# Forum Home Renovation Bathrooms  Bathroom Floor Tile , Floor Screed and Floor Waste

## T666

Hi
I have a small bathroom i need to prepare for tiling 
Can you look at the photos i have supplied and suggest the best approach for the floor area outside the shower 
I cannot understand how this is going to work... 
I have set that floor waste 20mm lower than the top of the shower angle
But in order to slope all areas of the room toward the floor waste
It will make my floor steeper than the Himalayas in some areas...
Especially along the wall behind the floor waste
And at the corner of the shower
where opposite ends of the room are coming together........ 
Ive never done tiling b4 but sitting back looking at it...
this seems impossible? 
I am using a 200x200 ceramic tile 
It was suggested in another forum to set a level floor
With the waste only a 5mm lower than the highest point
And just set the perimeter tiles to that angle
Then the rest of the floor is level? 
This would look so much beter...  
Most of the water should only be coming from the shower area anyway
Which is stepped down inside the angle 20mm 
But if i set a level floor im worried that wil be the wrong thing to do
And if i set the screed so everything is sloping the way it should
I just cant see how thats even possible to make the tiles look flat 
What to do... 
Any advice apreciated

----------


## T666

Just 1 note 
Im prob going to lift the floor waste 15mm...
To make a 5mm fall... 
Instead of a 20mm fall... 
But i have siliconed the floor waste in position with sikaflex 11fc
I only used 3 small blobs so water that does run on the membrane can
still go under the floor waste and into the pipe 
But to lift this floor waste now im prob gona damage the membrane a bit
I can fix that too 
But would be anoying if i then change back to having the floor waste lower
This was what was suggested to me
That u want about 10mm fall for every meter... 
But yeh... wont the tiles look realy bad? 
Need advice

----------


## T666

should this be in the bathroom or tile section?
if your an admin can u move it if u thin should be under tiles
thanks

----------


## Master Splinter

In that sort of situation, I'd just do a 10mm fall from the door to the waste - the real purpose of the floor waste is not to scavenge every last drop from the floor, but as insurance that water from a flooding shower or basin isn't going to make its way out to the rest of the house.   
It really doesn't matter if you have a few buckets worth of water spread over the back of your bathroom that don't quite make their own way to the floor waste; it's all inside the waterproof membrane so it's not going to permanently damage anything. 
Stopping it getting out to the unprotected floor and walls is the main issue, so just make sure you have fall from the door - the back wall section can be flat for all intents and purposes, you don't need to slope it back towards the waste.

----------


## T666

Ok thanks dood
I raised the floor waste up so now its only 10mm below the higest points
I thin it will be much beter now.
Was around 20-25 and was way to steep!
Il post finished photos in bout 1 week  :Biggrin: 
Cuz goto wait for the bed to dry still
Peace
D
D

----------


## T666

Hey i have a few questions  :Biggrin:  
I waterproofed the slab
Then put in the bed (4 river sand to 1 cement) with 10mm fall to the drain
Then waterproofed that and everything seems good 
Now im up to the tiling 
Problem is,
Floor tile = 198.5 x 198.5
Wall tile = 400 x 250 (laying on side) 
To align grout lines i must use 3mm spacer for floor and wall
But is a 3mm spacer for a wall to wide?
Wide grout lines are not good? 
I would prefer 1.5mm spacer but then i have to stagger the wall tiles from the floor tiles so the grout lines dont get to close and starting looking bad 
See photos below to demonstrate 
What would be preferable? 
1. Align floor and wall with 3mm spacer
2. Stager floor and wall and use 1.5 spacer 
Last 2 questions 
3. Whats the rule with the size of your top and bottom wall tiles. is a half tile at the top and bottom ok? or do u always make the top tile as big as possible and ignore the bottom, or the otherway round? i have no idea. 
4. With corners do u try make the end tiles of each joining wall the same size so the corner looks balanced? Does it look wrong if 1 wall has a 200mm cut tile and the ajoining wall has a 350mm cut tile?  
Need some advice urgently, thankyou (ps: add ma facebook.com/dd90210)

----------


## Vernonv

> What would be preferable? 
> 1. Align floor and wall with 3mm spacer
> 2. Stager floor and wall and use 1.5 spacer

  I think I'd pick 2 - I reckon it looks better.   

> 3. Whats the rule with the size of your top and bottom wall tiles. is a half tile at the top and bottom ok? or do u always make the top tile as big as possible and ignore the bottom, or the otherway round? i have no idea.

  Full tile at the top and almost full tile (or whatever height is required) at the bottom.   

> 4. With corners do u try make the end tiles of each joining wall the same size so the corner looks balanced? Does it look wrong if 1 wall has a 200mm cut tile and the ajoining wall has a 350mm cut tile?

  On the tiling I've done I've never tried to "balance" the corners, I just try and avoid excessively "thin" tiles.

