Friday, I Swear

I was able to get the cement board seams taped and mudded today, and I skim coated the lower half around the tub area with thin-set. You would think that I’m ready to start setting tile now, but that would be too easy. The problem is with the floor tile.

The Oberon Saloon tile is a half inch thick. It’s thicker than a lot of other tile, and maybe even thicker than most all tile made today. The Subway Ceramics tile is 3/8th of an inch thick, which is normal, I would guess. The base tile for the Subway Ceramics Tile has a 90 degree cove at the bottom where it meets the floor. So at this point where the Oberon Saloon tile meets the Subway Ceramics tile, the Oberon tile will be higher by an eighth of an inch. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but could you imagine trying to sweep dirt from behind that little ridge for the next few decades. It’s something that would drive you nuts in the first year, and you would be ripping tile out in year two.



The cove on the base tile sticks out ¾ of an inch. So tomorrow I need to cut a bunch of shimming material that is ¾-inch wide, and an eighth or maybe 3/16 of an inch high. I need to raise the base tile enough so it will be even, or a hair higher, than the Oberon Saloon tile. Otherwise it will drive me, and anyone else who owns this house, crazy for ever.

The other thing I need to deal with before I start laying tile is the marble window sill for the window that’s in the shower. I’m also thinking about doing a marble window sill for the other stained glass window as well. I think that would be a very nice touch. I have that big slab of marble the guys gave me from the fabrication shop, but I can’t really go back to them. I thought about cutting and routering it myself, but I’ve got too much going on right now.

I can cut the pieces ok, but my router bits are all too dull to work on marble, and then I would need to sand and polish the edges, and I just don’t want to deal with it right now. I’d rather set tile. The trouble is, I can’t go back to the fab shop that gave me the marble because I told them I wouldn’t be needing any more marble, and that’s when he gave me the big slab of marble.

Instead, I’m going to cut the two sills to their basic sizes and then call a monument place in town and see if they will finish the edges for me. If they won’t then I’ll just do it myself. I’m going to try using the carbide grit jig saw blade I used on the cement board to try and cut the marble.

So, if I can get all of the shims cut and nailed in place tomorrow, and get the marble cut and over to the monument shop, then that should clear the way for me to start setting tile on Friday. I also need to contact Subway Ceramics and order more tile. I should have done that on Monday or Tuesday, but I’ve been in denial over it.