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Thassos ok for use on shower floor?

dvarnell
12 years ago

Went hunting for marble today and at one of the stone yards, the older Italian owner (who actually pointed out his house next to the Carrara quarry on a photo) told me that doing a thassos mosaic on my shower floor is a horrible idea. Said it will look good for a few years and then the wood subfloor, even though it's under hardibacker or Kerdi, will end up discoloring the thassos. Has anyone else heard this? Does anyone have thassos on a shower floor who can speak from experience? Sometimes I feel like I'm never going to be able to finalize selections for this bathroom!

Comments (11)

  • cat_mom
    12 years ago

    We have White Thassos mosaic/border tiles on our MB tub surround walls, and used solid WT tile to line the niches and use as shelves in all the bathrooms. 2-3 years later, they still look great.

    We used Hardibacker, and then DH rolled/brushed Hydroban over it before the tile was installed.

  • jjaazzy
    11 years ago

    I never heard about this, gulp..... I used a product called crystal white it is similar but with large silvery flakes with in the body. I have been using it one year plus and sealed it with a good penetrating sealer. The water beads off it great, I wish I could say the same for the grout. We uses a noble fabric product for floor, then thin set and grout, I can't imagine anything coming through.

  • dvarnell
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    VictoriaE - I have actually come across your blog before in this insane, multi-state quest I have been on for bathroom tile! I should also have blogged about it bc through this huge renovation I'm doing, it's definitely the master bath that is the troublemaker here. I want it to be perfect, but also practical so my $ is well-spent. First, there was the standalone tub drama - the one I wanted was $11k with faucet so I nearly had a heart attack, then I found a more reasonable one i also loved, ordered that and found out on the eve of delivery that it was backordered by 2 mos, found another and that one arrived damaged 2 weeks later! It did finally arrive this week in perfect condition, and then after scouring high and low for the perfect tile after going to various tile stores (4) several times (maybe 10), then hitting five marble yards and finding the slab I was looking for, I hear this about the thassos. My contractor is seriously ready to kill me (although to his credit he is being pretty patient through my insanity), and just today sent me an email saying the only thing that's going to hold up this construction is my master bathroom. I truly an going nuts over this decision!

  • VictoriaElizabeth
    11 years ago

    dvarnell-
    I SO totally HEAR you. Who knew tile could be something that gave you a nervous breakdown? Luckily, my contractor is my husband, so he's kind of stuck with his crazy client.

    In all seriousness, it did bring my bath to a complete halt and it pretty much took over my life. If I wasn't going to a tile store, I was thinking about it, or staring blankly at all the samples lying everywhere...

    I wasn't even 100% sure about the tile I ended up choosing. I just HAD to pick something. Fortunately, now that it's in, and grouted I LOVE it. However, it could have been a disappointment.

    Good Luck!! Post some pictures of what you choose, so I can add it to my list of things to consider for the next bath...

  • bill_vincent
    11 years ago

    I HAVE done this before, but it's not really recommended. Because of the fact that Thassos is stark white, ANY blemish will show up that much more clearly, and even sealed, it's very easy to stain.

  • melissa s
    5 months ago

    I am thinking of doing thassos for my undermount tub surround. Did you go with the thassos? are you happy 11 years later?

  • J B
    5 months ago

    Melissa stein, I can only speak to the Crystal white,(similar but more consistent) it held up beautifully for another 4 years of daily use and then we sold the house. I will add a few things I didn’t mention before. I sealed the tiles 2x with a good penetrating sealer before they were laid. Each year I cleaned very well and sealed the shower floor again. I put notes on the bottle each time I did it. I did use x-14 in the shower with a scrub brush when it needed it. But I moved quickly and didn’t let it sit for long. My experience with the thasos is it can have pieces that have a yellow look, brown splotches. I used large format thasos for shower niche shelving and hand picked only the whitest. Good luck on your project. Hope this helped you.

  • melissa s
    5 months ago

    @J B Thank you for the feedback. It's appreciated. I will be carefully taking care of the marble.

  • J B
    5 months ago

    Melissa good luck on your project.

  • suzastewart
    5 months ago

    No shade on AKDO for their lovely Thassos, but it is not for shower floors. The aging process called ’iron oxidation’ is accelerated around where the tile meets grout/drain. So it yellows around the edges. Happened to me in my last home build. Was shocked to be two years into a new home build and have a ”top of the line” designer double down on her ignorance stating” the tile rep said sealing should mean no problem.” I sealed my old shower floor every six months with DryTreat and it was significantly yellow after 5 years. Thassos is a lazy design choice to get a through the selection process and have a crisp white bathroom on day one. The smaller the tile (read mosaic)), the more edges to yellow faster. Instead, select highest quality, no slip porcelain.