----------


## T666

Hey i went with the 1.5mm and lucky i did with the slightly rounded edge of each tile the grout is going to seem fair bit more than 1.5mm
I also staggered the wall grout lines from the floor grout lines
With the wall i started 1 row off the ground, in the middle with full tiles so have almost 3/4 tile at top, bottom and both sides 
My next question now is with the walls corners
What kind of fininsh do u get right in the middle where the walls meet and whats the best way to do it? 
Are u supposed to use a full tile coming out of 1 corner so u have a clean edge with 1.5mm gap? or no gap or ??? 
Are u suposed to cut a hard edge and push it right onto the other walls tile so theirs no gap? 
Need advice 
Thanks
David D (add ma facebook.com/dd90210)

----------


## Vernonv

> My next question now is with the walls corners
> What kind of fininsh do u get right in the middle where the walls meet and whats the best way to do it? 
> Are u supposed to use a full tile coming out of 1 corner so u have a clean edge with 1.5mm gap? or no gap or ??? 
> Are u suposed to cut a hard edge and push it right onto the other walls tile so theirs no gap?

  I cut the cover tile for the corner so that it has the same gap (plus 2 mm) as the rest of the wall tiles - note as I was using 600 high tiles, I measured the tile top and bottom to ensure a consistent gap. I then rounded the cut edge using a diamond "sharpener" - some sort of tile "smoother" should be available from tile places.

----------


## T666

Thanks vern
How come u added an 2mm extra gap? 
Is this for expansion? 
Also i am using a ceramic tile thats not vitrified
So i cant bevel the cut edge much at all before the cermaic layer is gone 
Do you grout the corner with a radius from 1 tile to the other 
So the grout would that cover the cut edges and look alright?
Id prefer to have a thin a grout bead as possible
So id rather have the tiles right against one another if possible 
I imagine where the wall meets the floor im going to have this internal corner to deal with also...

----------


## Vernonv

> Thanks vern
> How come u added an 2mm extra gap?

  I like to have a bit more of a gap in the corners. Plus it will end up looking about the same size as a normal grouted gap.  

> Is this for expansion?

  Yes and also looks (see above)   

> Also i am using a ceramic tile thats not vitrified
> So i cant bevel the cut edge much at all before the cermaic layer is gone

  Just take enough off to remove the sharp edge   

> Do you grout the corner with a radius from 1 tile to the other 
> So the grout would that cover the cut edges and look alright?

  Use colour matched silicone for the corner. It should completely fill the gap.   

> Id prefer to have a thin a grout bead as possible
> So id rather have the tiles right against one another if possible

  I wouldn't as you don't have any room for movement.  

> I imagine where the wall meets the floor im going to have this internal corner to deal with also...

  Yes, exactly the same principle.

----------


## T666

Ok cool.
How does the silicone look? can you tell its not the same material as the grout? 
Also i have been thinking about the actual grout itself 
I have seen a tiled floor before and after grouting
The floor looked amazing before it was grouted
And looked very average afterward...
Not that the job was bad
Just that the grout ruined the look that the tiles had before any grout was between them 
So now im researching translucent grouts
Like a glazing in potery or something but more opaque
I want to b able 2 see into the grout giving a depth of view
But not be able to see through it|
I dont want this to have a plastic look tho that silicone probably gives
More of a glass effect 
Have you heard of this or think it could work? 
Thanks 
David D

----------


## Vernonv

> Ok cool.
> How does the silicone look? can you tell its not the same material as the grout?

  We used the same colour grout and silicone and although there is a colour difference, you don't notice it. Ideally (I think) the grout colour should blend in with the tile rather than be a contrast - ours certainly does.   

> Have you heard of this or think it could work?

  Sorry David can't help you with this one. 
The quality of your photo's isn't great but I reckon an off white, vanilla or cream (i.e. a dirty white) coloured grout may look ok. Our tile place had "grout samples" that you could slide between two tiles to see how it looked. Take a couple of tiles and go visit a couple of tiling shops.

----------


## T666

hey thanks vern, yup im am going with an offwhite grout.
the tiles i have are a travetine effect ceramic tile 
im most likely useing mapei sandless grout which is 25$ per bag
its very fine and kind of self levels itself in the gaps
its not to bad but does dry faster than normal sanded grouts
it also has additives in it to help with flexibility and resist moisture
this is some of the tips i was given for using it from the tile shop 
the only problem is they only have a pure white
so i was going to experiment adding some offwhite cement into it 
or use some oxide or some method to color it 
i think i have giving up on a translucent grout although i did find one american website StarQuartz Quartz-Lock Revolutionary Grout Technology
thats from america tho and im from australia 
il get a beter photo soon as those were taken with mobile phone and look to blured, thanks for the advice dood

----------

