Tile Shower Wall

[pushkins]

I personally like diagonal floors, especially in smaller rooms as it makes the room look bigger. Diagonal walls are another beast unto themselves, while they do look god they are much more difficult to do right.
If it were me I'd most definitely have two different colors for floor and wall, unless you like the monochromatic look, everything will start to blend together. Most often when a dark tile color remains the same floor to wall you get a "cave" look to your bathroom, especially as you have dark grey walls as well.
Have you looked at Schluter strips to end your tiles ?. These strips are usually metal, various colors and make the exposed end of the tiles look much better, you don't see the end of the tile, also makes a great idea if you do decide to set your wall on the diagonal as the cut edge is hidden by the Schluter strip, the strips are placed on the wall and mortared in with the tile glue at the same time you set the tiles....really easy.
They are available at Lowe's and Home Depot or any good tiling shop.

[DKAudio]

I have used those before, however...another issue is that the 1/2" edge of the Durock is going to be exposed on the two walls where the alcove starts. This was due to shimming the tub out and then building out the studs so the Durock goes over the flange of the tub. Once all said and done the whole piece of Durcock will be exposed on the edge where it meets the finished wall. I was thinking about getting a plastic L strip of some sort, sticking one end under the tile and on top of the Durock, the other end would hide the Durock then I would caulk the seam and painting it to match the walls. I havent thought of anything better but am worried this will look cheap.

Also, when I do the floor I am going to put a bed under the Durock, should I use the Flexbond for that or are you supposed to use something different?

Thanks

[pushkins]

No, for the backer board bed just use the cheaper thinset (about $10 a bag), basically this is only to bond the backer board to a sub floor surface. While this bond between backer board and sub floor isn't "that" great it is enough to stabilize the two together.

[DKAudio]

Sounds good, would mortar or cement work as well? I have a few bags of each already. Thanks for all the help!

[pushkins]

I wouldn't recommend either mortar or cement for this use, while they are very similar to tile mortar they offer absolutely no flexibility at all, even the cheapest tile thin set offers a little flexibility.

[DKAudio]

I finished everything and it turned out great. One question, I have never had a tiled shower wall before so I don't know....

I took my first shower in it yesterday and the tan grout turned very dark when the water hit it. Is this normal even though I used multiple coats of a penetrating sealer?

Thanks

[HayZee518]

the grout as you will find stays wet even tho its rock hard. it won't migrate out of the cracks. when it "dries" it will lighten in color but will always remain damp.

[DKAudio]

It was still hard, I tried scrapping it to no avail. I was just wondering since if it turns color that means it is absorbing some water, didn't know if that was normal after sealing, I thought it would almost "bead" off.

Thanks

[pushkins]

If you used a sealer it should be beading at least a little, Lowe's/HD type sealers are pretty cheap and nasty and in all reality don't work well.
If you want the "ducks guts" (Aussie for best...lol) in sealers get hold of some 511 Impregnator sealer I think Lowe's sell it now it's around $30 a bottle but goes a looong way. If your grout is not beading you should be Ok to apply 511 now, if it IS beading then wait a month or two clean the shower allow it to dry then apply 511.

[DKAudio]

Thanks for the tip, I will get some 511. I was using TileLab from HD.