what spacers to use

[reybec]

i've come to the stage of tiling in the shower and am unsure as to what size grout line i should leave on the wall tiles in the shower.
i think it should be around 3mm but if i can stretch it to about 5mm i can get the tile spaces even (5mm) right up to the shower frame in both corners.
otherwise it ends up around the 10 mm mark on the ends (major PITA)

is 5 mm too much on shower walls?

also does the grout need to be sealed with anything to make it waterproof?
or is it waterproof on it's own?

thanks

[Pulse]

5mm is too much for wall tiles. I've used 3mm on floor tiles 300mm square, maybe 5mm for large terracotta floor tiles. Usually 1.5mm looks good for wall tiles.

Cheers
Pulse

[reybec]

i'd prefer to go with a 3mm space.

what would be the best way to fill the gap on the ends of the tiles?
it's going to be approximately 8mm between the edge of the tile and the side of the shower frame.

white silicon would probably look a bit tacky.

i thought about fixing the tiles first and then put the shower screen on but as the tiles only go beyond the shower on one wall and the wall they don't go past is the one you see as you walk in the room.
so i would prefer to keep the shower screen against the wall here.

and it would throw the screen too far out of whack to just run them through on one side.

and i have run the tap and showerhead in the corner (one tile width)at a 45 degree angle to the other walls and would like to keep the tiles running off that full tiles.

any suggestions appreciated

even ridiculous ones as they sometimes work

thanks

[mic-d]

As pulse said - 5mm is too much. 1.5mm is standard, but 3mm looks reasonable. You should have the screen on tiles on both sides to ensure waterproofing. I expect you have waterproofed the shower??


Cheers
Michael

[Barry_White]

The normal procedure is to tile the wall first and then fix the screen to the tiles and seal under the screen to the tiles.

[reybec]

thanks

sorted the problem out by using 1.5 mm spacers and then bought these things we saw at Bunnings called a tile pencil basically it's just a tile aboue 12 mm wide with a slighly rounded top.
actually finishes the edge off nicely.

mind you i had to go to 3 different Bunnings to get enough


and yes i did waterproof the wall first