Image Counts
and COSTS - A lot of time.
What did I learn? Lots of cool corners, shelves, setbacks, etc. really make this shower a fun shower, brighter, more usable, more decorative. All those futsy angles made it REALLY hard to tile. I'm no pro, but it took probably 3 x as much time to do the "interesting" areas vs. the big wide areas of mosaic tile. I won't even describe drilling holes for the grab bars through tile, with DIY tools - vs. popping out a few mosaics where the screws go, but again, probably 4 times easier with mosaic tiles. Even a pro would find the mosaic much faster to work with.
Salvaging Plumbing
Added a day of work. If I had a real job, would have been lots happier working a Saturday and buying a new shower valve. Instead, I had to cut out the old (and still very functional Delta temp / pressure compensating and very expensive for me) valve from the old tub and soldering it into the new. Got to it by cutting through the old fiberglass tub surround - lots eaiser than ripping out the wall behind it - though it ruins the salvagability of the surround - who knows, might be forced by economics to re-use it some day, hmmm, maybe some epoxy.
Cheaping out on Equipment
Well it was a theory................
What did I learn?
Tried using a Dremel, had to get their diamond blade. Wait a minute, you say, you are using a DREMEL to cut tile. Well yeah. I'm partially employed, and happy to be employed at all so every dollar counts. So I thought $20 of Dremel blades and a few days of my time vs. $200 for a wet saw and blade and a day of my time. No, renting is not an option when it's a 2 hr round trip to the rental place, $10 of gas, and wear and tear on a car I'll never be able to afford to replace.
This actually worked the first couple of tiles. Score a dozen times with Dremel. Then lay over a steel rod to get a sharp edge under the tile, laid a 2 x 4 as long as the score line, take another similar piece of wood lay down on other side of score, tight to it. Wacked it with a hammer. Voila, a clean snap. Yes, really, for a while.
Tried a 45 degree angle, DISASTER.
I learned a wet saw is a necessity.
