Congratulations!

I am finishing up my prep work this weekend and will start tiling next weekend. Can't wait!

Yay!!!

Our tiler didn't show up until noontime and left at 3, so not as much as I hoped was accomplished. After he finished with some prep work he did lay down some of the bath and closet flooring. Strange what lighting and surroundings can do to distort pictures. Tile is AO Caterina in Roman Gold.

Bath with BM Warmed Cognac walls

Closet off bath

Looking good!

Makes me want to play hookie from work tomorrow and spend the day up to my elbows in thinset.

Now he can take it back up. He definitely didn't mesh tape the cement board seams. Did he put thinset UNDER the cement board when he put it down?

Bill, you did not start my Monday morning in a good way! Please tell me what could happen without the mesh tape on the seams. I don't even want to know about what would occur without thinset under the cement board.

This is the same tiler we had when we did our kitchen remodel, so we were comfortable with his work. Of course I wasn't home during the day to see what he was doing.

Thinset under the cement board is mandatory. It takes out the minute vibrations that would otherwise occur between the cement board and subfloor, and thereby greatly extends the life of the floor. As for the mesh tape, that's also mandatory. It bridges the joints between the sheets of cement board, thereby greatly eliminating the possibility of movement between the sheets causing cracks in the tile.

Bill, Thanks so much for your quick reply. I plan to call the company who I contracted with and discuss this. Thank goodness for GW!

Let me know how you made out.

I spoke with the owner of the company. He said the cement board was 'glued' down which would ensure no movement. I know they also shot what I think are screws into the cement board. DH is satisfied with this, me not so much. Thanks Bill for your help and concern.

Gluing it is just as bad. The thinset isn't there as an adhesive. It's there as a bedding for the cement board. Gluing it to the subfloor is just as bad as not putting ANYTHING under there. In fact, it could almost be worse.

This is copied and pasted from the FAQ page on my website:

Q: I read in forums to use unmodified thinset under the cementboard for our floors before tiling, but DH read the instructions on the board to use modified. Just wanted to confirm that we are to use unmodified and also to ask why?
A: That�s kind of a controversy in the industry. Most manufacturers say modified. TCNA (Tile Council of North America) says unmodified works best, but then they defer to the manufacturer�s instructions. The way I see it, the thinset under the cement board isn�t supposed to bond the two surfaces. Matter of fact, you don�t WANT them to bond. That�s what the screws are for. It�s there only to bed the cement board to take out vibration between the two layers, so the unmodified thinset makes a lot more sense to me. One thing is for certain, though, and this is important-- THINSET UNDER THE CEMENT BOARD IS A REQUIREMENT, NOT A SUGGESTION! So don't let some slick talking contractor tell you it's not needed! Also, construction adhesive, such as Liquid Nailz, or PL 400 in place of the thinset is a bigtime no-no. Those adhesives will actually CAUSE the voids you're trying to eliminate.
Q: Why don�t you want them to bond? Aren�t the screws there to hold the thinset while it dries?
A)Once you bond the two layers together, you�ve for all intents and purposes, formed a new, thicker, single layer, and you�ve lost all the benefits of double layering the floor, that being the allowance for the slightest bit of lateral slippage between the layers to allow further isolation of the tile installation from structural movement.

Here is a link that might be useful: My FAQ page