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Mosaic tile border tips?

2K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  ronkeddy11 
#1 ·
I have been running into issues with mosaic bands in showers. As you know often the tile on the walls is thick and the mosaic that is chosen as an accent band is usually thinner. To take care of the thickness issues I have shimmed the space out with ditra but that doesn't do a lot to help with variation in the wall. By the time you install 12x24 tile horizontally and level it out the space between the face of the tile and the wall can vary from 1/2" to 3/4" to 1" depending on how wavy the wall is.

Any tricks to get your mosaic to set smooth and flush without spending hours trying to get it to lay perfectly flat and flush?
 
#2 ·
I have very recently started spending time before installing my substrate, using levels as straight edges and planning studs and shimming as needed to get a surface that is within a 1/16" of flat. It takes too long to get better than a 1/16" but it is well worth your time to get it within a 1/16". Average shower is taking me about 30 - 45 minutes if it's bad to start with (last two were).

That will take care of the issue you have with a wavy wall. If you have a 1/2" variance on the wall, that's a big issue in my opinion that needs correcting before you tile.

A 12x24 will have some crown in the tile, at least all the ones I've laid have. But usually no more than a 1/16" total. I use a grout float for a quick set of them, and then go back with my hand and fine tune as needed.

Then you can use Ditra, or Kerdi, or whatever thickness material you need to bring the mosaic out flush with the tile.
 
#3 ·
That is really good advice. I have been running into this issue mainly as of late with showers doing for a builder so when I arrive there is already drywall so I can't make any adjustments for a wavy wall. On my remodel jobs where I am the one framing and boarding I never have that kind of variance. To make the matter harder the builder is super picky on the slightest variation in the mosaic. I have pretty high standards so I want it pretty flat and flush but when you have a thin 1x1" mosaic against 12x24s how perfect is just unreasonable?
 
#8 ·
Kerdi. Ok, gotcha.

So how plumb are the corners you're working with (that's my pet peeve)?

Not too often, but I have successfully mounted mosaic on a band of kerdi (as mentioned), then installed. The trick is making sure it will fit the space the way you want it to. For me it was best to not have any excess membrane past the edges, then shim it up and in.
 
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