I have finally finished my Kerdi Shower and I'm ready to tile. I will be putting in 3x6 subway on the walls and 1" hex mosaic on the floor. I'm also planning on using Schluter Dilex EKE for the wall and floor joints. I have the following questions about the floor.

1. Along the edges of the floor there will be places for a half of a hex tile. How in the heck do I cut the tiles?

2. What size trowel should I use when setting the Hex? The book I have does not really cover mosaics in much detail.

3. How should I fit the tiles around the Kerdi drain?

4. I found a small hump (1/4" wide by 3" long by 1/16" high) of excess motor in my Kerdi membrane on the floor. How should I deal with this.

5. Dose any one have any close-up photos of a 1" hex floor install?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

- Aaron

I think there is a close up of the drain on site too.

Thanks Bri. I saw the pics and there is no drain close up. That set of pics was the inspiration for my shower.

Just took photos of a bathroom with hex mosaics and 3x6 tile which I built a few years ago.Still have to get them onto the computer.

To cut them easily,I use my 13" Sigma score cutter.Very precise cutting board with which you can score the tiles on the whole sheet and snap them one at a time while still mounted on the mesh.

You should use a 3/16 x 3/16 square notch trowel to set these.Hard to find.

The substrate should be very smooth since you cannot adjust the height of the setting mortar when placing the tile.You'll have to trowel out a very fine coat of thinset to fix any flaws and let that dry hard before setting the mosaics.

Thanks for the info Ron. I'm not able to track down a Sigma cutter in my area (Portland, OR). I may get a Superior Cutter if the price is not too steep.

I laid out most of my floor last night and have pretty much figured out the drain cuts. I still would like to see a close up pic of one.

However, I have run into a new problem. My shower corners, where the floor meets the wall, are built up from all the layers of Kerdi and thin set. Now my floor tile, 1" hex, won't square up along the back wall of the shower. Should I float in some thin set from corner to corner on the back wall to even out the gap and then feather it up the wall?

Looks like a very tight and neat Kerdi installation.

That's the only problem with the Kerdi membrane.Those required overlaps tend to make the surface less than flat.I would trim the hex tiles to fit what you have.The cuts can be 3/16" or so from the wall since the wall tile will cover that.

I've never used one of those old style Superior cutters so i don't know if it will cut as nicely as the small Sigma cutter.

Thanks, Ron. I appreciate the help.

I found an article in the Fine Home Building archives which shows how to cut mosaic on a wet saw. They just use a section of thick plastic, like Corian, to support the tile as they run it through. This acts as a zero clearance for the blade and fully supports the tile as it's cut. I'm going to use a plastic cutting board. I think it will work just as well.