Tiling my fish room... PLEASE HELP, my contractor is an idiot (I think)

2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///forum/thread/383278/tiling-my-fish-room-please-help-my-contractor-is-an-idiot-i-think#post_3351168
I used industrial tile... Honestly I was in such a rush cause everything else was falling into place it was exactly 18 days. My wife keeps track of everything!!!!!
If it were me, Shawn I would probably do it because I think they'd be ok. I just don't want to be the one to say it's ok and have a tile crack if you know what I mean. And I have the tools laying around to replace them if it turned out bad. I just can't bring myself to say go for it lol.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///forum/thread/383278/tiling-my-fish-room-please-help-my-contractor-is-an-idiot-i-think#post_3351168
I used industrial tile... Honestly I was in such a rush cause everything else was falling into place it was exactly 18 days. My wife keeps track of everything!!!!!
Thanks.
I'm still up in the air as to whether I should tile around the tank or not.
This contractor will not be the one laying the tile. I have a friend that tiled his entire house and my husband has tiled in the past so I am probably going to have the two of them do it. I really just want to be done with this contractor to be completely honest. If I have the contractor do it, since he's doing other rooms, I'll wait a month before I move the tank in, that's the most I can wait. If friend and hsuband do it, I'll go around thet ank. It's a small room so if I ever get rid of the tank, it wouldn't cost that much to retile the room. If I ever upgrade, I just break out more tiles to make room for a bigger tank.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
I know none of you want to be the one to tell me to do this and then have something bad happen, LOL
Hubby just said tile around it.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Oh, heck...I'm gonna say it. BT, if you can wait 4 weeks before setting the tanks up on the new floor I honestly think you'll be just fine. If the tile were going ontop of a wood sub floor than I'd probably be holding my tongue right now.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///forum/thread/383278/tiling-my-fish-room-please-help-my-contractor-is-an-idiot-i-think/20#post_3351190
Oh, heck...I'm gonna say it. BT, if you can wait 4 weeks before setting the tanks up on the new floor I honestly think you'll be just fine. If the tile were going ontop of a wood sub floor than I'd probably be holding my tongue right now.
LOL .. it's your butt on the line
j/k
I honestly think we're going to tile around it. I can wait a month, but my husband can not, LOL. The house we are in now needs major repairs before it gets re-rented and his father owns it, so he'd wait a month, even without rent if that's what we needed, but my husband just wants to be done with this house and into our own place.
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
I'd just tile it and wait as long as you could. if a tile cracks it cracks, you cna replace it when you move. A cracked tile won't look as bad as bare concrete on an otherwise tiled floor.
A cracked tile isn't going to do anything to your tank, it's not like its going to make the tank fall in the crack and drop 1/4 of an inch.
do your legs have feet or sides? if it has the long sides that sit on the floor I'd be even more at ease with puting it on fresh tile.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jstdv8 http:///forum/thread/383278/tiling-my-fish-room-please-help-my-contractor-is-an-idiot-i-think/20#post_3351226
I'd just tile it and wait as long as you could. if a tile cracks it cracks, you cna replace it when you move. A cracked tile won't look as bad as bare concrete on an otherwise tiled floor.
A cracked tile isn't going to do anything to your tank, it's not like its going to make the tank fall in the crack and drop 1/4 of an inch.
do your legs have feet or sides? if it has the long sides that sit on the floor I'd be even more at ease with puting it on fresh tile.
The stand has long sides. It's a cabinet style stand that will house a 70G sump.
I'm not worried about the aestitics of a cracked tile, I just don't want an uneven tank after going through all this work. This house has been a HUGE project and I'm just over it all. I've been waiting since August for this house to be done, I want my tank up and running already! lol
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
LOL, I hear ya, I don't see how even if the tile failed how the tank would become uneven, the worst that could happen is the tile cracks, but it's not going to mess up your tank, its just going to crack the tile. With the tiles you are using and the fact that its got a slab of concrete underneath it and not wood I jsut don't see much going wrong.
Here's something else you could consider, whoever lays the tile could put in a thinner bead of mortar, lets say 1/4" instead of 3/8" The thinner the mortar the less area between the tile itself and the concrete slab and the less likley anything could "Squish" downward. This makes laying the tiles slightly more difficult but in your case it might not be bad deal. And the less mortar under there the faster it would dry I would think.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
That's definitely a thought.
I am so completely torn as to what to do. My husband just wants to throw the tank in and tile around it and then put the other tanks in. I think his mind is fairly well made up at this point.
We spoke more with the "contractor from h*ll" tonight, and he basically told us that the tiles would smash under the weight of the tank and the tank would fall, LOL.
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
I googles this and found nothing about even cracked tiles on a concrete slab. just second floor wood weight and all.
Leads me to believe even more so that others have done this and nobody has bothered to complain
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Now to convince the husband. I would prefer that the entire room be tiled, but I'll sacrifice it for the sake of getting the tank running a little quicker as well. This is the largest of 14 tanks that need to be set up and/or moved. God help me!
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
I'm just trying to figure out say even if the mortar is a little soft, so what? You have a 6-foot stand spun across likes either 6 (12") or 4 (18") tiles. The only thing I can come up with, is that the mortar under one side of the tank doesn't cure all the way when the other side does, and the soft side under the tank squeezes the mortar out, causing the tank to be off angle. But how thick is that thinset mortar, after the installer pushes down on the tile? Probably flat on the slab anyways?
And If the mortar is consistently soft, the tank would just evenly squeeze the tiles all the way flat to the concrete slab.
 
