Shower Corner Shelf
How To Install a Tile Soap Dish In The Corner Of A Shower
A corner shower shelf will help keep your shower floor clean and hopefully keep your soap a little less soggy. The two most common ways to add a tile shower shelf are to either use a piece of tile cut at a 45 degree angle or a pre made tile shower corner shelf is a popular way to keep a consistent look in your shower.
It helps to install a corner shower shelf higher on the wall so water does not continualy hit the shelf when the shower is on.
This article teaches you how to install a tile soap dish to make a nice shower shelf in the corner of your shower. There are two basic ways to create a corner shelf in a shower. Making a tile shelf cut from a piece of tile or installing a pre made ceramic tile soap dish in the corner or on a wall. This article teaches you how to install a cut piece of tile to make a shelf in the shower corner. To learn how install a tile soap dish on an existing tile shower wall click read the article How To Install A Soap Dish in our Tile Section.
brief how to
In this article, you will find information about:
-
Sizing the shower shelf
- Placing The Shower Corner Shelf
-
Attaching The Tile Shelf
- How To Grout or Caulk Shower Corners
- Surface Mount Tile Shower Shelf
tools and materials
- Tile Caulk, sanded or non sanded depending on grout joint width
- Tile piece or formed shower shelf
- Thinset
- Laytex modifier
- Tile Saw
step 1 Sizing The Shower Shelf
The shelf can be any size you like as long as it can be cut out of a single tile.
- 12 x 12 tiles work best for tile shelf because they create enough surface area for a nice sized shelf.
- Use a tile saw to cut the tile at 45 degrees from corner to corner.
step 2 Placing The Shower Corner Shelf
There are two ways to set a corner tile shelf. Either on top of a course of tiles or in the middle of a tile.
Tile Shelf Height: The height of a tile corner shelf is purely arbitrary but the higher the shelf the less water gets splashed on it and if you are putting soap on the dish then the less water to make it soggy the better.
Location On The Tile Joint: Tile joints are the easiest and strongest location to set a corner shelf. Set the wall tiles to the height you want the shelf set at and place the tile on the top of the row of tiles.
Tile shelf from below.
Cutting The Next Row Around The Shelf: The row of tiles above the shelf will be custom cut to fit over the tile. This locks the tile in place giving the shelf more strength.
step 3 Attaching The Tile Shelf
- The best adhesive to use is cement based tile thinset mixed with a liquid laytex modifier.
- Use the same thinset or tile adhesive you used to install the wall tile.
- Place enough adhesive on the tile surface that will touch the wall to thouroughly embed the tile without spilling out around the tile.
- Make sure there is a slight slope from the corner to the outer edge of the shelf so water will run of the shelf.
step 4 How To Grout Shower Corners
Grouting shower corners requires the use of a sanded or non sanded caulk, depending on the size of your grout joints. Any corner in a shower is a place where the two joining surfaces will move in different directions. Regular cement grout will crack because it cannot flex. Using a caulk in the shower corners keeps water on the right side of the tile which extends the life and good looks of your shower. Grout manufactures make a sanded and non sanded caulk that is the exact color of the grout they sell.
- Use non sanded grout or grout caulk for grout joints of 1/8" or less. Grout joints larger than 1/8" need sanded grout to help strengthen the grout.
- Cut the end of the caulk tube so that it puts out a bead of caulk that is 1/8" round.
- Start at the end of a joint and apply caulk as far as possible. Keep the caulking gun moving at a constant speed.
- Use a wet finger to press the caulk into the joint creating a good seal and to smooth the top of the caulk.
- Let the caulking dry
