Questions re: tiling shower floor...

[barbarake]

I am almost finished renovating my little house in the woods. It's very 'natural' looking - walls/ceiling/floor all tongue-and-groove pine, etc.

I built the shower stall myself. The whole nine yards - 1.5" thick wood subfloor, metal lathe, cement, shower liner, more cement, metal lathe, even more cement - it's been a pain. (Yes, this was all required by code.) It's roughly 3' by 6'.

For the bathroom floor and shower walls, I planned on tile. Nothing glossy white, a stone-looking neutral (taupe) tile. Maybe a small border of some kind. But I was puzzled as to the shower floor. It has a slope to it (so the water drains properly) and big tiles (6" x 6" or larger) wouldn't work.

Well, I found the perfect look today. Small rock slices. Found it at Home Depot. The man working there said they were marble but they're not - just different colored rocks sliced 1/4" thick. Small - the largest is maybe 1" x 3". The 'look' is just perfect and it would provide good traction.

So I have two questions....

1) Would pieces this small be a problem (because of all the grout lines)?? I assume I would need to seal it somehow - would that make it ok?? I'm not worried about laying it - I'm worried about it holding up.

2) Can anyone suggest a different source?? The stuff at the store is arranged on a netting and looks really nice - but also costs $27.00 a sq. ft. (yikes!!!). That's $500.00 just in tile for the shower floor!!

I went to the big craft store and looked for 'river rock' (people use it as decoration or to put over the dirt in a flower pot so that cats won't dig in it. It's close but many of them are a bit too thick. But they are rounded and generally have at least one flat side. Any other suggestions as to where I could find something appropriate??

Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated!!

[GREEN_ALIEN]

Originally Posted by barbarake

I am almost finished renovating my little house in the woods. It's very 'natural' looking - walls/ceiling/floor all tongue-and-groove pine, etc.

I built the shower stall myself. The whole nine yards - 1.5" thick wood subfloor, metal lathe, cement, shower liner, more cement, metal lathe, even more cement - it's been a pain. (Yes, this was all required by code.) It's roughly 3' by 6'.

For the bathroom floor and shower walls, I planned on tile. Nothing glossy white, a stone-looking neutral (taupe) tile. Maybe a small border of some kind. But I was puzzled as to the shower floor. It has a slope to it (so the water drains properly) and big tiles (6" x 6" or larger) wouldn't work.

Well, I found the perfect look today. Small rock slices. Found it at Home Depot. The man working there said they were marble but they're not - just different colored rocks sliced 1/4" thick. Small - the largest is maybe 1" x 3". The 'look' is just perfect and it would provide good traction.

So I have two questions....

1) Would pieces this small be a problem (because of all the grout lines)?? I assume I would need to seal it somehow - would that make it ok?? I'm not worried about laying it - I'm worried about it holding up.

---> Just use a good quality WET AREA mastic and then good grout and sealer and you will be fine. Remember...too much mastic is a BAD thing, it will allow your rocks to move. If using rock make sure it has a rough glue side for better grip.

2) Can anyone suggest a different source?? The stuff at the store is arranged on a netting and looks really nice - but also costs $27.00 a sq. ft. (yikes!!!). That's $500.00 just in tile for the shower floor!!

---> I use the net backed tile in 2X2" squares all of the time for custom showers. It is great to work with for the flexibility issue but yup, it is spendy. The best I have seen is about 12.97 sq at Home Crappo.

I went to the big craft store and looked for 'river rock' (people use it as decoration or to put over the dirt in a flower pot so that cats won't dig in it. It's close but many of them are a bit too thick. But they are rounded and generally have at least one flat side. Any other suggestions as to where I could find something appropriate??

---> You can find a rock dealer and get some split sand stone. It breaks up into randoms real easy, it is cheap and it holds up well after a good sealing.

GA

Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated!!

[boxwoods]

I've never seen this done on shower floors but you might check it out.

http://www.armorpoxy.com/html/bathinfo.htm

[cc-rider]

Originally Posted by GREEN_ALIEN

---> I use the net backed tile in 2X2" squares all of the time for custom showers. It is great to work with for the flexibility issue but yup, it is spendy. The best I have seen is about 12.97 sq at Home Crappo.

Really??? I just redid my bathroom using the 2x2 squares on the net background and paid less than $2 a square foot for them! I'm sure I got them at either Home Depot or Lowes (both are here in town). I like the smaller squares because it is easier to use when the floor isn't exactly level.

Also...for the shower.... I'd use the 2" squares, and buy another contrasting color. Cut out random squares from the netting/tile and add the contrasting color tile there. Then use that same color of grout to finish. That way, you have a DARK grout and don't have as much trouble keeping it clean. And it looks classy.

[Mudwoman]

Another idea is to break up the tiles you have into smaller pieces like mosaic. You won't have the netting to make it go faster, but it will be cheaper.

We have the same situation as you with the shower. We finally went to a large wholesale/retail tile distributor and found a 2 inch tile that looked good with our other tiles that we are putting on the floor. Still, they were more than the regular tiles. The small tiles on netting that matched our tiles we picked for the shower were simply broken tiles put in a mosaic pattern. That would have been our choice if we hadn't found the 2 inch.