Hi, will my mosaic border increase the risk of adhesive failing?

[tonymacprods]

Hi i'm a DIY hobbyist looking to improve my skills..thanks already for the knowledge shared on this forum.

I am currently having my bathroom tiled and decided to use a professional tiler rather than risk making a mess myself. I have 500 x 250 wall tiles with a mosic border.

Unfortunately the mosaic tile is thinner than the main tile by about 2mm (see attached photo). The tiler did point this out before he started but didn't imply there was anyway of getting them flush so I just let him get on with it.

Anyway the tiling is nearly finished and he'll be grouting probably on wed or thursday. My concern is not so much the appearance but I'm starting to get concerned that there may be risk of failure where the mosaic border meets the main wall tile. Specifically I'm assuming that when the border is grouted, the next wall tile will have 1 or 2mm of lip exposed. Should I be concerned about this? The mosaic border does run through a shower bath area but the shower will be used once or twice a month max since its a guest bathroom so its not going to be a particularly wet area. Do I need to worry or should it be fine? Tiler has used BAL rapid flexi, walls are green gyproc primed with BAL APD. He will be using Mapei grout.

Thanks for reading

Tony

 

[DHTiling]

It would have been a better finish to fit the border flush with the field tile,, dog toothing the border area would be the way to do this..

 

[brinkley]

sorry to say but imo that looks like a harbour for germs etc to buid up, shower should be water tight if sealed on the outside of the former , what i have done to combat these problems with thinner mosaics is buy the thinnest tiles going at 3 or 4mm thick and run these round at the same width as the border

 

[DHTiling]

Like this>>> HERE....

 

[Stewart]

They should have been installed flush with main tile, using one of a few methods to achieve this. What you have just now is always gonna look wrong. Get the tiler to redo border before grouting.

 

[White Room]

Just don't look right, as above

 

[tfs]

its not ideal that the tiler has done this but, it would have been better if you had discussed this with the tiler when he highlighted this to you.

It shouln't make too much difference in terms of deffence against water etc. The grout used is water resistant but not waterproof so water will always be absorbed through to substrate (tanking is the preventsative measure to help eliminate this)

As mentioned already, it will be the finnished that is compromised more than anything.

I think that when the tiler mentioned this to you he was pretty much suggesting that he was going to fit them as they were (otherwise he would have come up with a suggestion)

 

[Daz]

What a shame! It looks as though your tiler has done a nice job of the fixing, but is not conscientiousness enough to ensure the final finish / look. IMO the border should be set flush with the field tiles.

 

[kilty55]

hi tony as above it looks a decent job hes done apart from the border which would be flush, is now the time to go back and ask him to remove it though since he did tell you inititially he wouldnt be able to keep it flush?

anyways it seems you are okay with this part but worried about water ingress,once grouted up there isnt any reason i see that water is going to get through just because its set back from the field tiles

 

[andy8758]

You can now buy mosaic spacers that are fitted in the adhesive bed behind the border to bring the border out flush with the main tiles.

 

[tonymacprods]

appreciate all the feedback....how tricky would it be to remove the border before grouting?? in my experience well stuck tiles just don't come away from gyproc, they take the gyproc with them...and I don't want to end up with holes in the plasterboard....i'm guessing I probably just need to live with it?

 

[White Room]

If they have'nt been fixed for that long they will come off easy

 

[kilty55]

possible solution............if you cant remove the glass tiles without damaging the plasterboard can you get a thinner glass mosaic and fix over the existing ones making it flush? not ideally the way to do a brand new install but it would solve the issue

 

[faithhealer]

welcome to the forum tony, good advice above

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

As above the dog tooth screed should have been used. :welcome: btw.

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

Sorry wrong order, but you get the Idea.😳

 

[White Room]

Were with you Phil:lol:

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

:lol: It's my age beamer

 

[tonymacprods]

well i've learned something!! i guess each job you "manage" should hopefully improve on the last one. I feel a bit better that there is consenus on the water defence being unaffected. I can't face the stress of removing the border in case I end up with burst gyproc, although it doesn't look ideal the level of the border and the layout of the room means you're not "drawn" too it too much. Once you see this dog toothing (can't understand where that name comes from) it all seems so obvious, unfortunately my tiler started the job in the exact reverse, eg put the mosaic up first then the field tiles. Anyway not the end of the world, as I said the next bathroom will be perfect. Some great pics on here fellas some good work being done.