we are installing 2inch hexagonal tile on the shower floor. anyone have any special tricks to getting them lined up properly? the tile guys have put it down and a lot of the spaces between the tiles are uneven. keep in mind the shower floor slopes a little towards the drain
you can use commercial spacers or a coin of the correct thickness would also work.
You have to glue them in net tape (special net for patching dry wall) In scale of 12x12 or 6x6 ,let them stick well then apply thin-set 1/8 thick in floor and install tiles set next to each other.To make them even, every three set tiles that been installed ,put pressure by one plywood or a level board on top .Let them dry for min 48 hours then make a liquorish grout and splash it in tiles then by a sponge or plastic mup(use for window cleaner) apply grout in all area till cap between tiles fill completely .After 2 hours clean extra grout on tile by a vet sponge or rug .let till grout dry as well (min 24hours) then apply grout sealant to get shiny and est able grout .Then you have it.
If you are going to be tearing up the old work, then they make these tiles that are already connected together on a mat. This makes spacing very easy, as the only thing that you have to space is the edges of the mat.
They should have been set using spacers. It is VERY difficult to get the spacing even without some form of spacers. You can use just about anything for spacers. On occasion I have cut up paint stirring sticks and used those. The point is you need something to accurately set the spacing. If they did not do it right tell them to rip it all out and do it over. The fact that it slopes slightly towards the drain should have no bearing on the spacing at all.
I tile every day of my life, and assume now it's TOO LATE to change the spacing. 2 inch octagonals should have come with a mesh backing for one thing, in sections that approximate a square foot at least. The mesh is supposed to insure at least a 1/8th inch grout space, between the tiles. Unless the contractor is willing to pull it all and start over, and/or you want to take civil action against them. you might just have to consider the other, hopefully better aspects of the job and live with it. In the SLOPE, which should actually be more a modified concave bowl effect to the drain, it's possible that the tiles would have to be singularly set, and if installed properly would have thinner grout lines to the point where they meet the drain. I'd probably file a complaint if I were you, but you may not get any resolution to the problem. I crafted a spacer tool, that allows spacing at the various distances where the grout lines are actually lined up, which happens with each adjacent tile, but can be crafted to stretch a foot or more when setting meshed sections. Steven Wolf ADDED THOUGHT: Since you added details, certainly you can CUT tiles to separate them. The issue is now, the dry time allowed, at 12:16 AM EST. The TILE sections should have come out of the box with the corner octagons actually protuding some, to FIT into any adjacent sections already laid. If the contractor was a decent one, HE would have determined the layout, and cut the corner tiles out, of SOME of the meshed sections, allowing the new, adjacent section to fit exactly in. Added added note: No offense but the pics show slight variances, but nothing critical. To change and entire line, might mean pulling up an entire square, and using NEW
