gtblum Posted March 30, 2011 Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 I'm trying to imagine laying the backer in a T pattern or herringbone pattern and my brain tells me either method would yield a lot of seams. Just so we're clear, Tom said herringbone. I'm a T pattern user. Yielding a lot of short seams makes more sense to me than having long continuous seams down the middle of a floor. To me, it's no different than how you would stagger the plywood under it. I've also never had any problem with any floor I've put down. When you get right down to it, there isn't that much of a difference in the total length of the seams. Just the number of them. I've also never worked on a floor I didn't have to make cuts for. It's added insurance, to stagger it. Looks like that's how they want it too. http://www.holdenhumphrey.com/jh/hardibackerinstall.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted March 30, 2011 Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 . . . Stagger the hardibacker seams from the plywood and never have four corners of the backer align and all is good. That's been my experience as well. Honestly, if your subfloor is solid, it doesn't matter how you arrange the seams on the backerboard. - Jim Katen, Oregon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted March 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 The Hardie Backer is installed per manufactures instructions without any deviation. Although you cannot see the plywood seams and even though every one of them is blocked at all edges, I made absolutely sure that all of the Hardie Backer seams are not on top of plywood seams as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted March 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 . . . I got the tape standing by. I was going to do it but I went back and read the instructions and interpreted that they want you to fill and tape the seams as you lay the tile. . . I must admit that I've never done it that way but it seems like you'd be scraping up the tape every time you drew the notched trowel over it. Once you start laying the tile, you really want to be thinking only about laying the tile. But maybe you're a better multitasker than I am. After striking the first wet taped joint with the notched trowel it caused the tape to pull up like you imagined it might Jim. I abandoned that method and did all the tape first and let it set up a bit before resuming laying tile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted April 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Progress continues: I didn't ditch that friggin spade shovel untill about 3/4 the way through the job. I wish I'd done it earlier. Stole the wifes little flower digging hand spade after a while. Click to Enlarge 44.8 KB Click to Enlarge 35.8 KB In my younger days I did alot of body work on cars with bondo and stuff. That skill set helped me in the application of the thinset. Click to Enlarge 44.72 KB Click to Enlarge 48.45 KB Click to Enlarge 55.15 KB Here's some of the finished angles (excluding grout). Click to Enlarge 49.42 KB Click to Enlarge 34.16 KB Click to Enlarge 45.65 KB Click to Enlarge 55.22 KB Click to Enlarge 51.08 KB I need to come up with a plan for the trim transition between the different floor heights of the kitchen and dining room. I would appreciate any suggestions that anyone may have. My first design is to delete the quarter round from the end of the walls and kitchen walls. I would rip and the baseboard trim of the kitchen and notch the end wall baseboard trim to compemsate for the tile and hardie backer thickness. The ripped ends in the kitchen end at cabinets on each side so the difference there does not matter. In the dining room side, I would slice a bevel in the existing quarter round to eliminate the difference of the deleted quarter round at the end sides of the walls. The pictures that follow are just examples of the cut end and do not depict the final colors or full trim fits when completed. Here are the ripped kitchen side baseboard and notched end wall baseboard trim. Click to Enlarge 50.92 KB Click to Enlarge 49.76 KB On the dining room side, here is how I would trim the quarter round. Again, colors not relavant in the photo. Click to Enlarge 38.21 KB I also need to pck up a nice piece of beveled oak for the transition between dining room hardwood and kitchen tile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Moore Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 John, you should be able to find some pre-made transitions that you could modify, even if you don't have a good specialty lumber yard close by. Here's one at Home Depot... http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... reNum=4702 It's 3/8" thick, which looks about right(?). No harm having it slightly higher than the tile as long as you ease the corner. I would rip the grooved part off, slightly round the resulting corner and then just nail it flush with the tile. If you don't have a good straight edge across the tiles, and that would leave a gap, then you could hold it back the width of your grout lines and grout or color-match caulk the gap (pre-finish the new edge). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted April 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 The piece you linked to Richard is kind of what I had in mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 That's not 1/4 round, it's base shoe. (It's taller than 1/4 round.) Instead of beveling it like that, make it return down, into the floor. It's a cleaner look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Keeee-rist, aren't you done yet?!? Get it in gear, Dirks.......this ain't a government project........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted April 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Keeee-rist, aren't you done yet?!? Get it in gear, Dirks.......this ain't a government project........ Not done yet. In reality, is one ever? In my house, every detail is exhaustively debated (to put it kindly). That takes time my brother. With additional time being consumed waiting for the different applications of materials to set up before proceeding to the next, I should find a way to hold the debates during wait time. Yeah...it's taking longer than I thought it would, thats for sure. Interference on the part of others and dawdling on my part is the reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted April 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 That's not 1/4 round, it's base shoe. (It's taller than 1/4 round.) Instead of beveling it like that, make it return down, into the floor. It's a cleaner look. Base shoe....got it. Can you show a picture of what you mean as an example? