Topic 'Steam room finished' in forum 'Home Improvement' - dslreports.com

Re: Steam room finished

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 10:05:19 EDT

dandelion posted : I think it all looks great blended together and wouldn't advise changing anything including the small vertical tiles which gives the room an individualized flair. Thanks for posting!

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 21:43:49 EDT

djrobx posted : I like the vertical tiles. Only thing that I noticed is one column didn't follow the staggered pattern to the right of the valve. Overall great job though!
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Rethink Billable.

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 19:00:28 EDT

PSWired posted :

said by Oedipus:

So, how many ethernet and RG6 drops did you install in there?

lol

I did wire in some marine speakers. Maybe I'll have time to connect them up tonight.

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:38:46 EDT

mattmag posted :

said by jjoshua:

said by VioletVenom:

Ok jjoshua, you now have to post some of your tile work for us to critique.

No chance. I leave that work to the pros.

Hmmmmmmm..... :uhh:

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:38:30 EDT

chip89 posted : that makes two of us!

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:38:18 EDT

Oedipus posted : So, how many ethernet and RG6 drops did you install in there?

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:44:45 EDT

jjoshua posted :

said by VioletVenom:

Ok jjoshua, you now have to post some of your tile work for us to critique.

No chance. I leave that work to the pros.

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:20:24 EDT

garys_2k posted : I like the vertical glass tile, it fits the wall it's on very well and provides a great look. I didn't think "waterfall" but it really does look like that -- very nice. Oh, and unless those edge issues were pointed out I'd have never seen them.

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:15:26 EDT

jrs8084 posted : You can add me to the list of people that was put off at first by the glass tile. But, it grew on me very quickly and I really like it. It really adds to the room.

Great job on everything!

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:03:35 EDT

PSWired posted : The benches are sloped slightly, but not much. Enough that water doesn't pool, but not enough for individual droplets to "roll" off instead of just sitting there.

Also, no air vents in there. I think you'll cook from steam way before the oxygen is used up. I've been keeping the door open for a bit after use to dry the place out. It could easily turn into a mold pit sitting dark and wet with no air circulation. Maybe i'll put a vent in the new door with some way to shut it off when the steam is turned on.

Also, here's the glass mosaic:

»www.homedepot.com/buy/jeffrey-co···og791FBk

»howto.homedepot.com/videos/watch···pot.html

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:29:18 EDT

gaforces posted : You sealed it up pretty good there and I see no air vents.
Might be a safety issue. Other than that, nice job.
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Let them eat FIBER!

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:02:06 EDT

VioletVenom posted : Ok jjoshua, you now have to post some of your tile work for us to critique. Bullnose is usually narrow and the usual way to finish outside corners. My only "future" suggestion, it looks like your benches are level. I learned the hard way to put a slight slope on them to help shed water.

For your first tile job, tits! Once again, I think you did great and now have the added bonus of enjoying it!

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:00:44 EDT

Annmarie posted : I seriously LOVE those glass tiles and the less than usual arrangement.

I will (hopefully) re doing a very 80s style bathroom this spring and I have book marked this thread for reference.

Yes, I agree with mattmag on the water fall effect. I am looking for more blue tones but that is just my color preference.

No steam room just a basic full bath with not much room - two people is barely doable. One must be in the shower. :)

Again, very impressive.
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Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are good is like expecting the bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian.

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 14:22:11 EDT

PSWired posted : Gotcha. Yeah, I messed up the placement on that right bench. I started that bench off the front wall (closest to the door) and the rest of the room was started from the back corner. The vertical narrow tiles (only available in 12" widths) have a beveled edge cast into them, which I wanted for the corner. Is there a better way to do outside vertical corners that I missed?

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 14:14:48 EDT

jjoshua posted : I would have shifted some of the tile positions so they lined up better.

Also, I would not have used the vertical narrow tile which doesn't seem to line up with anything.

[att=1]

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 13:10:00 EDT

Chinabound posted : Very nice. I'm jealous as hell.

You've done a fantastic job, and not only with this beautiful project, but also for uploading just the right amount of clear photographs and explaining every step without replying to yourself needlessly.
Thank you.

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 12:57:33 EDT

hitachi369 posted :

said by jjoshua:

Also, the glass tile is usually used as an accent and usually horizontal. But, if you like it, that's all that matters.

I've been to a couple of hotels that used it for the entire shower surround. Maybe it is a regional flair?

