Tiling - 1 April to 31 May

I had very little experience laying tile prior to this project. My brother Aric loaned me his tile wetsaw, and I watched a lot of videos.

I worked hard to think through how to integrate the dimensions and placement of cubbyhole, drain, fixtures, tiles, etc., aligning everything horizontally and vertically to avoid odd intersections.

Although grueling and tedious--it took two months not including the grouting--I am very pleased with how it turned out.

A trial layout, to see how the diagonal pattern would intersect with the drain and walls. The broken pieces to the left are casualties of my attempts to cut a drain-sized square from the middle of a six-inch tile. It became clear that approach was never going to work!

The drain grate, mortared into its final position. See Getting the Drain Waterproofing Right.

First tile laid - 1st April

The shower floor is coming along well; the diagonal pattern aligns cleanly with the bench and the grate, and the six-inch tiles are laying nicely into the concave slope of the shower floor.

More floor - 8th April

So many tiles...

More floor - 9th April

Tiling the Bench - 30th Apr to 4th May

Laying Wall Tile - 30 April to 31 May

I spent a lot of time thinking through how to align the tile seams horizontally and vertically to avoid awkward intersections with fixtures, floors, or corners. Gaps and odd pieces wouldn't look good, wouldn't last well, and wouldn't be easy to keep clean.

Also, I needed to keep everything aligned all the way around the shower.

I started from the middle of the bench, so that it would align with the floor seams. On the opposite wall, I started so that the steam vent, the cubby, the floor, and the corner would come out right.

Now I needed to make everything come together. As I went, I realized I had a 3/16" height discrepancy that would have to be resolved before the courses met. This was due to my uncertainty about exactly how the seam width would work out.