Tiling a shower enclosure???

susi

Hi, this is for my daughters house once again!!!! boy will I be pleased when its all finished, I may get my life back!!!!
Anyway, we want to tile her shower enclosure, it will be tiled on three walls with a shower door to the front. Do we need to use any special tile adhesive (waterproof or something)? Also is it better to tile first, right down to the floor, then put in the shower tray, or put the shower tray in and tile from the top of the tray?????

cheekymole

Yes you will need the correct adhesive and grout before starting. I would put the tray in first as there are special trims to buy that you put in before tiling so that the water runs into the tray and not under the tiles
I think I'm right although not an expert

plumb1_2

Put the shower tray in and test the waste trap with water 1st, then tile leaveing the bottom row off.
Then put a bead of silcone around the tray to the wall, next tile the bottom row, next grout up, leave to dry, the silicone around the try and tile.

susi

Thanks for the info folks, plumb, is the waste trap just one of those plastic pipes that screw together, what I am trying to say is, would my daughter and myself be able to fit this easily? there is a shortage of men in our family and the ones that are around are not very helpful!!!
Also do we put the bottom layer of tiles on while the silicone is still wet, then leave to dry???..................sorry to sound so dumb, but that is exactly what I am with this sort of stuff, although my diy skills are improving!!!!

wealthsaver

plumb1 wrote:

Put the shower tray in and test the waste trap with water 1st, then tile leaveing the bottom row off.
Then put a bead of silcone around the tray to the wall, next tile the bottom row, next grout up, leave to dry, the silicone around the try and tile.

Good advice - Exactly what we did after a plumber talked us through the steps he thought were best. Touch wood no leaks yet (6 years on!)

jennifernil

You would be best to get a special shallow shower trap as they take less room heightwise.
As far as the tiling goes, I would put in the tray then silicone seal it to the wall. Then you can either get a special trim/sealing profile to use , or just seal again after tiling. I would use a special system. Most tile places sell them. You put this in place first then do the tiling. Once the tiles are all finished you can silicone between the seal and the bottom edge of the tiles. All these seals come with instructions.
Are you tiling the rest of the bathroom? If so you will want the tiles to match up. If not then (assuming all sides of the tray are perfectly level) I would start with whole tiles a few mm above the seal. If it is not level you may need to cut some tiles.
What are your walls made of? If it is plasterboard then you should use a flexible tile cement. Whatever you use it must be waterproof. For the grout, epoxy is best but expensive and tricky to use . A good compromise is an fungicidal waterproof grout. Avoid a combined adhesive and grout. Go to a proper tile specialist and get the right stuff, they will advise you, and you will get a much better result. BAL products are very good and the choice of the professional. For the tiling you will need a good level, tile spacers, a few tools, and accurate measuring. Measure twice, cut once!!
If you are tiling a small area (like a shower) it is much easier to spread the tile cement on the back of each individual tile rather than on the wall. Also we find a powder you mix yourself is better than ready-mixed ( for both cement and grout).
Just take your time and you will get a good result.

susi

Thanks for all that. Jennifer, what do you mean by a shallow shower trap, is this to go under the shower tray???? Eventually the whole bathroom will be tiled but for now the money has run out so just the shower enclosure is getting done. Yes the walls are plasterboard (which is why she has run out of money, £2000.00 to have most of the house replastered, which we hadnt bargained for!!!!). Will take on board everyones comments. Wish me luck!!!!

jennifernil

Yes, if you have limited room under the tray you can fit a special shallow shower trap. I suggest you look at https://www.screwfix.com which shows the various stuff available, even if you don't want to buy from them.
B&Q and similar are sometimes not that helpful, don't know where you are ,but we find Plumbcentre VERY helpful, and not too expensive, worth it for the advice!! One thing you don't want to do is scrunch the trap in between tray and floor. Cut away the floor to give it space.

A word of warning, if you want to do the whole bathroom you really need to buy all the tiles in one go. The tile warehouses are great for price, but a range of tiles is only stocked for so long,even in B&Q, so if you go back a few months later you may find the tiles are discontinued.
Is there a bath in the room?
When deciding how to tackle the tiling you need to look at all the horizontals, i.e skirting board, shower tray, bath rim, wash hand basin, ceiling (or wherever you plan to stop the tiling). Then you need to decide on the tile size. Once you have all this you need to consider where the horizontal joints will come, not forgetting the grouting gaps between the tiles, (usually 2 or 3 mm ) so that you do not end up with any silly little pieces. This is the time to adjust the tile levels.
I hope you understand what I mean!
So it's maybe not as simple as some might think! But if you think it through and plan ahead it will all work out. Try drawing it up on squared paper.
An enclosure with 3 walls means you have built one wall (yes???) So that is studwork and plasterboard, so you should use a flexible tile adhesive. As I said, go to a proper tile place and get a decent BAL product.
If it is essential the shower is tiled immediately, could you lend her the money to buy all the tiles needed for the bathroom? That way you avoid the possibility of them not being available later. When you work out the tile quantity the general rule is to measure the area and add 10%. This will allow plenty for cutting,breakages,wasteage and some spares. Depending on how it works in and how many you break, you may have a lot left over, but this is preferable to running out.
A really nice tile will come in at around £12/sq.m for plain tiles, patterns are much more, but you won't need many. The bigger the tile the less grouting, but there can be more wasteage with bigger tiles . 200 x 250 mm is a nice size but you must choose what you like best.
This is all based on our experience. OH is not a tiler but has done 10 kitchens , 7 bathrooms and a good deal of other tiling over the years so we have plenty of experience!