Corian & solid surface fabrication

[Sickcall]

Gordon, I've used many different stainless showers over the last 30 years and I would say that they would be the most water proof as they have no joints except at the pan. I would also say they are difficult to keep clean and free of soap scum and water deposit stain which shows up very easily.

[Gordon Maney]

Gordon,

Just buy a prefabricated fiberglass shower stall (or tub w/ enclosure) at a local plumbing supply shop. They have better quality products than the big box stores. It is less money than Corian, comes with built in shelves and/or soap holders and they go in much faster. I have had no problems with the ones installed my house.

Joe

The problem there is that I want one bigger than is commercially produced, or that would be my solution.

A lot of good comment coming out in this thread.

I did look at the place BobbyMike listed; they have large, solid surface bases and enclosure kits for same.

Part of my fear of tile is that I have never worked with it and could not afford to hire that work done. I do intend, however, to have a tile floor in that bathroom, and possibly some wall surface. I bought a tile book over the weekend....

[BobbyMike]

I'm fully confident that you can do an excellent job Gordon. Take your time, have the right tools and materials and it'll be fine. Some of my friends consider it very soothing to lay tile.
I tend to be a little rammy with tile myself, but that's a character flaw (I'd much rather be playing in my wood shop), but that didn't stop me from doing our bathroom floor and tub surround with tile.

[MoparNorm]

Gordon,
You can do it! Read the books, buy the spacers, learn how to layout, rent a saw, you're good to go.
Take your time, think out the entire layout, centering grout lines, figure your spacing, estimate the final look of the project.
Laying the tile is easy with spacers (some tiles have the spacers built in, little nubs on the sides), the hard part is the layout, border margins, eliminating small pieces, etc., keep your lines straight and true and you're good to go.

[Gordon Maney]

Gordon,
You can do it! Read the books, buy the spacers, learn how to layout, rent a saw, you're good to go.
Take your time, think out the entire layout, centering grout lines, figure your spacing, estimate the final look of the project.
Laying the tile is easy with spacers (some tiles have the spacers built in, little nubs on the sides), the hard part is the layout, border margins, eliminating small pieces, etc., keep your lines straight and true and you're good to go.

What is centering grout lines? What does that mean?

[Gordon Maney]

Well, you certainly cut down on the number of seams with the use of solid surface. And you can always check with the manufacturer for recomended cleaning solutions. Leaks are very unlikely as well.

But there is no reason for a good quality tile job to leak, ever... unless your building is seismicly unstable. I have worked in many bathrooms and kitchens, 50 to 100+ years old, where the tile work is in remarkable condition. A solid substrate is key, as well as proper installation of the tub or stall. There are some very good technical publications that outline these techniques and proceedures quite well.

No matter which way you go, you are looking at a premium job. Try very hard to design your bath with alternative access to your plumbing...an adjoining closet is ideal. Opening up any of these materials for infrastructure repair/replacement is a down-right drag.

But I gotta admit...stainless has it's appeal!

C.D.

The plumbing access issue would seem to be critical. I am sure I would have thought about that when I got there, but it is good to be thinking about it ahead of time.

[Gordon Maney]

Corian scratches easily, I know our first time having guest over to the new home, someone slid one of the serving dishes across the counter, and when we cleaned up, there were the resulting scratches.

Did you sand out the scratches? At least you could do that there. If you had formica, plastic laminate, it might have scratched throught the color layer.

A thing I like about the Corian is that you could use abrasives on it if you had to in order to remove water/rust stains.

[BobbyMike]

What is centering grout lines? What does that mean?

You'll get to that in the book you've got. Basically it means laying out the tile so that you have an even layout, ie. you don't start a full tile next to the wall, or shower, you start from the center of the room.. Easier explained with pictures.


from:

http://www.extremehowto.com/xh/artic...ticle_id=60275

[Cheyenne Dave]

You'll get to that in the book you've got. Basically it means laying out the tile so that you have an even layout, ie. you don't start a full tile next to the wall, or shower, you start from the center of the room.. Easier explained with pictures.


from:

http://www.extremehowto.com/xh/artic...ticle_id=60275

This is where the wet saw Norm mentioned really pays off. Once the main body, or "field" is layed, there will be all the edge pieces to cut and fit.

[Bruce]

Solid Surface/Granite

I have both, the Corian is by far the easiest to care for, natural stone requires a lot of maintenance/polishing. Our kitchen was done finished in 96.

