Onions, Ogres, and Tile...

Ok...so what do Onions, Ogres, and Tile have in common?

Layers Donkey. They all have layers!
















I thought the tile deserved another look that goes more into the actual process.
From top to bottom what you are looking at is:
Cement Board
Thinset
Tile
Shims
Tub

The first step was putting up the new cement board walls around the tub. The old bathroom had plywood walls and I learned exactly why one of those old addagages in the business is, "Never use plywood in a bathroom!" At some point I'll backtrack the project here and show you the moldy plywood and rotted plaster that I tore out before I started. This project essentially began 2 years ago when the ceiling in my bathroom (below this one) caved in because the tennant had knocked the sopap dish off the wall and didn't tell me. The whole bathroom pretty much had been made of plywood. The problem with plywood is that it soaks up water like a sponge. So the wall and floor underlayment that the tile was glued to was expanding and contracting and growing mold ...Not good. Was going on here for 33 years before I got to it. So the new technology is to use this "Cement Board" product under the tile. It wont soak up the water and it doesn't expand and contract. When I was taught to put cement board in we did it using roofing nails. Every 4 inches on a floor and all along the studs for walls. Although I bought a couple of big boxes of roofing nails when I bought the cement board with the old boss one afternoon...I went back on my own and bought a box of the special screws they make for screwing down cement board. I ended up going back for a second box of them before all was said and done. And still probably used 2 pounds of the roofing nails.

After the cement board in the photo is the "Thinset Mortar" which is another cement based product that acts as the glue between the tile and the cement board. The old tile was litterally glued to the plywood using Mastic which is more of a plastic type glue than cement. I think the cement based product is less likely to be eaten by mold than the glue stuff was.

At the bottom the tile is resting on shims and not directly on the tub. That bottom area will be filled in with grout later. The cement board sits inside the tub lip but not directly on the tub either. As per the directions, the bottom 1/4 inch below the cement board was filled with caulk and allowed to cure before the tile was applied.