Tiling in a Boat

[Hampus]

Hey!

I see a lot of boats from the US side of the Atlantic have tiled, or partly tiled heads and galleys. I rather like it and am curious what caulk (is it called caulk when tiling?) is used for fastening the tiles. I'm guessing it must be something a bit flexible?

/Hampus

[AnchorageGuy]

Hampus, We tiled our counter tops and it looked great and is still on the boat with the new owner. You need to use a waterproof tile adhesive to set the tile and not the traditional thin set. Also be sure the subsurface is sealed with a latex primer made just for this type of install. Once the tile is set and the adhesive dry, use a latex grout, it will remain a bit more flexible. If the surface that is being covered is too flexible, the grout will not stay in, no matter what you try to do. You can buy all of this at Home Depot or Lowes. Chuck

[bstreep]

We redid our shower in our forward head. We used a special thinset with a flexible additive recommended by a tile guy. His one caution was to be careful what you get it on, it won't come off! As suggested above, use latex grout. Turned out great.

[Patrick_DeepPlaya]

We used a flexible thinset like someone mentions above when we tiled the floor i n our head. We think it looks great and it's holding up quite well under our composting head.

Here's a post on the head installation with pics of the tiling:
s/v Deep Playa – Dawn and Patrick - Installing the Composting Head

[Cheechako]

We had a pro do ours, he used something called "mastic" out of a big bucket, it was very sticky and stayed flexible. Had no problems... did the whole galley counters and behind the freestanding heater.

[Hudson Force]

It's a good idea to consider weight when tiling. This can add up to a needless excess,-especially in a multihull.

[henryk]

Tile is the best, and if it's done right, it will last you forever.
I'm a pro tiler/ cruiser, been doing this stuff for over 20 years and was giving life time warranty on all my jobs. The best adhesive to use on the boat would be a product made by MAPAI called 'kerabond-keralastic'.
Kerabond is the cheapest thin set there is, keralastic it's a white liquid that you use to mix it with instead of water. It even sticks to glass.
The best grout to use would be a two part epoxy grout. Never stains, always stays clean, very hard to work with. I'm thinking about tiling both our heads with glass mosaic tiles.
Good luck
Henryk

[Cheechako]

Good point, tile is real heavy...

[AnchorageGuy]

The mastic Cheechako mentioned is what I had recommended and henryk's suggestions are also good. I have been in the installation end of tiling for many years. HOWEVER, I would not recommend a two part epoxy grout for someone doing this job for the first time. Using almost any type of grout with a latex additive will give it all the flexibility it will need. As to weight, unless you plan to tile the entire boat, I doubt it will be that much of a factor. If you have a concern, buy the tile, let it sit in the boxes in the location you plan to install it, and see how the weight affects the boat. If it's a problem, take it back. Chuck

[vintageray]

Important that surfaces it is put on are not subject to flex. Also remember that stuff slides around on ceramic tile and that smooth tile are slippery when wet.