Renovation guides

How to tile shower walls yourself: step by step

Draft guide written from standard practice, not yet reviewed by a licensed pro. Follow product labels where they differ.

Only after the waterproofing passed its flood test. Wall tile is unforgiving: the substrate has to be flat, the first course has to be dead level, and gravity is working against you the whole time.

Difficulty 4 of 5 · 2 weekends · careful

Photo of your room, the look you pick, then this guide with the materials counted for your room.

Step by step

1. Step 1 of 15

   Confirm the waterproofing passed

   

   The flood test held for 24 hours (or, over a tub, the membrane passed its inspection and laps onto the tub flange), the ceiling below is dry, and nothing has been drilled through the membrane since. If any of that is not true, go back to the waterproofing task.

2. Step 2 of 15

   Check the walls for flat and plumb

   

   Hold a 6 ft straightedge vertically, horizontally, and diagonally on every wall. No gap over 1/4" in 10 ft for tile under 15"; 1/8" in 10 ft for large tile (15" or more on any side). Check plumb in the corners too so you know which way the tile will taper.

3. Step 3 of 15

   Lay out the walls on paper first

   

   Measure each wall, divide by the tile plus joint, and see where the cuts land. Center the layout so the cuts at both ends of a wall are equal and at least half a tile, and check that the niche and valve do not land in a sliver. Adjust the starting course height so the top course at the ceiling is not a thin strip.

4. Step 4 of 15

   Snap a level line and screw a ledger to it

   

   Find the lowest point of the tub or pan, measure up one full tile plus a 1/8" caulk joint, and snap that line dead level all the way around. Screw the ledger through the membrane only where the tile will cover it, as few screws as possible. When it comes off, patch every hole with the same membrane (per its instructions) and let it cure before tiling over it. The first full course sits on the ledger; the bottom course gets cut to fit later.

5. Step 5 of 15

   Mark the vertical center line and the accessories

   

   Snap a plumb line at the layout center of each wall and mark the niche opening and valve. Dry-lay a course on the floor against a tape measure so you know where every joint will land.

   Ready to set wall tile?

   • Flood test passed (or, over a tub, the membrane inspection) and the membrane is intact — nothing drilled through it except the ledger screws
   • Walls flat: no gap over 1/4" in 10 ft for tile under 15", 1/8" for large tile; corners checked for plumb
   • Layout drawn: no cut under half a tile at the corners or the ceiling
   • Level ledger screwed in place, checked end to end
   • Wall-rated non-sag mortar and the correct trowel on site
   • Wet saw set up with water and tested on a scrap

6. Step 6 of 15

   Mix small batches of wall mortar

   

   Wall work is slower than floor work. Mortar and grout are caustic: wear gloves and glasses while you mix. Mix a batch you can use within the pot life on the bag, let it slake per the bag, and remix without adding water. Only comb out as much wall as you can set within the open time on the bag; if the mortar does not stick to your finger, scrape it off and re-spread. Use the mortar your membrane manufacturer specifies for bonding over their product.

7. Step 7 of 15

   Comb one direction, back-butter, and press

   

   Skim the wall, comb straight ridges in one direction, and skim the back of the tile as well — 95% coverage in the shower, not the 80% you would accept in a dry room. Pull the first tile back off and look before you commit to the trowel size.

8. Step 8 of 15

   Set the first course on the ledger and work up

   

   Press each tile with a slight slide across the ridges, set spacers, and add leveling clips on anything 12" or larger. Work bottom to top, one course at a time, and come back fifteen minutes later to check nothing has crept down.

9. Step 9 of 15

   Check level and plumb every two or three courses

   

   Lay the level across the course and along the vertical joints. A 1/16" drift is fixable now and impossible to fix at the ceiling.

10. Step 10 of 15

    Cut around the valve, the niche, and the outside corners

    

    Drill the valve hole slightly oversize so the escutcheon covers it, and never cut so wide you expose unsealed substrate. Set a metal edge profile into the mortar at every outside corner and wherever the tile stops on an open wall. The niche bottom already slopes forward from the waterproofing step; keep the tile following that slope. Put cut edges into inside corners and under trim; keep factory edges where they show.

11. Step 11 of 15

    Remove the ledger and fill the bottom course

    

    Once the wall has set firm, take the ledger down. Patch every screw hole with the same membrane, per its instructions, and let it cure before tile covers it. Then cut the bottom course to follow the tub or pan. Leave a joint at the pan — that gap will be caulked, not grouted.

    Ledger holes sealed?

    • Ledger off and every screw hole patched with the same membrane, per its instructions
    • Patch cured for the time on the label before the bottom course covers it

12. Step 12 of 15

    Let the mortar cure before grouting

    

    Do not grout until the mortar has cured for the time on the bag — normally at least 24 hours. Pull spacers and clips, and scrape any mortar out of the joints while it is still soft enough to chip.

13. Step 13 of 15

    Grout the field, caulk the planes

    

    Pack the joints with the float at about 45 degrees across the joints, scrape off the excess, wait the haze time on the bag, then sponge lightly with clean water and change the water often. Leave every inside corner, the wall-to-pan joint, and the curb ungrouted — those get 100% silicone. Around the valve trim, caulk the way the valve maker says; some want the bottom left open so water can drain.

14. Step 14 of 15

    Seal if the label says, and wait before the first shower

    

    Cement grout usually wants a penetrating sealer after the full cure; epoxy grout wants nothing. Keep water off the shower for as long as the grout and caulk labels require — typically a few days for the grout and at least 24 hours for the silicone. Before the first shower, run the exhaust fan: a single square of toilet tissue held to the grille should stay there on its own. A fan that does not pull, or one that does not vent outside, is the exhaust fan guide's job or an electrician's — steam with nowhere to go grows mold behind the paint.

15. Step 15 of 15

    Inspect in sidelight and sign off

    

    Kill the room light and shine a work light along the wall — that is the only way to see lippage before your guests do.

    Quality check

    • Courses level and vertical joints plumb top to bottom
    • No lippage visible in raking light, no hollow taps
    • Joints uniform and packed full, no pinholes at the tile edges
    • All inside corners and the pan joint are silicone, not grout
    • Edge profiles or bullnose at every exposed edge
    • Valve escutcheon covers its hole with no exposed substrate
    • Niche shelf sheds water forward, not back into the wall

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