Hi, amatuer tiler here looking for a couple tips.

#1. Three walls frame in a tub and I'm tiling up almost to the ceiling
onto cement board. The back wall is tiled wall to wall (with small
expansion gaps in the corners), so it's the side wall tile that will be
seen in full while the side wall tile's edge will obsure the back tile
only so far as the tile is thick. In other words, were it not for the
expansion gap, the edge of the side wall tile would butt against the
back wall tile face. My question is actually a simple one. For the
gap between the edge of the sidewall tile and the face of the back wall
tile, should I use grout or should I use caulking for fear this will be
a more stressful expansion gap?

#2. I'm using 6" square tiles. Their surface has a rough character
with small nooks and cranies. The edges are all blunted. Not smooth
and not really rounded, but they look as if someone just chipped the
hard edge off. I'm going with a staggered layout and will be cutting a
lot of tiles. Is there an effect way to get this "chipped" edge look.
I tried a grinder with a coarser wheel but it was slow going and made
the edge too smooth. I also tried a general purpose woodworking tile
but I'm having a hard time replicating the chipped effect. Is there a
tool for this? A standard nipper seems far to big. Any ideas?

http://tinyurl.com/fdzwd

#3. Okay, so I lied. There's a third question I just thought of. I've
been using drill bit rated for ceramic tile and glass, but even at low
RPMs it's just not going through very well. I'm tyring to make a hole
in the tile about 1 1/2" diamater, so I've got a lot of drilling to do
to make the cut out. Are there any other tips for getting the most
out of these "ceramic tile/glass" bits?

Thanks for any help or advice. I always appreciate the good info found
in this newsgroup.

Jim

wrote:
Hi, amatuer tiler here looking for a couple tips.

#1. Three walls frame in a tub and I'm tiling up almost to the ceiling
onto cement board. The back wall is tiled wall to wall (with small
expansion gaps in the corners), so it's the side wall tile that will be
seen in full while the side wall tile's edge will obsure the back tile
only so far as the tile is thick. In other words, were it not for the
expansion gap, the edge of the side wall tile would butt against the
back wall tile face. My question is actually a simple one. For the
gap between the edge of the sidewall tile and the face of the back wall
tile, should I use grout or should I use caulking for fear this will be
a more stressful expansion gap?

Caulk


#2. I'm using 6" square tiles. Their surface has a rough character
with small nooks and cranies. The edges are all blunted. Not smooth
and not really rounded, but they look as if someone just chipped the
hard edge off. I'm going with a staggered layout and will be cutting a
lot of tiles. Is there an effect way to get this "chipped" edge look.
I tried a grinder with a coarser wheel but it was slow going and made
the edge too smooth. I also tried a general purpose woodworking tile
but I'm having a hard time replicating the chipped effect. Is there a
tool for this? A standard nipper seems far to big. Any ideas?


Nope

#3. Okay, so I lied. There's a third question I just thought of. I've
been using drill bit rated for ceramic tile and glass, but even at low
RPMs it's just not going through very well. I'm tyring to make a hole
in the tile about 1 1/2" diamater, so I've got a lot of drilling to do
to make the cut out. Are there any other tips for getting the most
out of these "ceramic tile/glass" bits?

Hole saw:
http://tinyurl.com/qxjpl

Thanks RayV. I hate to spend $15 to cut a 88 cent tile, but I've
already spent over half that on "ceramic" drill bits.

I've got about 40 cut tiles that are going to need to have the edge
rounded and chipped. If I had thought it through I would have choosen
a different tile. Whatever I come up with, I've got a bad feeling it's
going to be tedious and time consuming.

Thanks again.

Jim

wrote:
Thanks RayV. I hate to spend $15 to cut a 88 cent tile, but I've
already spent over half that on "ceramic" drill bits.

I've got about 40 cut tiles that are going to need to have the edge
rounded and chipped. If I had thought it through I would have choosen
a different tile. Whatever I come up with, I've got a bad feeling it's
going to be tedious and time consuming.

Thanks again.

Jim

You are planning to have these "chipped" edges exposed? Sounds like a
bad choice for a shower.

Okay, well I guess I could just rip everything down and start over
then.

Norminn wrote:
wrote:
Thanks RayV. I hate to spend $15 to cut a 88 cent tile, but I've
already spent over half that on "ceramic" drill bits.

I've got about 40 cut tiles that are going to need to have the edge
rounded and chipped. If I had thought it through I would have choosen
a different tile. Whatever I come up with, I've got a bad feeling it's
going to be tedious and time consuming.

Thanks again.

Jim

You are planning to have these "chipped" edges exposed? Sounds like a
bad choice for a shower.