![]() We figure out any patterns to used and plan our cuts ahead of time to achieve a balanced look. Liquid-applied waterproofing added Tile Installationįirst step for tile installation is planning our layout. Final mortar bed walls with foam-board niche. Once everything had dried for a few days, we used a liquid membrane waterproofing and then we’re ready for tile. For this job, we also installed a waterproof foam board for our niche. If we can get it flatter, even better – that will make the tile installation go more smoothly. Unlike those, however, the second coat for tile installation has to be very flat (TCNA standards call for less than 1/8″ variance over 10ft, and less than 1/16″ over two feet). ![]() Our next coat is what would be called our brown coat in a stucco or plaster system. Before it dries, we “scratch” the mortar, creating lines in the mortar for our next coat to hold to (no photo, sorry!). The scratch coat is “keyed-in” to the lath, which means the mortar squishes through the holes and once it cures, those keys holds it in place. We start by installing tar paper on the walls, then expanded metal lath. We opted for the “two-coat” method, which is similar in concept to stucco and even a traditional plaster. Oversized niche cut in and mortar set on mortar board. Walls are covered with tar paper and expanded lath installed. The historic nature of the home and its surroundings seemed a good fit for using historic methods for our tile prep. Each wall was significantly different thicknesses of plaster, ranging from 3/4″ thick to 1-1/4″. There was existing plaster of various thicknesses above where our tile was going that we would ideally match up to in elevation. While we don’t always prep this way for tile, for this home it was a good fit for a number of reasons: Mortar thicknesses on each of the walls (photos from the end of the project) This job, was a good candidate for traditional “mud” or thick mortar bed walls instead of using backer board. This often means some carpentry and a lot of careful shimming before installing backer board. In order to achieve that, an important prerequisite is to make sure the surface is absolutely flat. Rather than doing the complete project, we started with a bare stud wall and prepped and tiled from there.Īs we’ve mentioned in other articles, one of the fundamentals of tile installation is to achieve a complete and consistent layer of mortar between the tile and the substrate. We recently worked on this tub surround in an historic home in Aurora.
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