Make sure the bathroom tiles you select come with the special shapes you’ll need to create a complete, quality installation.

    Most people don’t think about how their bathroom tile will be installed. They make their selections based on the color and style of the tile and what decorative tiles or accents are available and compatible with the primary tile. But not all tiles are available with bull-nosed edges or other special shapes you may need.

    A bull-nose edge is a slightly rounded over edge that has the finished surface of the tile wrapping all the way around the edge so that when it is adhered to the wall, nothing but a finished surface will be seen. Bull-nosed tiles are also needed when the tile must wrap around a corner, such as on a tub deck where the vertical front surface meets the horizontal top surface. Many tiles do not come with this accessory. In those cases, the edge of the tile will appear unfinished and possibly rough when installed. Some tiles, like porcelain tiles, can be rounded over and ground to be smooth by the tilesetter. This will prevent the tile from having rough edges, but many times the color of the body of the tile is not the same as the finished surface. In other words, the color you see on top does not run all the way though the tile. Other tiles, like ceramic tiles, can not be properly ground down to make a rough edge no matter how skillful your tilesetter may be.

    Depending on your particular installation, you may also need tiles that are finished on two edges to form an outside corner. Another problem presented by some tiles is when the tile can not be cut smoothly. On a recent project, we ended up with tiles where the finished surface tended to chip off when cut, no matter what method of cutting the tilesetter tried. Even when he ground down the edge, the rough, chipped edge still showed.

    I would suggest that you discuss the tile installation with your builder and the tile setter before you finalize you tile choice, just to be sure the final installation will match your expectations.

Bill Hirsch

www.designingyourperfecthouse.com

www.williamhirsch.com

    Here is a little tip to keep in mind when you are selecting a tile floor for your shower. Make sure the tile is relatively small. The reason might not seem obvious at first. A shower floor needs to have a slope so the water will flow toward the drain. Puddles in a shower floor are a slipping hazard and mold will grow in the puddle quite quickly. Generally, the drain is placed in the center of the floor to create an even slope from each wall to the drain.

    It is this slope that comes from several directions that makes using large tiles impractical. The floor is essentially “warped.” where the slope changes, the tile floor needs to approximate a curve. If you used large tiles, they could not be laid smoothly. Inevitably, some of the corners will end up sticking up. There is no tile setter in the world who can avoid this problem. It’s a simple matter of geometry.

    Tiles on shower floors should be no larger than 4″x4″. 2″x2″ or smaller is even better. Most tile styles will have a selection of small tiles you can choose from, thus keeping your color scheme intact. Smaller tiles will allow the tile setter to make your shower floor nice and smooth. Your feet will thank you for your forethought.

Bill Hirsch

www.designingyourperfecthouse.com

www.williamhirsch.com

    Radon is back in the news. Radio personality Paul Harvey, the New York Times, and other news outlets reported recently that granite countertops pose a threat of emitting radon gas. Radon gas has been purportedly linked to risk of lung cancer. The Marble Institute of America has responded with a scholarly report essentially saying that the radon emissions from granite are so miniscule that they warrant no fears.

    It seems that this report surfaces every ten years, or so. It has been promoted by the makers of competing countertop materials, like quartz products like Cambria or Silestone and solid surfaces like Corian. You can read and listen to the reports for yourself, but it seems to me that this is a Chicken Little issue that grabs the media’s attention and the stone countertop industry then has to spend lots of time and money de-bunking it.

    Personally, I think that the threat presented by radon, in general, is way over-blown. I have never seen a positive, scientific, statistical link between radon levels and actual cases of lung cancer. All I’ve seen is pure speculation and panic prospering propaganda. The literature tells you all of the risks and dangers radon poses without actually showing that any of these dangerous consequences have ever occurred. None of the literature even acknowledges the effects simple ventilation has on dispersing the gas. Radon occurs naturally in the soil and rocks and it comes into a house through the ground. It can not be stopped. Ventilation is the remedy for houses that contain too much radon. The amount of radon that a stone countertop “might” emit is a small fraction of what occurs naturally and opening a door to the kitchen will remove any accumulated radon gas.

    I think this is another example of irresponsible journalism, if you can call it journalism at all.

Bill Hirsch

www.designingyourperfecthouse.com

www.williamhirsch.com

    I was discussing shower seats with a client the other day. We were deciding where they should be and how they should be configured.

    The primary reason my clients give me for wanting a shower seat is so that the woman can put her foot up when shaving her legs! Well, there needs to be a reason, so I guess this one is as good as any. Shower seats also provide a nice ledge for shower “stuff” to be set upon. I’m not sure is anyone really sits on them or not.

    I prefer seats that are somewhat triangular and are tucked into the corner of the shower. This keeps them out of the way, but convenient. Remember that the top surface needs to slope a little bit so that water won’t puddle on top or get stuck in the corner. This would be a cleaning nightmare.

    The other thing I prefer is to not have the seat open underneath. It’s easier to build a seat with a simple slab of stone spanning across from wall to wall. But this presents a cleaning problem. Humid air will collect underneath this slab and mold will grow in short order. It’s worth the effort to create a solid block beneath the seat and eliminate this damp, humidity trap. the front face of this “block” would be tiled and then a finished slab of stone, or even tiles, could be set on top to form the seat surface.

Bill Hirsch

www.designingyourperfecthouse.com

www.williamhirsch.com

www.housedesignguru.com