Cannes bath - A tiling challenge!

[Frances111]

**Sorry for cross-posting - I am a dozey newbie and posted to "painting and decorating" in error the first time**

We've bought a fancy Cannes bath which we're now having problems tiling around.

It's an odd shape (see http://www.vandabaths.com/uk/bath.php?b=cannes There are some tech drawings at the end of the page if anyone's feeling motivated). The bath does have a lip which could be tiled on to and could be fixed to the wall with battons but curves out at the 'end'. The curve means that (a) it will also need tiling 'up to' from below as the area which would be boxed in on a conventional bath is visible and (b) there will need to be some clever tiling to cope with the curve.

The plan was to tile down to the bath on two sides (the flat edge and one of the long sides which curves out) but the tiler and builder are now saying that they want to tile the walls and floor and then just rest the bath against the tiles and seal with layers of quadrant tiles and gunk. Having spent years struggling with mouldy quadrant tiles which had been retrofitted to our last bath I'm not keen to revisit them - especially as the first fit on such a gorgeous piece of kit.

Does anyone have any good ideas about how to fit this fella? From other messages on the forum it looks like people recommend tiling down to a bath. Is this preferable to the solution my tiler's suggesting? Is it even possible in this case given the curve out - the tiler's not at all keen to do this!

I guess to put it simply - is it better to seal the bath to the wall (with sillicone sealant) and then tile down to it them rim and seal again or is it as good to tile and then just put a bath against the tiles and seal in whatever way we can.

I fear the bath might be appearing on ebay soon if I don't figure this out!

Thanks for any suggestions. Fran

 

[lancenotalot]

Looking at the pics there no is reason why they cant fit it against the wall and tile down to edge as usual.

May need to rebate the wall slightly to take up a bit of the curved edge though.

As for tiling where the curved end meets the wall its tricky but possible I would think the hardest bit will be to get a neat silicone join due to restricted access at that end.

 

[manchestertiling]

First things first, these baths are not actually intended to be fitted against wall (as seen in the link frances), these baths are produced for a semi free standing position so you get the aesthetically pleasing curve standing out.

Secondly, saying that we have had to fit a few of these against walls due to size restriction or badly designed bathrooms from builders or clients who have installed basin or toilets in a position where they have had to go against a wall but could have actually been situated as per link with a little thought.

It can be tiled down to the lip of the bath & the tiles which are going to be fixed on the curve of the bath just need a little more thought & attention. Cutting with an angle grinder & decent quality diamond blade you can create any angle required for the curve & actually be quite precise so you can get the same size grout line too which will look great, any professional tiler should be able to achieve this, just takes a little time & effort thats all. We charge accordingly as per the extra time & effort this takes but only a few pounds extra. This method will look far better than quadrants & always worth the extra spent.

The silicone bead will also be tricky as Lancenotalot says but again time & effort by a professional it is achievable

 

[Frances111]

Thanks for the comments. I didn't mention that we're also having limestone and marble tiles around the bath so I guess that makes things a bit more complicated.

Either way. I'm afraid I sent the tiler packing today. Not a pleasant experience and not the kind of thing I like to do but seemed the best option for now. We're now onwards and upwards, entering our third month of bathroom-free living and looking for a new tiler with expertise in stone (and maybe a new bath!).

Thanks again for taking the time to advise.

Frances

 

[manchestertiling]

If you need an experienced tiler Frances you could check tilerworld.com or one of the other many rated tiler sites, you should find one around your local area.

Now you have mentioned marble & limestone too, it shouldn't make things more complicated, just a little more expensive as this is premium tiling for the natural stone experts, but like I said you should find someone close.