[BobbyMike]

This is where the wet saw Norm mentioned really pays off. Once the main body, or "field" is layed, there will be all the edge pieces to cut and fit.

I've done it both ways (tile splitter and saw) and I have to agree, the saw is the nicest way.

[Sickcall]

I would recommend backing up a step here before I layed out my tile. You should first think about the size of the space you will be tiling in relation to the size of the tile you will be laying. It is very important to first level and square your walls with a motar bed in order to limit the number of tiles you will need to cut. Many rough enclosures are completed with all full tiles and no cut pieces!

To lay a motor bed you nail small wood battens (which are shimmed) in place and used to screet the motor bed over, then removed. There is also a plastic adjustable type on the market that staples to the wall. This may sound like a lot of work but it will give you a better finished product and actually save time and money in the finish tile phase. Although this is more difficult to achieve in a remodel it should be the goal.

[Clint Dixon]

I agree, you can do it Gordon

Gordon,
You can do it! Read the books, buy the spacers, learn how to layout, rent a saw, you're good to go.
Take your time, think out the entire layout, centering grout lines, figure your spacing, estimate the final look of the project.
Laying the tile is easy with spacers (some tiles have the spacers built in, little nubs on the sides), the hard part is the layout, border margins, eliminating small pieces, etc., keep your lines straight and true and you're good to go.

I am in the process of remodeling our main floor bathroom. I have never laid tile, but I learning now.

I bought a special blade for my 4" grinder. It is cutting through the 3/8" thick 12"x12" tile (they look like natural stone, but are man-made) like they were butter. With using this combination, I am not confined to straight/parallel/perpendicular cuts, though I have not found the need to make any cut other than those. I clamp the tile I want to cut to a sturdy sawhorse. I am finding that it is very easy to cut a straight line with the grinder. I will also use this blade in the future to cut mortar in order to fit tin shingles on a sloped roof that I will build next to an existing brick wall.

I also bought some special hole saws to cut circular holes in the tile floor for the exposed plumbing on an antique bathtub that I am installing. These will probably not get used much after this project, so I saved money and bought carbide chip saws instead of the more expensive diamond chip saws. These cut through tile fine when using a floor mount drill press, lots of water, and a slow speed.

I had to tailor the placement of my grout lines around the feet of the claw foot tub so that I don't place undue weight and pressure close to a tile edge. I also took into account the placement of the grout lines in respect to the rough-out for the toilet. The few extra grout lines created because of the smaller tile pieces needed to fit close to the rough-out, will all be covered by the base of the toilet.

I cut and fit ALL of the tile, laying it all out on the bathroom floor, with spacers, BEFORE doing any gluing. Even the holes for the plumbing to the tub have been created first. It pays to plan ahead.

[Cheyenne Dave]

I am in the process of remodeling our main floor bathroom. I have never laid tile, but I learning now.

I bought a special blade for my 4" grinder. It is cutting through the 3/8" thick 12"x12" tile (they look like natural stone, but are man-made) like they were butter. With using this combination, I am not confined to straight/parallel/perpendicular cuts, though I have not found the need to make any cut other than those. I clamp the tile I want to cut to a sturdy sawhorse. I am finding that it is very easy to cut a straight line with the grinder. I will also use this blade in the future to cut mortar in order to fit tin shingles on a sloped roof that I will build next to an existing brick wall.

I also bought some special hole saws to cut circular holes in the tile floor for the exposed plumbing on an antique bathtub that I am installing. These will probably not get used much after this project, so I saved money and bought carbide chip saws instead of the more expensive diamond chip saws. These cut through tile fine when using a floor mount drill press, lots of water, and a slow speed.

I had to tailor the placement of my grout lines around the feet of the claw foot tub so that I don't place undue weight and pressure close to a tile edge. I also took into account the placement of the grout lines in respect to the rough-out for the toilet. The few extra grout lines created because of the smaller tile pieces needed to fit close to the rough-out, will all be covered by the base of the toilet.

I cut and fit ALL of the tile, laying it all out on the bathroom floor, with spacers, BEFORE doing any gluing. Even the holes for the plumbing to the tub have been created first. It pays to plan ahead.

With that kind of attention to detail, you'd be good at fixing up old trucks...

[MoparNorm]

With that kind of attention to detail, you'd be good at fixing up old trucks...

Clint?
Naw, he is too preoccupied with what to call the fenders....= )