1a) - "The lighting plan."
1b) - "The tile layout."
Two things make up step one for me on our projects. The tile layout and the lighting plan. Both need to be done and decided upon before any construction happens. The reason for this is simple. With a tile layout completed you can select the elevations for plumbing fixtures and you will know where to start your floor grading when your designing a barrier free shower.
Of course if your renovating your bathroom the demolition process would be first but most times tile layout and lighting plans can be decide. Sometimes the lighting plan is affected by wall and ceiling studs. Sometimes these are easy to change and sometimes not.
An average tile layout meeting talks me about two hours. We look at the cuts and how corners will be addressed. Things like how the tile ends on the wall or the ceiling are all covered. After a good tile layout a material list can be worked out. The number of tiles. The waste factor and on and on.
You can select the little arrow buttons at the bottom left to scroll through these pictures...
They are also a great way to find local builders, tile setters, painters, designers and on and on. Start your searches locally in the beginning. They perhaps open the doors to your favourite metro location or the world if you have days and days to search.
I have written a number of ideabooks for Houzz and continue to contribute there weekly. If you follow my page on Houzz you will not miss a step or a post on my efforts to showcase proper shower construction and barrier free planning.
1b) - "The tile layout."
Two things make up step one for me on our projects. The tile layout and the lighting plan. Both need to be done and decided upon before any construction happens. The reason for this is simple. With a tile layout completed you can select the elevations for plumbing fixtures and you will know where to start your floor grading when your designing a barrier free shower.
Of course if your renovating your bathroom the demolition process would be first but most times tile layout and lighting plans can be decide. Sometimes the lighting plan is affected by wall and ceiling studs. Sometimes these are easy to change and sometimes not.
An average tile layout meeting talks me about two hours. We look at the cuts and how corners will be addressed. Things like how the tile ends on the wall or the ceiling are all covered. After a good tile layout a material list can be worked out. The number of tiles. The waste factor and on and on.
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| Grading a barrier free bathroom (wet room).
Looking at the picture above you can see some of the challenges in building a wet room. This is a custom installation by me, my apprentice and a buddy (at his place). You can not bend tile. Well most tile anyway. So in order to achieve a safety net these extra diagonal cuts need to be made. By adding the relief cuts into the design you can maintain one way slope in all three directions but make the two different planes meet nicely. You do get a few tiles where the slope is away from the drain and down to the drain at the same time.
Some questions when planning the tile layout are; Will you be using a linear drain? A regular point drain or standard drain? Will the shower be totally curbless or will a low curb still work? What type of curbless shower will it be? Modern - Traditional? What type of drain do you want? Who will be cleaning the drain? Do you want and easy to clean drain or hair strainer? Below are the two ideabooks talking about tile layout and plumbing layout. Take a moment to look through these two idea books.... |
Before you can even pick a tile layout you need first to pick a tile! That is where Houzz.com comes into play. Set up an account and start your own idea book. Once you have spent a few hours online a strong sense of your preferred style will emerge and come to light. This is a great start. Your ideabooks are easily emailed to tile shops and will help you stream line the leg work of finding what you want.
They are also a great way to find local builders, tile setters, painters, designers and on and on. Start your searches locally in the beginning. They perhaps open the doors to your favourite metro location or the world if you have days and days to search.
I have written a number of ideabooks for Houzz and continue to contribute there weekly. If you follow my page on Houzz you will not miss a step or a post on my efforts to showcase proper shower construction and barrier free planning.
JW
Next Post : How to set up a Houzz Account.
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All these drains available for sale here on www.no-curb.com |
