J
jdcroy
Hello.
My first post.
After having good search, these tiling forums are the best I have come across. There seem to be plenty of guys on here who really take a pride in their work.
I am refurbishing a bathroom in my own house. We really like the idea of using travertine for both the floor and walls (including shower cubicle walls). I want to do some quality work.
I have never worked with stone and would like to give it a go if it is suitable for the job. I will be glad of any good advice.
There is no time limit on this job and I want to use it as a learning exercise. I want to take time to pick the right tools and materials and not rush. This way the quality of the end result will only be limited by my own skills....................that might be when I find myself calling someone in to help:smilewinkgrin:
I am happy to record events and post pictures to the forums if people are interested.
Decision 1: Whether to go with travertine or something else. I know travertine is a porous stone which needs protecting and, many say, it is not good for showers. From my reading so far, I get the impression that the end result is more about how well the tiles are prepared, sealed, fixed and maintained than it is to do with how expensive or fragile the raw tiles are. IS THIS CORRECT OR AM I NUTS FOR WANTING TO PUT TRAVERTINE IN A SHOWER?
If you have taken the time to read all of this, thanks!
Details...if you're interested:
Room
The room is on the ground floor with a level concrete floor. The walls are solid rendered brick (it is an old victorian house). I am replacing the bathroom suite and redecorating every part of the room. This means that, at this stage, I can almost rebuild the room around the tile plan if I need to.
The room has a 3m x 3m floor and a shower cubicle that will be tiled on 3 sides (rendered brick walls). The shower tray is white stone resin raised on a solid adjustable base. One of the 3m walls will have about 1 metre of tiles from the floor to the height of the wash basin. The rest of the walls will not be tiled but may have tiles as the skirtings if it is going to look right.
The toilet and basin are both wall hung on a wall which will not be tiled (paint or wallpaper).
The wall over the wash basin will be covered, mainly, with a large mirror (either hung in a frame or a permanent, custom sized, piece of mirrored glass).
There are pipes running around 2 sides of the room, at floor level, which will be concealed with water resistant plasterboard on a metal track and stud frame. The framing can be whatever dimension I choose. This means that I have a little flexibility in the exact dimensions of the final floor area to be tiled.
The room will be very well ventilated with a powerful ducted extractor vent over the shower cubicle to keep condensation on the tiled walls to a bare minimum.
Tools and materials....so far
I have a Rubi DW 200N wet tile cutter and a smaller Rubi ND 200 to use.
I have bought a BAL WP1 waterproofing kit to tank the shower area with.
Shower tray and riser, glass shower door, concealed toilet frame and cistern, toilet flush plate, light fittings, wallpaper all purchased.
not got yet: tiles, sealing and fixing materials, framing and plasterboard, wash basin, taps, toilet pan, paint.
My first post.
After having good search, these tiling forums are the best I have come across. There seem to be plenty of guys on here who really take a pride in their work.
I am refurbishing a bathroom in my own house. We really like the idea of using travertine for both the floor and walls (including shower cubicle walls). I want to do some quality work.
I have never worked with stone and would like to give it a go if it is suitable for the job. I will be glad of any good advice.
There is no time limit on this job and I want to use it as a learning exercise. I want to take time to pick the right tools and materials and not rush. This way the quality of the end result will only be limited by my own skills....................that might be when I find myself calling someone in to help:smilewinkgrin:
I am happy to record events and post pictures to the forums if people are interested.
Decision 1: Whether to go with travertine or something else. I know travertine is a porous stone which needs protecting and, many say, it is not good for showers. From my reading so far, I get the impression that the end result is more about how well the tiles are prepared, sealed, fixed and maintained than it is to do with how expensive or fragile the raw tiles are. IS THIS CORRECT OR AM I NUTS FOR WANTING TO PUT TRAVERTINE IN A SHOWER?
If you have taken the time to read all of this, thanks!
Details...if you're interested:
Room
The room is on the ground floor with a level concrete floor. The walls are solid rendered brick (it is an old victorian house). I am replacing the bathroom suite and redecorating every part of the room. This means that, at this stage, I can almost rebuild the room around the tile plan if I need to.
The room has a 3m x 3m floor and a shower cubicle that will be tiled on 3 sides (rendered brick walls). The shower tray is white stone resin raised on a solid adjustable base. One of the 3m walls will have about 1 metre of tiles from the floor to the height of the wash basin. The rest of the walls will not be tiled but may have tiles as the skirtings if it is going to look right.
The toilet and basin are both wall hung on a wall which will not be tiled (paint or wallpaper).
The wall over the wash basin will be covered, mainly, with a large mirror (either hung in a frame or a permanent, custom sized, piece of mirrored glass).
There are pipes running around 2 sides of the room, at floor level, which will be concealed with water resistant plasterboard on a metal track and stud frame. The framing can be whatever dimension I choose. This means that I have a little flexibility in the exact dimensions of the final floor area to be tiled.
The room will be very well ventilated with a powerful ducted extractor vent over the shower cubicle to keep condensation on the tiled walls to a bare minimum.
Tools and materials....so far
I have a Rubi DW 200N wet tile cutter and a smaller Rubi ND 200 to use.
I have bought a BAL WP1 waterproofing kit to tank the shower area with.
Shower tray and riser, glass shower door, concealed toilet frame and cistern, toilet flush plate, light fittings, wallpaper all purchased.
not got yet: tiles, sealing and fixing materials, framing and plasterboard, wash basin, taps, toilet pan, paint.
