Tile expansion joint - small bathroom and boarded - Tile Advice

[martyj27]

Hello

I have a 3 x 2.4m bathroom. Floor is 25mm ply overboarded with 6mm cement board. Walls are a mixture of brick & stud that have been boarded with either foam tile backer board or moisture resistant plasterboard depending on area.

For a room this size and with those features is an expansion joint necessary?
If so, could it simply consist of filing where walls meet floor (won't have skirting) with silicone instead of grout?

Thanks

 

[Hobnob]

Personally, I would say there is no need for an expansion joint, I’m also assuming that the floor is solid.
There should always be a silicone joint where wall tiles meet floor tiles too.
If the tiles are stuck properly you shouldn’t have any issues regardless of their size or porcelain / stone or underfloor heating.

 

[martyj27]

Personally, I would say there is no need for an expansion joint, I’m also assuming that the floor is solid.
There should always be a silicone joint where wall tiles meet floor tiles too.
If the tiles are stuck properly you shouldn’t have any issues regardless of their size or porcelain / stone or underfloor heating.

perfect, thank you

 

[martyj27]

Ended up getting the pros in, almost finished and so far going ok. Final day tomorrow and just want to sanity check something, I just noticed this side of a shower wall and looks like huge gaps implying some kind of dot and dab method has been used which even I know is a big no. However is this something you do on the end of walls to stop adhesive squeezing out or is this a big red flag? (I'm already a little put off as I've they've used trim on a section that was agreed to be mitred)

 

[Ben-gee]

Oh dear.
Dot and dab and no back buttering of tiles. This is typical cowboy work using the lash clips to get a good looking finish, hiding the fact that unacceptably low coverage has been achieved by poor working methods.

 

[martyj27]

Oh dear.
Dot and dab and no back buttering of tiles. This is typical cowboy work using the lash clips to get a good looking finish, hiding the fact that unacceptably low coverage has been achieved by poor working methods.

So my fears are valid. Jesus. Exact reason I was going to do myself in first place, more cowboy tradesmen than good ones these days.

I'm guessing there is nothing I can do. I don't have a contract that specifies how the adhesive was to be applied. Are these likely to fall off in 5-10yrs?

 

[martyj27]

Bathroom now fully tiled and overall looks fine. Just had two questions

When I measured the location of the shaver socket back box I did it to allow for 8mm tile and 6mm compressed tile bed plus 3mm to spare (in hindsight the moment I knew I wasn't tiling I should have allowed more room). Anyway, with the dabs being applied rather thickly, low and behold the tile is now flush with the socket opening ie no space for the socket front place to attach.

Guessing easiest fix is to ask the tiler to remove a few mm from the right hand of the socket so that I can shift the socket to the right a bit so everything fits. Is that something the tiler can easily angle grind out?

The second one comes to where two different times meet. I'm unsure whether to silicone with a colour to match the dark wall or the light wall but also had an idea which may be completely stupid but I have some metal trim leftover from LED shelf lights and was wondering if no nails (or similar) a trim like that into the corner would be a long lasting and waterproof solution

 

[Ben-gee]

1) yes can cut tile in situ , but messy and a bit tricky with angle grinder. I’d probably use multi-tool and grind it back if it’s only a few mil.

2) id use silicone in the corner, colour match it to the roughest tile- as it’s easier to clean off the wrong colour from the smoothest tile!!

 

[Hobnob]

Why not silicone the corner with clear first and then attach the trim for aesthetics with CT-1?

 

[martyj27]

Why not silicone the corner with clear first and then attach the trim for aesthetics with CT-1?

In fact that's a smart way to go about it as I can decide post silicone whether it looks good as is or then to attach trim.

Silly question but with metal trim is there potential for rust in a shower or that fact it's black powder coated means will be fine?

Thanks

 

[Hobnob]

It should be okay, but it will have to be a judgement call on your part.
Do you know what metal it actually is?

 

[martyj27]

It should be okay, but it will have to be a judgement call on your part.
Do you know what metal it actually is?

Aluminium

 

[Hobnob]

It should be fine then 👍🏼

 

[martyj27]

It should be fine then 👍🏼

Thank you

 

[martyj27]

Still got the rest to do but first crack at silicone (with the Cramer tools) and happy with it so far. Only done the beige, rest will be in anthracite. Top left needs tidying up but ran out of silicone