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 12:55:47 EDT

mattmag posted :

Actually, I wasn't fond of seeing the glass tile like that either, but with the completed project it gives it a very distinct "waterfall" effect I would say. I like it!

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 12:52:29 EDT

PSWired posted : Thanks, all. I'm satisfied with how it came out, given that this was my first time doing tile and my only training was from reading stuff on the Internet.

Jjoshua, I'd like to hear the details on the corners and layout, even though I'm hoping never to touch a tile saw ever again :)

And Coma, just make your way toward the cloud of steam over Annapolis when it gets cold again later this week!

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 12:07:31 EDT

jjoshua posted : Nice job on the completed project.

I'm going to be critical of the outside corners and how the tiles are laid out.

Also, the glass tile is usually used as an accent and usually horizontal. But, if you like it, that's all that matters.

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 11:47:09 EDT

Snakeoil posted : Nice, very nice.

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 11:10:46 EDT

sempergoofy posted : Very nice job. I am now jealous that you have a steam room and I do not. :)
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nohup rm -fr /&

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 11:05:43 EDT

Coma posted :

said by PSWired:

Finally, it's done!

I'm a local, when is the Christening ?

:D

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January is National Oatmeal Month

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 10:47:59 EDT

VioletVenom posted : I second that, on a job well done! I don't know your experience level but tile isn't the easiest DIY project.

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 10:36:51 EDT

Goober posted : I think it looks great. You did a very nice job.
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Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 09:59:01 EDT

PSWired posted : Finally I caulked and cleaned up/sealed grout joints. Also added some vinyl trim around the door frame and sealed as much as possible to keep the wood from rotting. Other than some minor touch-up stuff and a new door, it's done!

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 09:51:44 EDT

PSWired posted : Next up: lighting, controls, fixtures. LED lights in ceiling with a marine switch panel in the wall to control them. The switch panel also controls on/off for the steam generator and has a thermocouple to sense the room temp. Everything in the room is 12v and waterproof.

In the basement, there's an industrial temperature controller that turns the steam generator on and off to maintain 110 +- 2*F.

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 09:43:53 EDT

PSWired posted : Time for grout. This part went really quickly. The joints were almost all 1/8", but there were a few larger ones so I used a sanded grout for everything. Seems to have worked out great. All joints where two planes meet were caulked with a sanded silicone. Unfortunately I didn't get an exact color match on the grout and caulk.

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 09:37:31 EDT

PSWired posted : Minor mistake on the right-side bench: messed up the 16x16 tile alignment with the wall. Fortunately there are a bunch of grout lines there due to the 12" beveled edge pieces, so it's not really obvious.

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 09:31:44 EDT

PSWired posted : Two important things learned with this first tile job of mine: Marazzi tiles are manufactured in batches with a certain "caliber" or size class. I ended up with boxes of tile from two different batches, and the sizes were off by 1/8"! Had to return part of the order and drive around to different Home Depots until I found enough of the correct caliber tile.

Next, I used 16x16 tiles on the ceiling. This was a bad idea since the ceiling was not perfectly flat due to framing. I ended up with a fair amount of misalignment between the tiles. Fortunately, grout hid this significantly, and the lighting keeps it from being noticeable in the least. But it's not ideal.

I had to cut a few holes in the tile for lighting, controls, and speakers. After trying various carbide and dry diamond cutters, I found that the only way to effectively cut porcelain tile is with wet diamond saws. Fortunately diamond hole saws are not too expensive on ebay.

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 09:24:13 EDT

PSWired posted : Next up was the benches and the back wall. Benches, walls, and ceiling were the same series as the floor, except 16x16. Back wall was done with 1x3 glass/stone mosaic from a different manufacturer.

Re: Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 09:20:56 EDT

PSWired posted : Next I started on tile. First I did the floor with 2x2 porcelain tiles. It's Marazzi Artesian Ghiberti from HD. The 2x2s come in 12x12 sections. All of the perimeter tiles had to be cut to make the drain line up, and there's a break where the floor changes angles by the door.

Steam room finished

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 09:17:53 EDT

PSWired posted : Following up on this thread:

»Steam room progress

Steam room is done except for some minor details. Picking back up from where I left off in the previous thread...

I finished installing the Kerdi membrane, which provides a water and vapor barrier behind the tile. Also I tied the new floor drain into the existing plumbing from the old shower. I should've put in a new trap closer to floor level and eliminated the current one near the horizontal main drain--the current arrangement makes dripping noises under certain conditions.