugly is there to stay.

I totally agree. I let my guard down and I'm ticked off at myself. I had him helping me put the glass subway tile on one of the bathroom walls and I struck Plum lines on the cement board. I explained to him that it was the grout line and to make sure to place the tiles accordingly and not on top of the line. He was working on one side of the wall and I was working on the other and unfortunately I noticed too late his mistake. Yes he put the tile directly on top of the wine. Not only that but he wanted to work fast without placing the cut tiles at the end of the walls in and some of the tile settled a little bit and are not even perfectly horizontal. Something that I will notice more than anybody else but it's those little things and attention to detail.

 

[de-nagorg]

This begs for a reminder of the old saying:

IF YOU WANT IT DONE RIGHT; DO IT YOURSELF.


ED

 

[huesmann]

This begs for a reminder of the old saying:

IF YOU WANT IT DONE RIGHT; DO IT YOURSELF.


ED

Unless you suck at "doing!" :vs_laugh:

 

[RetroJoe_1]

I didn't notice it until two days after he set the floor. When I got down there I saw that he didn't use spacers and I'm aggravated. But he was doing the work for free so what am I supposed to do?

Yes that was part of my original post. Did you have a comment or question about that? I'm a little confused. Like the gentleman above said if you want it done right you have to do it yourself.

 

[JYL]

The grouts play no role in Water Resistance. Water often go true the grout anyway. In most cases, the grout have 3 functions: Maintain the stability of the tile (so they stay put), ensure the surface is not too slippery. Finally, making sure somebody get on their knee to clean it.



If the tile are close enough to each others, they will be stable but might actually broke if too much weight are put on them.



Normally, when a shower is installed, we test it before installing any tiles/grout. It should be 100% water tight before the tile. Tile does not add anything to the water resistance.


When the tiles are installed, the only precaution is too make sure we don't create an area were they water might puddle.