I just finished tiling a 5 by 4 foot shower, it is a lot of work to tile, but it can be done by a blind person with good results. The 4 inch wall tile already has spacers built in, so no spacers are needed. I believe the 6 inch wall tile has the spacers on the tile as well, you end up with a 1/16 inch gap, which you use unsanded grout on. Removing grout is a pain to do, You can get a grout removal bit for a Dremmal tool, that is suppose to make it easier, but I have never used it. If you have loose tile, it is possible the backing is rotting away. So if that is the case, in my opinion, you are best to completely redo the tile. Do NOT use drywall for a tile backing unless you use a product like Kerdi over it. Use 1/2 inch Durock concrete backer board, it comes in 3 by 5 sheets, and there are special screws to use, you can use roofing nails, but IMO screws are better. IMO again, do not used premixed grout or thinset, it does not hold up as well as the dry stuff you mix yourself. After the grout is in, and cleaned, you need to wait 48-72 hours then apply a grout sealer. So, if you decide to redo it, just get a big hammer and start smashing the tile and wall, tare down to the studs and start over, be careful of the plumbing. Even if you pay someone, doing the demo yourself will save you some money, and you will know what your getting into before a contractor shows up. Michael
_____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Victor Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 8:06 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] need help with bathroom wall tiles. Hi Angel, It is possible to do it yourself, however, depending on how the sub-straight is, you may need to get professional help with it. All of this is depending on how comfortable you are with yourself and your work. First you have to pry off the old tiles, then take a scraper to the old grout, trying to keep the underlayment as intact as possible. Once this is done, you need to feel around the underlayment to see if the wall has any water damage. This would look like soft wall plaster, or worse, the wall may have chunks missing out of it from where the wall has been eaten away by the water. If the underlayment is ok, then all you need to get is a notched mini-trowel, and some ready mixed thin set. Scrape on the thin set, then place the tiles onto the walls, using spacers between the tiles to keep them in line. You can get the spacers when you buy the ready mixed thin set. Let the tiles set for 24 to 36 hours, then you can get some ready mixed grout, or mix the grout yourself, using a coloured grout similar to the tiles, however, if you're a total, you may have problems coordinating the colours, so you may have to get sighted assistance. Once you are ready for the grouting, using a padded trowel to plaster on the grout, making sure to evenly distribute the grout around all the tiles. Once done, let it set for about 20 minutes, then using a damp sponge, sponge off the thin film coating the tiles. Once you've sponged off the grout film from the tiles, let it set for 24 hours before you use the shower again. If the tiles are along the tub's rim, you may have to caulk the bathtub again, in which case, you'll want to fill the tub with water, then caulk the rim of the tub where the new tiles are. If the wall has water damage, you may want to cut around where you took off the old tiles, removing all of the water damaged drywall, go to Home Depot or Lowe's and look for the reject pile, which are pieces of wood and drywall that were trimmed off of larger pieces, and you will be able to buy enough to cover what you need, instead of buying an entire sheet of 8 by five feet, which you won't end up using. In any case, cut out the desired piece that you need, and nail or screw in the drywall to the wood studs in the wall. If the drywall happens to be around the fixtures, you may have to cut out the holds for the fixtures, so you'll have to measure where the holes will go. Once you've done this, you may elect to use poly-fil or plaster on the seems and screws/nail heads, or you can just leave them, and use the notched trowel to fill in the seams and heads, and just place the tiles over the areas. This should be it, and I don't think I'm forgetting anything. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm forgetting anything. Victor Co-moderator Blind Movie Buffs List Guidedogs List [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
