I am somewhat handy, but this would be the biggest home improvement project I have started. My wife wants floor to ceiling tile with sliding glass door.

Any tips? Any warnings?

Thanks

Anything specifically you want to know?
Your request is very broad but what I use for specifics is the John Bridge website and forum.
A great site.

Check it out > http://www.johnbridge.com/

I did.

Best advice I can give is ensure everything is square and plumb and use Durock/Schlueter Kerdi fabric/Mapei AquaDefense painted membrane. And give yourself plenty of time.

You say "floor to ceiling", but IDK if you meant even tiling the ceiling itself. Most websites say to tile ceilings on a diagonal in case the walls aren't square. I tiled the ceiling square (and installed a waterproof light), and that's where all the prep work paid off. Even made a wall niche.

The only places it didn't look great was the inside corners. I used those T-shaped spacers that have a spline to press the joint flat. That worked well, but I started the corner with one of those spacers with one of the flanges cut off so it could butt into the corner. Problem is, they have a "rocker" profile underneath. So the inside corners started to lift a little. It's not bad, really-and I do get compliments. But I now know not to.

One last thing-grout sometimes has variable "pot life". If you're working by yourself, don't get too far ahead before cleaning. And by far, a smooth tile will clean up much faster than textured ones like the imitation slate.

Also make sure you have the right tools for the material you are installing. Porcelain tile is really hard and when you need to anchor you door frame that will present a challenge to use the right bit.

Take time to lay it out so that you know where your cuts will be and try not to have paper thin pieces to install. I know that some folks suggest 10% more to cuts and tile, if this is your first time, then a bit more.

Here is my latest that I completed 4 months ago.

I did both of my bathrooms, and one challenge is getting the stepover set the right depth for the tile to line up with the wall. Since you have to consider layers of membrane, duroc, adhesive, to know where the outside surface will eventually be.

In addition to consulting John Bridge Forum I mentioned above > use lot's of Schlueter/Kerdi, use either Epoxy Grout or Polyurethane Grout and use tile "levelers".
It's great to be "handy" but with cementious products you don't always get a second chance.
Planning and prep is a good thing.

No matter what, only you will notice slight errors.

My Dad did this. I helped. It took a long time. Could not take a bath for awhile. My Mom was not happy. As a result of this experience, I pay professionals to do these things.

Just as well add heat to the floor while you are at it. You will appreciate it for those 2am bathroom trips. They make kits to cover bathroom size areas and it is not hard to install. And also add a heated towel bar. You will become very popular.

Definitely check out the johnbridge forum first. If you've never done this, you need to educate yourself on materials and techniques for starers. I used Schlueter products for the shower floor, curb, drain, and walls. Excellent products, but expensive.

One tip is to get yourself a "paint and mortar mixer" from Harbor Freight. Huge time saver for the many batches of thinset you'll be mixing. Second tip, keep your batches of thinset smaller, which reduces waste, since you will likely be working slowly.

If I remember correctly, you run the second course first. The first course tiles go in later and are not a full tile. Mark a line for the second course and screw a temporary ledge strip of wood for the tiles to sit on. Then the heavy rest of courses won't cause the lower course to slide down. This assumes using tile spacers.

I have done two walk in showers, including entire bath floors. Another vote for the Schluter system. Takes longer, but works very well.

I took out a 5’ tub/shower and put in a shower without any curb. Shower pan was in essence “dropped” into the floor, drain being lowest point of entire bath floor. Works great and there is no tripping hazard getting in/out. Job did involve cutting out subfloor and taking an inch or so off the floor joists, then putting plywood subfloor back in.

Other notes - I took all Sheetrock down where tile would be going (did not do ceiling). Seeing studs, I put in wood so I had solid anchors for handrails and shower rod. Once tiles were installed I drilled through the tiles and knew there was wood for screws to hold anything I wanted to mount. To remember where the wood was I wrote dimensions on it, with distances to floor, ceiling, etc. Then I took pictures of the wood and dimensions for later reference. The SMART thing to do after all that is to print and save the pictures. That way handrails can go in now or later and you will know where anchor points are. Put cement board up for Schluter system and tile.

Grout gets made in small batches, applied and excess gets immediately cleaned off. I learned to make my batches about the size to fill a coffee cup. Squeegee it in, then immediately clean off the tiles. Once it sets up it is a BEAR to get off. I wore out three brass bristle brushes cleaning off cured grout (use lots of water when doing this).

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Chris42,

I've done it a few times. If you are the least bit handy this is mostly easy. And most of the time your likely screw-ups are easy to fix. But like everything sometimes you need an uncommon tool. Depending on what type of material you are using you may need access to a way to cut tile. That you might have to rent or invest in. The low volume approaches suck if you have to cut a bunch. But it depends on the project. I've done it with a diamond blade or manually, but it sucks compared to the right tool.

OP here, thank you very much for the input. Really good info!


I decided to start with the floor and lay down some wood looking tile. I figured it’s easier than a shower which will be next project.

I’ll post some before and after pictures for the curious

Thanks!