Tag Archive: shower tiles


Shower Tile Ideas

Tile plays a major role in any bathroom design. One can use ordinary tile pattern in some different and interesting way to give a whole new look to your bathroom. Wide variety of shower tile ideas can be incorporated to give an amazing new look to your bath. One of the most wonderful things about these shower is that you can use it with unlimited creativity and designs. Nowadays it has become trend to design bathroom in an exciting way so that it look luxurious and is comfortable as well. Well planned shower tile ideas will surely add splendor to your bathroom.

One of the most important things while planning shower is the safety. Thus while considering the shower do ensure that the tiles used on the base of the shower are safe to walk when they are dry as well as wet. You can use textured tiles or materials like natural textured stone for your shower base. While selecting shower tile ideas you will come across unlimited options for colors and prints which are made from modern glazing and firing techniques. You can select from these wide range of colors as per your choice and as per the overall ambiance of the bathroom. Multiple colored tiles can also be used to make your bathroom look vibrant.

Apart from different colors, the shower tiles are also available in variety of shapes like rectangles, triangles, diamond and others. You can select these tiles to make your bath look unique and interesting. Shower tiles are also available in some unusual shape like leaves, hearts and natural stones which can be used for the whole shower stall or for only the accents. Along with the available shapes you can also customize the tiles as per your choice and design of the bath as these tiles can easily cut into any shape to fit your design plan.

One of the other interesting shower tile ideas is to have a single shower which looks beautiful and stunning. You can also use different colors, shapes and textures of tiles to make your bath look unique. For sparking metallic and glass tiles, a neutral stone tile proves to be a perfect background. Moreover if you wish to have a modern graphic look you can use combination of rectangle and square tiles. Thus there is no dearth of design and ideas for your shower tiles and you have to just use your imagination and creativity to select the most appropriate one.

Not only the choice of color of the tiles enhances the look of the bathroom, but proper shower tile ideas can also make the bathroom look more beautiful. An affiliate with Bathroom Decorating Ideas.

How To Tile A Shower

The first step is to put up a sturdy cement board backer. I like to use Hardibacker. Once the Hardibacker is up it is time to get to the tiling. This is the fun part.

1. Do not use Mastic, use a thinset and stay away from the premixed stuff.

2. You want to dampen the cement board prior to troweling thinset on. If you do not, the cement board will draw the moisture out of the thinset too quickly, making for a brittle set that is susceptible to cracking.

3. Pick out the right trowel for your thinset and tile size, also pay attention to spacing recommendations and use the right spacers. I recommend 1/8” or less spacing so that you can use unsanded grout (easier to seal).

4. Remember you are not going to grout at the corners, you are going to caulk so try to maintain an even spacing.

Make sure you use tiles made for walls and follow the directions on the bag of thinset as to what type of trowel you will need.

You want to measure up from the bottom of the backerboard the height of a tile minus ½”. This will give you a ½” overlap over the tile lip on your shower pan. Mark this with a sharpie and using a level transfer the mark across the shower stall.

Trowel on some thinset and spread it with a notched trowel. Then set the tile into it by twisting slightly while pushing into the thinset. Remove the tile to make sure you have good coverage on the back. Reinstall and keep setting tiles using spacers in between. Let the bottom row set up for 24 hours.

After 24 hours you can repeat the procedure setting each row of tile on top of the last row of tile. Continue until you reach the top of the shower stall. Here is the procedure again:

1. Measure up from top of the last row. Mark line with a level as guide for next row.

2. Spread thinset between last row of tile and marked line with v-notched trowel.

3. Set tile into thinset using spacers all around.

4. Repeat for next row up.

After letting the tile set for 48 hours you are ready to grout the tile. Mix up a batch of grout and use a sponge float to smooth it into the joints. After 30-40 minutes (check the directions on the bag of grout) you want to wipe the excess grout with a damp sponge and a circular motion. Keep wiping with a clean sponge until the tile is clear. Let the grout cure for 24-48 hours before sealing.

Clinton Miller is an avid do-it-yourselfer who has taken on and completed dozens of projects ranging from changing a wall receptacle to building a tile shower complete with body jets and mosaic. He often details his projects along with articles and news at http://diyda.blogspot.com

Powered by WordPress. Theme: Motion by 85ideas.