After a last-minute scramble to
get the shower ready for our tiler, Sean, he showed up first thing this morning (8am!) to begin work. He probably has no idea how much effort went into getting everything ready for him - besides
building-out the shower from scratch and
waterproofing it, we had spent weeks
picking out tiles ...and then, upon delivery, I had to single-handedly haul hundreds of pounds of stone upstairs into the flat...
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| Feb 14th - the first of two tile deliveries - the slate |
Sean started by bringing all of his tools upstairs and setting up his cutting area out on the balcony. Because our tiles are natural stone, he is using a "wet saw", which uses water, so besides some dust it also tends to splatter water...everywhere. This is why we decided it best to set up the wet saw outside.
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| Morning of Feb 20th - the tiler's tools next to the stacks of tile |
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| Sean's set up for cutting tiles with the wet saw on the balcony |
Once Sean was set up, we reviewed the
layout and design together. This was actually quite complex because of the arch and ledge in the shower, plus the fact that the limestone and slate are sort of woven together in the shower (as if the limestone is passing in front of the slate).
We also went over - in painstaking detail - exactly how and where each course of tile would run and where the seams would be, how wide the joints would be, and so on. This may sound like over-doing it, but if you don't figure this stuff out in advance, you might end up with a faucet, or a shower valve, coming through the tile off-center, or near an edge. If that happens, it will look like a mistake - particularly with such large tiles, and could also be impossible to cut without breaking the tile.
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| Ready for tile: right before the tiler gets started |
So after everything was worked out, Sean set-up a laser level (which was really cool!) and marked out each course. Using the laser, he then set a wooden batten at the bottom of the first course to provide a permanent guide, and to prevent the tiles from slipping.
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| The tiler set up a laser to set the level for each tile course |
One interesting thing was that the first course Sean set on the wall was not at the lowest level (adjacent to the floor), but the next one up. I learned that the lowest wall course is only installed after the floor goes in, so that there's an overlap (similar in concept to how
flashing is done) and also so the exact dimensions can be measured once the floor tiles are set.
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| Sean on the balcony cutting tiles |
Sean moved quite quickly, so by the end of the day, he had completed the entire area of wall under the arch...and it looked great!
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| 4pm - The first set of tiles completed! |
Although Sean finished for the day at 4pm, I was mobilizing to continue prepping a few unfinished areas in the shower and bathroom that I had not yet completed. Because there was still a decent amount of work left for me to do, we worked out something of a tag-team arrangement - he would tile during the day, and I would do the prep work in the late afternoon and evening after he left. We agreed that every day we would have to co-ordinate the schedule so that I could stay a few steps ahead of him.
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| That night - building out the exterior face of the shower & setting the shower ceiling's level |
For tonight, we had decided I should finish the outside edges of the shower - this included the step/ledge at the floor of the shower, the upper face (or soffit) at the ceiling, and the side face of the shower. By finishing these areas, the shower's waterproofing and substrate would be complete, and it would also give Sean a stopping point by setting the levels of the ceiling, and outside walls.
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| Adding the tile backer board on the side and top edges |
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| Adding the tile backer board to the bottom ledge/face of the shower |
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| The mostly completed ledge/step |
By the time everything was finished, it was 11:30pm...but my portion of the shower is finally (!) finished and now Sean won't be held back by anything on my end...at least in the shower...
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| The shower at the end of the night |
