Cement Board

DocHeb · Mar 25, 2002

I agree with the wet saw for tile. I've tried scoring and chipping - that just makes tiling a frustrating job. Borrow or rent a diamond wet cutoff saw, it makes all the difference in the world. For our bathroom, my wife chose a hard porcelain tile that could not be cut any other way. I couldn't do the job without the saw. You couldn't even drill holes in it with a carbide bit - I had to buy diamond core saws to drill the holes to mount the hardware.

Richard · Mar 25, 2002

I took an empty 5 gallon paint bucket, fit 3/4 inch plywood with little braces so that the round cut plywood would fit like a lid on top of the bucket. I then tinkered so that I could mount the rotozip on the UNDERSIDE of the lid and have the bit extend through the plywood, such that when you turn everyting upright, I created a little worktable that allowed hands free holding of your tile. This worked for rounding corners or other. For simple straight cuts, the wet saw is absolutely the only way to go. For other massaging of the tile, this has been a tremendous help.

Just need to remember to cut hole in bottom of it so the cord will pass through. The on/off now done simply by plugging in or unplugging. Also had to throw couple bricks in bottom of bucket for stability.

Chuck52 · Mar 25, 2002

We're just about at the end of a bathroom and family room addition project, with tile floors, a tiled tub surround and a tile shower. The pro doing the tile work seems pretty good, and for everything except the shower he installed the concrete board. For the shower, he used the green board and now is in the process of applying several coats of some shocking pink water proofing coating. I haven't asked why he went this route, but will if I get the chance.

Chuck

gerard · Mar 25, 2002

As most others have agreed on, you can use the durarock on a wall. Cost wasn't a factor for me NOT to use it, it's just unneccessary and harder to work with, especially if you have to make cutouts for outlets. You want a super stiff subfloor when doing flooring because too much flex and tile will crack. The bigger the tile the more prone to cracking. Thats the reason for using the durarock on a floor. It replaces the old "mud jobs" which used to be an inch of mortar with wire mesh to use as a base for the tile. Glad I never had to go THAT route!! Re cutting - I bought a wet saw. $99 and worth every cent. Like Bird said - forget the nippers etc. Pain in the A*# and the tile cracks too often. Even curved cuts can be done with a wet saw. You just use straight custs for the bulk of the material and nibble away the rest with the blade.

MikePA · Mar 29, 2002

We stopped in at Home Depot last evening (after our weekly Thursday night 'date' /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif). I was all set to buy the 'green' wall board but I hit the tile aisle before the drywall aisle and noticed something called <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.hardibacker.com/>Hardibacker</A> which looks different from the cement board I am used to seeing. So, that's what I got, 3' x 5' x 1/4".

StoneHeartFarm · Mar 29, 2002

Mike,

We borrowed a tile saw from some friends who used to run a handmade tile shop. I wish I'd caught your post before you went to HD. Back by the tile aisle, they have a kit that comes in a see through plastic bucket. It's about $29 or $39. We got one of those. It has the bucket, a sponge, grout float, mortar trowel, tile nippers and a bag of spacers in it. Looked like a good deal to me when I started pricing individual tools. Also, I found it helped all the way around to have a drywall knife handy for scooping mortar and grout out of the bucket. I think I used my 6" knife. Keep a bucket of water handy for cleaning off tools. If that mortar sets up on them, it's going to take awhile to get it back off. I also used my drywall mud mixer in the 1/2" drill for mixing the mortar. It worked real good and made mixing a snap. They're also at HD for about $30.

I've seen the handibacker but haven't worked with it. Keep us posted on your progress.

SHF

MikePA · Mar 29, 2002

Steve, thanks for the information. Something tells me we will be back at HD sooner or later /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif since we did not buy any grout yet. We had planned on getting all the material last night until my cell phone vibrated while we were looking at the grout. My youngest daughter had a friend (female) over to watch movies. She wanted to know if it was OK if two other friends (male - honest, they're just friends) came over. I said 'Yes' as we headed to the check out line! Pulled in the driveway just as the boys arrived.

TonyC · Mar 29, 2002

<font color=blue>"Mcfeely's makes an epoxy coated self-countersinking screw"</font color=blue>

I thought I'd interject a plug here for McFeely's. They are a mailorder/internet house specializing in square drive fasteners and a load of related items. They have a great selection of neat and useful stuff. I'm predjudiced because I live about six miles from them and get to pick up stuff and avoid shipping charges. Go to <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.mcfeelys.com>http://www.mcfeelys.com</A> for a look see or to get a catalogue.

I offer this plug for our benefit, not theirs!

StoneHeartFarm · Apr 1, 2002

Mike

Make sure you take your wife to pick out the grout color. Mine said "You get it, just get gray". So, I got gray. Unfortunately, there's about a half dozen flavors of gray and the one I picked is too dark /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif.

When you're down the tile aisle, check the little tear off hand out sheets. If I recall corretly, there was one for wonderboard with a warranty on it that covers the tile job.

SHF

MarkV · Apr 1, 2002

Mike,
Sounds like you have gotten good information from others and I am a little late. Of course my wife says I have been a little late most of my life so that will not stop me from throwing in my two cents. I have done a pretty good amount of tile work over the years and made several observations from your posts that I will comment on.

You have already stripped things back to the studs and bought Hardibacker---which is a fine material that has worked for me on several projects---but I do see one problem. Hardibacker is a ¼ inch material and most ceramic tile is 1/4 +/- inch thick. This will make you flush with the existing sheetrock but will not let you over lap onto the sheetrock like a ½ material would. (sheetrock or ½ cement board) There is nothing wrong with that but it will create an edge seam that will be hard to deal with. Mostly, tile splashes are applied on top of the existing wall covering and mostly onto sheetrock. Although I don’t see the Hardibacker as a problem in your application, it is meant to be applied over some other substrata. A ¼ inch material is not rigid enough to apply directly to framing and support tile in any application that would involve much contact. (floor, shower surround, walls) Most every job I have ever been on, kitchen back splash tile is applied over regular sheetrock. (unless you plan on a stone like Marble)

Whatever material you use under that tile use a premixed adhesive to apply the tile rather than a thin set mortar. It will be easier to work with and is fine for vertical surfaces wet or dry. Floors are always done with thin set mortar of one form or another.

If you have chosen a regular ceramic tile I think you can score and snap it with a tile cutter rather than rent a wet saw. There is no question that a wet saw is easy and pretty much fool proof but they rent for $45 per ½ day around here and you have a pretty easy area to tile. You can break a good number of tiles for $45 bucks. If you were closer I’d let you use my wet saw.

MarkV