Help with bathroom tile/design

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

I have had the hardest time figuring out how to finish my master bathroom. My style is farm/rustic/casual/a little traditional. The layout is set. I have a 3x5 shower, a vanity with built in linen cabinet, floor space for a tub that will remain empty for now (budget) and a separate toilet room (gasp! gas chamber). I think I have decided on some black and white hex for the shower floor and a niche. Large white subway style for the shower itself, perhaps with a black line up high, or a white-on-white accent. Having trouble choosing the bathroom floor - Can I do a large format 12 x 24 charcoal/slate color? Or should I tie in the hex shape and do a charcoal hex?

and also deciding to paint or stain the vanity (not built yet). Also choosing a color for the walls.

I've looked at a million inspiration photos....my head is spinning.

edited to add- the room has 10' ceilings and one window. I definitely want to keep it light.

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PRO

Williams Partnership: Architecture

7 years ago

We're hesitant to comment on colors without color samples, because "charcoal" can mean a million different things, but a practical consideration regarding tile size: is the floor structure a concrete slab, or is it plywood subfloor on joists? if subfloor on joists, tiles that are larger than the joist spacing (24" wide tile on joists space 16" on center") can tend to crack unless the subfloor and joists are stiffer than "code requirements" - code allows both floor joists and subfloor to "deflect" (sag), so the subfloor will sag between joists an amount that isn't visible to the eye or really even measurable, but can be enough to cause tile to crack.

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Comments (6)

girl_wonder
7 years ago
Can you post a floorplan of your bathroom and photos of what you have in mind? Ie. Either inspo photos you love or materials you are drawn to?

BTW, I’m confused about the floor space for the tub that you can’t afford now. Does that mean you’ll be tiling over the floor today and in, in the future, putting a tub in that space? Is that cost-effective? Are you planning to run the water and drain lines now while you are going the big remodel? (How are they capped off?) Does it make sense to scrape up the $ today or postpone a little until you have it saved? FWIW, I’m not sure how many people want or need a tub in the master bathroom at all. (it doesn’t seem like a must-have for you). If you dropped the tub idea, could you repurpose that space? You seem unhappy with the toilet room, so, for example, dropping the tub idea might give you more options on the layout.
Cyndy
Original Author
7 years ago
Girl wonder - it is new construction, we are happy with the layout. I have the plumbing in the walls to add a freestanding tub later. The plumbing for everything is set and the sheetrock crew starts the 25th. I am happy with the toilet room, I just know many on here are aghast that anyone would choose that. I really just need help putting materials together. I will try to get some photos to post after dark. too much work to do to mess with it now.
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Cyndy
Original Author
7 years ago
thank You Williams. We have 5/4 Advantech on 2x12 joists 16" OC. I was tentatively planning on using a decoupling membrane and no additional subfloor. i am not a fan of huge tiles, so 12x24 would probably be the largest
masterbathroom909
7 years ago
Williams Partnership: Is there anything that can be done to make the subfloor/joists more stable to allow for large 24x24 tiles?
PRO
Williams Partnership: Architecture
7 years ago
Deflection of joists/subfloor is a structural issue and how much a tile can deflect before it cracks is a structural & stone/tile industry issue, both outside our specific expertise, but when we face this issue on one of our projects we will work closely with the tile manufacturer/supplier, tile installer, and structural engineer to ensure it is addressed.

Some common approaches are beefing up floor joists &/or subfloor, narrowing spacing of floor joists (which reduces the subfloor span thus beefing it up), & lowering the floor joists/subfloor so thick set mortar bed can be used (the weight of which will require beefing up the floor joists.

If a structural engineer is not involved but the deflection limits of the tile is know and the design/construction team is familiar with span tables for joists/subfloor (some included in the building codes, but specific industry standard & product data for materials is freely available online) and deflection calculations (which is simple length divided by a specific factor, then calculations can be made to beef up the joists & subfloor to adequately limit the deflection.

I'm fairly familiar with such tables because I will use the tables &/or a joist/beam sizing software called iStruct in my design process. I like to determine the approximate joist size/spacing for a project long before I'm ready to involve a structural engineer & certainly long before the joists & subfloor are engineered by the lumber supplier, which is common in residential in our market (instead of using a structural engineer) & doesn't happen until after a contractor has the construction contract.

Code required deflection limits are fine for flexible materials. The limits basically just ensure the structure will never fail - they don't ensure the structure will never sag. For instance, the code required deflection for an 18' wide garage door header/beam will result in the header sagging .9" if L/240 is allowed, or .6" if L/360 is allowed (sorry, I don't keep which L/ is required where in my head - I have books for that) - that much sag is visible to the naked eye. I've had lumber suppliers tell me they will not sell a garage door beam sized to code minimum deflection because they will get callbacks from unhappy home owners who see the sag & fear it might collapse, so to sell a "serviceable" beam as they call it (serviceable meaning don't get calls from upset owners), they will use a much tighter deflection limit like L/480 or L/720 to limit deflection to an amount not visible to the naked eye. That' basically the same issue that needs to be addressed with tile/stone flooring - the floor structure might meet code, but is is "serviceable" for the specified floor finish.

this quick google search brought up a few links that appear at first glance to specifically address this issue - it looks like L/720 is a common deflection target for stone floors instead of code required L/360: https://www.google.com/search?q=stone+deflection&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS725US725&oq=stone+deflection&aqs=chrome..69i57j0.2618j1j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8