geoj

geoj

Active Member
When they test concrete they will typically test at 7,14, and 28 days depending on the mix design. If you reach full design strength at any of these test breaks the concrete is within design specifications. If it fails at 28 days they start to sweat and pray, when they test it again, if it does not meet full design specifications heads start to roll...
So it is common to consider a concrete mortar to be cured at 28 days...
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
Thats exactly what I'm thiking.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AquaKnight http:///forum/thread/383278/tiling-my-fish-room-please-help-my-contractor-is-an-idiot-i-think/20#post_3351250
I'm just trying to figure out say even if the mortar is a little soft, so what? You have a 6-foot stand spun across likes either 6 (12") or 4 (18") tiles. The only thing I can come up with, is that the mortar under one side of the tank doesn't cure all the way when the other side does, and the soft side under the tank squeezes the mortar out, causing the tank to be off angle. But how thick is that thinset mortar, after the installer pushes down on the tile? Probably flat on the slab anyways?
And If the mortar is consistently soft, the tank would just evenly squeeze the tiles all the way flat to the concrete slab.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by AquaKnight http:///forum/thread/383278/tiling-my-fish-room-please-help-my-contractor-is-an-idiot-i-think/20#post_3351250
I'm just trying to figure out say even if the mortar is a little soft, so what? You have a 6-foot stand spun across likes either 6 (12") or 4 (18") tiles. The only thing I can come up with, is that the mortar under one side of the tank doesn't cure all the way when the other side does, and the soft side under the tank squeezes the mortar out, causing the tank to be off angle. But how thick is that thinset mortar, after the installer pushes down on the tile? Probably flat on the slab anyways?
And If the mortar is consistently soft, the tank would just evenly squeeze the tiles all the way flat to the concrete slab.
If it's layed right there really should only be a a 1/4" thick bed of mortar between the tile and the floor once you lay the tile down, push on it and slightly wiggle it into place. I've had to pull tiles up before a week or two after they were layed and never seen any sign that it's still wet to the point where it would ooze out if alot of weight was put on. For laying tile on concrete slabs I used to like to use the quick set stuff. That's the kind that you could walk on after 4 hours. The modified stuff is for laying tile on wood sub floors and is designed to have a little bit of flexibility to it but it doesn't set up as strong as the regular thinset or even the quickset. Seriously I would think it's fine after a couple of weeks, like you said the weight will be distributed over several tiles as most aquarium stands that I've ever used never rested on just 4 points. If you had a stand that rested on just 4 points than I probably wouldn't use it on any tile unless it was like a 75G tank or less.
 
ironeagle2006

ironeagle2006

Active Member
BTL here is what I did to ease my wifes fears in our house. Go to the local Lowes Home Depot Menards what everthere is around you. Get 2 things one is a piece of Luan Plywood. the other is a 1/4 inch thick sheet of Foam. Place them were you want the tanks luan down first. the Luan will spread the load. Then the foad will absorb any sharp points in the stand before it hits the tiles. Trust me it kept my wife and I together.
 
monsinour

monsinour

Active Member
I agree with the squishing. The tank will make the tile go to the slab anyways so use less mortar.
I iwll say this, once the tank is up and running, it will be a PIA to move if you decide later that you want the whole thing tiled. I say to tile the entire floor, use less mortar, and wait 2-4 weeks. LOL, the 4 weeks would be better due to the weather we have been getting lately and I dont want to drive in nasty weather to come help you, but I would anyways.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monsinour http:///forum/thread/383278/tiling-my-fish-room-please-help-my-contractor-is-an-idiot-i-think/20#post_3351306
I agree with the squishing. The tank will make the tile go to the slab anyways so use less mortar.
I iwll say this, once the tank is up and running, it will be a PIA to move if you decide later that you want the whole thing tiled. I say to tile the entire floor, use less mortar, and wait 2-4 weeks. LOL, the 4 weeks would be better due to the weather we have been getting lately and I dont want to drive in nasty weather to come help you, but I would anyways.
LOL ...
My husband is fairly well set in his ways of tiling around this tank... We shall see where that goes. I would prefer the whole room be tiled prior to the tank going in, but we're not talking about a very big room should we ever move the tank. His thoughts are:
If we upgrade, break out more tiles
If we downgrade or leave the hobby (HA!), just retile (it's only a 10'-12' space - costs less than $200 to tile the room)
Today, jacka$$ contractor told us to do a wood floor in the fish room. Yeah, WOOD floor
Definitely want to push him into the hole for the sesspools right now. I think he gets off on making me go insane daily.
 
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