Beer Saved This Bathtub Tile Surround Install

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It was a much-anticipated Friday night. The bathtub tile surround install was almost complete. A girlfriend had asked if she could come help or at least observe.

The previous weekend I had finished the major wall which had a semi complicated mosaic. So the hard part was behind.

Oh, did I have plenty of tile projects under my belt… The previous six months I had bought a wet saw, created tile countertops, learned how to bullnose tile and fabricated over a hundred feet, created custom granite tile thresholds, laid floor and wall tile in a kitchen and a bathroom, and completed another complex mosaic in the powder room. I clearly had skills and could easily show her how to install simple 18 inch tile.

I so owned this project and already saw it finished in my head.

Seems simple enough!

A Friday night with a fun tile project and a friend is my idea of a good time. So it was game on the minute she showed up.

I had already pre-bullnosed the line of tile going up the wall. I had also laid out the tile in the order so I know exactly where each 18 by 18 inch tile was going to go. All we had to do was angle cut the bottom of the two lower 18 inch tiles along the edge of the bathtub ensuring the next layer is level.

We went about measuring what needed to be cut off and proceeded to cut it off. The only problem is I had inadvertently switched the direction of the angle along the bottom and cut it backwards.

This is obviously not the best start. I blew an entire piece of bullnosed travertine. Now I was forced to choose another tile I had already chosen for another spot in the interest of time–I only had an audience for so long.

Breaking a tile mid-install makes a big difference and is much harder to work into the predetermined pattern.

Already unhappy, I attempted not to show it and we tried again. This time I cut it right, but the piece on the outside edge just wouldn’t stand straight against the wall. I was getting pretty upset on the inside.

This is the final version, however, the original tile had a major gap where the arrow indicates.

We tried smashing it into the wall as much as we could, but it just didn’t look right. However, we had straight grout lines and the top was horizontal so we proceeded. I kept my gut feeling to myself since my pride was on the line.

We cracked open a couple of beers and set the next level of tiles before her husband came to get her.

With the bum cut and fiddling with the bottom outer tile we had only set a whopping four tiles. Four. I was thoroughly disappointed with my demonstration.

I gave her a hug as she left, apologizing for the slow lesson. After closing the door, I went back to look at the gap in the bottom tile. I knew I was going to be mad if it looked like that permanently. So I took off the top two tiles and quickly rinsed the thin-set off in the back yard as well as wiping the thin-set off the KERDI waterproofing. Then I went out in the garage to find a rubber mallet.

Oh yes. You probably already know what happens next. I thought maybe we just couldn’t get the thin-set thin enough and maybe a little tap could do what we couldn’t by smashing and wiggling the tile back and forth.

Yep. After a few taps I broke the tile. I was pissed. Another bullnose tile wasted.

I don’t have screw-ups often and I map out my tiles so that I do not have much scrap left–to the point of not really needing spare tiles. In one night I screwed up two. The worst part was these were bullnose tiles so I had already invested a lot of time on them.

I sat down fuming.

Picking up my beer I looked at the wreckage as I took a drink. I still clearly remember thinking, “You know, it looks better without the gap. It is dark outside. The kids next door should be going to bed so I shouldn’t run the wet tile saw. I need to start over in the morning.”

I took down the last tile and rinsed it off outside so I could put it back with new thin-set in the morning.

Then I finished my beer.

The next morning I woke up and started again. This time I recollected I had ground down the back of the tile in the past when I encountered an extra lump in the wall. So after a few trips back and forth to the wet saw in the garage I had the tight fit I so dearly wanted the night before.

At least I did not compromise.

It was a night of hard learned lessons.

Lesson #1: Don’t ever get too cocky. Man, oh man, I overdid it on this one. I seriously thought I could give a demonstration in my sleep. I clearly underestimated the power of an audience.

Lesson #2: If you are planning on showing someone how to do something go ahead and pre-plan everything. EVERYTHING. I distinctly recall wanting to go through all the steps as they were necessary with my friend. However, I should have gone through all the steps before and marked the correct cut line and still have reviewed all of the steps with my friend before making the actual cut. This would have eliminated the first mistake where I reversed the measurements.

This is especially true when you’re used to working by yourself. Ahem<–me. When you have someone else it is easy to become distracted and make mistakes you normally would not.

Lesson #3: Do not be in too much of a rush. You may feel that you have a deadline. The desire to have a finished product when you expect is certainly a driving force behind finishing projects. However, you end up living with the consequences if quality suffers because speed was more important.

Had I not taken a step back and realized how much the gap behind the tile bothered me I would still be looking at it today. Every time I go to the bathroom or take a shower I would look at it and curse at myself.

Don’t compromise on quality work. You want your home to be your sanctuary. A place where you feel safe, welcome and beautiful. Taking the time to do it right is worth it.

Lesson #4: Make sure you take an extra moment at the end of installing Schluter KERDI. KERDI is the orange material in the first photo used as a waterproofing membrane on a shower or bathtub tile surround install pictured above. If you are not careful when hanging KERDI the thin-set–the glue attaching it to the cement board–can build up along the bottom edge. The gap behind the tile was caused by a dried lump of previously unnoticed thin-set along the bathtub edge of the KERDI. When it was wet I could have easily squeezed it out. Since the thin-set was already dried, set, and behind the membrane it complicated the tile install.

Lesson #5: Don’t take a mallet out when tiling. Don’t even try to justify it by saying it is only rubber. Just don’t.

Lesson #6: Hydration is a necessity with any physical labor. Taking a moment to enjoy a flavored beverage is a great time to stop verify you did the first five recommendations here.

I have no idea what particular kind of beer we enjoyed years ago, but this Breckenridge Brewery Nitro Irish Stout is a good one we recently sampled.

This is how beer did, in fact, save this bathtub tile surround install.