Proper Way To Tile Shower Walls

Start by turning off the water to the shower so you don t accidentally ruin your work.

Proper way to tile shower walls.

Cut the sheets to fit with a utility knife and staple them to the studs. Use the back of a plastic spoon to smooth the caulk. You want your thin set to be the consistency of peanut butter not too thick. Tiling a shower is a diy project that you can usually accomplish in a few days with the right tools and equipment.

Begin by protecting adjacent surfaces from spilled grout using painter s tape and rosin paper or plastic sheeting. Use a wet saw with a diamond blade to cut all the tiles. To prevent water damage you must install a waterproof membrane just below the tile bonding mortar as close to the tile as possible. One way to limit tile lippage is to stagger large format tiles into thirds.

Mix enough thin set for the bottom row. You should get the shower wall down to the bare studs. Give your shower an update with new tile. There are two types of waterproof membranes sheet and liquid applied options.

Cover the wall studs with a layer of plastic sheeting. Otherwise your tiles will be wavy and uneven. Then pick your shower tile and use this guide for step by step instructions on how to tile a shower. If so adjust your layout to have wider tile on the sides.

Mark your tile layout on the substrate and mark out your first course carefully. So the next step is to make sure the walls are flat and plumb and if not adjust as needed. To do this grab a very straight board or flat edge that is long enough to span each wall. Rip out any old tile drywall or surrounds that were on the wall.

Dampen the cement board with a. Prep the shower area for tile layout to start tiling prepare by running a bead of silicone caulk around the perimeter of the area you are tiling to seal it image 1. For the vertical layout begin your pattern at the top of the wall so there ll be full uncut tile at the top. The staggering of tiles in thirds helps limit this effect.

Stagger large format tiles in thirds. This in turn creates a slight lip between two adjacent tiles. If you must use more than one sheet layer them so that each upper. Wear skid proof shoes kneepads gloves.

Laying the tiles 1. Center a tile horizontally along the length of the wall and do a quick dry fit to make sure you don t have a lot of tiny tile at the end of the rows. In order for your tile shower to look good the walls need to be flat and plumb perfectly vertical. Well that and a tile leveling system.

Water can penetrate through cement based grout and work its way through the substrate. Unless you plan to replace the shower pan too leave it in place.