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 That's not 1/4 round, it's base shoe. (It's taller than 1/4 round.) Instead of beveling it like that, make it return down, into the floor. It's a cleaner look. Base shoe....got it. Can you show a picture of what you mean as an example? No, I don't have one handy. Think of the upper right corner of a picture frame. The base shoe runs horizontally, and makes a 90-degree turn down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Can you show a picture of what you mean as an example? See if this makes sense. Click to Enlarge 24.13 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Morrison Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 I have to give Dirks props for posting photos of his work in front of this bunch of armchair quarterbacks. You've got some stones, John. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericwlewis Posted April 2, 2011 Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 I put this same tile in my kitchen 2 years ago! In Indiana we call it shoe moulding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted April 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 Can you show a picture of what you mean as an example? See if this makes sense. Click to Enlarge 24.13 KB That makes sense. As a matter of fact, after looking around my house, some of the original terminations are just that way. Thanks for the tip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted April 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 I have to give Dirks props for posting photos of his work in front of this bunch of armchair quarterbacks. You've got some stones, John. Thanks Jim. The help has been great from the members here. I finally got her into the action as well. Click to Enlarge 44.55 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted April 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 The grout is drying significantly lighter in color shade than advertised. Does the final sealing process give it a wet look more permanently? The color when wet matched the advertised color. What can we to to darken the appearance of the grout? What brand of sealer should we use? Click to Enlarge 44.86 KB Click to Enlarge 51.76 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garry Sorrells Posted April 2, 2011 Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 John, Did not read all posts, may have this already. Toe kick saw 3 3/8, go to Harborfreight.com and look at Item # 94626 SawsAll with long blade is a hard way to go. Saw that you are going with 3/4 ply. Two 3/8 unless you glue them together are not the same. Make sure that you bed cement board to plywood and then screw board, nailing is not as good unless you are going to take it all up in a few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted April 2, 2011 Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 . . . I finally got her into the action as well. . . You know, if I took a picture of my wife on her knees scrubbing the kitchen floor and put that picture on the internet, I'd be missing some man parts as soon as she heard about it. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted April 2, 2011 Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 The grout is drying significantly lighter in color shade than advertised. Does the final sealing process give it a wet look more permanently? The color when wet matched the advertised color. What can we to to darken the appearance of the grout? What brand of sealer should we use? Yeah, it sometimes dries lighter than the sample. I don't know why. Were you using any admix? Latex, epoxy, or anything like that? I've always used the Miracle line of sealants. They don't darken the grout at all. I've heard about other ones that do, but I don't know anything about them. Honestly, if the color really bothers you, I'd suggest raking it out now, before it gets a chance to really harden up. - Jim Katen, Oregon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted April 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 The grout is drying significantly lighter in color shade than advertised. Does the final sealing process give it a wet look more permanently? The color when wet matched the advertised color. What can we to to darken the appearance of the grout? What brand of sealer should we use? Yeah, it sometimes dries lighter than the sample. I don't know why. Were you using any admix? Latex, epoxy, or anything like that? I've always used the Miracle line of sealants. They don't darken the grout at all. I've heard about other ones that do, but I don't know anything about them. Honestly, if the color really bothers you, I'd suggest raking it out now, before it gets a chance to really harden up. - Jim Katen, Oregon I didn't use any additives. I just mixed with water per the instructions on the bag. It was not too wet but more of a drier tighter mix. As it dries more, the color is getting more uniform, but still way lighter than we expected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted April 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2011 Grout color was solved by a coloring dye made by the grout manufacturer. On the web there were many people complaining about this particular color of grout not turning out right. They have 50+ grout colors and only about 10 grout coloring dyes. Go figure the color we chose has a dye made for it. Click to Enlarge 41.49 KB Before coloring Click to Enlarge 42.84 KB After coloring Click to Enlarge 38.92 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted April 15, 2011 Report Share Posted April 15, 2011 Forget the grout color. Sealing doesn't do anything to maintain color. The color is going to change from whatever it is now, to that tinged with grey and brown grease and dirt. It's a kitchen floor. In a year, you won't even remember what color the grout was supposed to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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