My floors and shower pan are tiled, my walls are prepped, and finally I get to focus on tiling the bathroom walls. I have never tiled walls before, so I am super nervous! I’ve done my research and I’m as ready as I can be… Let’s do this.
Planning the tile layout
One of the hardest things about tiling the bathroom walls was figuring out the right layout. There are a lot of things to take into consideration. I am using longer subway tiles, so they need to be laid in a 1/3 offset pattern. Horizontally, you need to make sure that the end tiles are not too short. Vertically, if the height needs to be adjusted, you need to cut the bottom tile in order to keep full tiles at the top of your pattern.
With floor tile, you just layout the tiles on the floor and adjust as needed. This little thing called gravity won’t allow me to do that with wall tiles.
Starting with my shortest wall to warm up, I created a tape outline on the floor so I could lay the tiles and figure out where my cuts needed to be.
This time, I was using a small wet saw for cutting my tile, which is a lot less messy, so I was able to cut the tiles right in the room. Once I had a general idea of my layout, I cut the bottom row of tiles to get me started, then I cut tiles as needed.
Before slapping on the tiles, I drew multiple level lines across the wall (as pictured below). Without these lines, you risk having wonky tile lines that will mess up your whole project. In addition to the lines, I used my level to check each row as I went. Nobody wants wonky tiles.
Tiling the wall
At first, I applied the mortar to the wall using a trowel, then placed the tiles on the wall using a 1/16 inch tile spacer.
As I said in a previous post, the type of trowel you are using differs depending on the tile, so you have to follow the instructions provided by the tile manufacturer.
With this method, I found there was quite a bit of excess mortar leaking through the edges of the tile. Thinking back to my shower pan, I needed to adjust.
Next, I started applying the mortar with the flat side of the trowel directly to the back of the tile.
Then raked it with the notched side.
This worked much better! There was little to no excess mortar, which means less work later.
After putting in the first few rows, I attached a board to the wall to keep the tiles on the side plum. Using this method, I finished tiling the first wall.
The second wall was a little different. I am adding a chair rail tile to the top edge because its pretty and I’m a little obsessed with it. ‘Nough said.
But because of that, it changed the pattern of the tiles and the tiles didn’t line up exactly in the corner. I’m okay with this because the bathtub will be there and you won’t really be able to see it.
Once I got to this point, I needed to cut holes in the tile where the bathtub faucet will be.
To do this, I used a diamond hole saw designed specifically for this purpose. You attach the blue thing with really stick double sided tape, fill it with water, and drill your hole. Without the holder, it slips around like crazy.
I messed up with the placement one time, but fixed it on attempt number 2.
The longer wall took about the same amount of time as the shorter wall did to tile because I didn’t have to make as many cuts… until this part. I had to cut around the shower curb, which wasn’t too hard.
The thing that was difficult was the cutting the tiles near the edges of the shower pan. Because the pan is sloped, my tiles had to be skinnier at the end and thicker in the middle. It took a bit of time to get the cuts just right.
Adding decorative tile
In addition to the chair rail I mentioned earlier, I chose to add Jolly strip tile below to add a little more decoration.
This decorative tile will extend into the shower too.
Once the jolly tile had a little time to set, I added the chair rail.
This decorative tile is something I had to convince my husband to include. I stuck to my guns and added it and I am glad that I did. I even got a “you’re right” when it was finished. Totally worth it.
On the corner in the shower area, I mitered the edge of the tile.
Not to shabby!
Here’s the tricky part… I will be installing a glass panel and need a gap in the chair rail. I will have to add a small tile , then another piece of chair rail, creating a gap so that the glass can fit snug against the wall. For now, it will stay red.
Because the chair rail creates a little shelf, it may hold water more than a regular flat tile. I chose to add a silicone sealant ton the back of the chair rail to avoid moisture seeping into the wall.
Tiling the shower wall
Before even touching the tiles, I drew level lines on the wall.
To ensure the edge tiles stayed plum, I attached a board to the wall to hold them in place and act as my guide.
Next, I cut, mortared, and squished the tile into place, like, a million times.
Finally at the top, I used a quarter round tile to finish it off.
Also part of this process, I cut to more holes for the shower pipes to go through, but I din’t get a good picture of that… Sorry!
Tiling the shower shelf
Before I started the final wall, I had to tile the interior of the shower shelf.
I used an EZ-Nich shelf, which comes with a divider you can place wherever you want. As per the instructions, I applied adhesive sealant to the back of the divider and placed it in the niche making sure it was level.
To figure out my cuts for the larger section, I crafted a piece of cardboard that was the exact size and laid my tile on to it like so.
In the smaller area of the shelf, the tiles stayed up on their own and I didn’t need to do a full layout.
Next I applied thin-set and began installing.
Using 1/8 inch spacers, I added the additional tiles needed.
Using the same method, I finished the top portion of the shelf.
I completed the edges of the shelf while I was tiling the rest of the wall, so I’ll show you below.
Tiling the final wall!
Tiling this wall started just like the others, but changed a bit when the shower shelf came into play.
For the edges of the shelf, I used a quarter round ceramic tile.
I mitered the edges to fit in the corners, which was really tough! I ended up using a tile sanding block to get the miters to fit perfectly together.
I marked the cuts directly on the tile, then cut out the corner of the tile.
It took me a few tries, but I finally got it.
I added subway tiles to the remaining walls of the shelf. For the middle portion of the shower shelf, I used a jolly tile and it fit perfectly!
It took forever to get to this point! It is the smallest wall and took, by far, the most amount of time.
Almost done, but one more intricate cut! The door trim I chose has a parting bead detail just above the door opening, which I love… However, it would get in the way of the tile. So instead of cutting the tile, I notched the parting bead so that it would fit on top of the tile.
Finally, I finished the top portion of the tile to match the other side.
Done! Now I just have to let it sit for 24 hours before beginning to grout.
I am not going to show you complete pictures until the grouting is finished, so you’ll have to check back in next week!
I started this blog in the hope of inspiring other people to try something new, especially if it is unexpected. If you like what you are seeing, please like, comment, or share! Thanks for reading!