I used to work for a municipal parks dept and the method you described is honestly the standard way of doing it. The "fancier" (overpriced & over-engineered) way to cut the this rug is to pay out the nose for injection molded plastic from Sweden that ends up becoming brittle in 10-20 years anyway. Even then, you still use rebar to stake it in place.

The timbers are secured to each other by stacking 2-3 layers and Lincoln-logging them. Drive bars at the joints and every few feet.

Parks departments really don't like lawsuits and their administrators typically get certifications on all matters playground. If it's good enough for them it's good enough for me.

Lmk if you have any other questions. Haven't done that work in a bit but I'd be happy to help however!

Another vote for not quarry tile. 2x2 unglazed colorbody porcelain

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Origami!

Hey man. These are not quarry tiles by any definition. You can always tell a quarry tile because it's been extruded and will have a slight sandy texture on top - as opposed to a porcelain which remains smooth.

Have you ever dealt with quarry tile in a shower?

All good, a quick Google image search is enough to understand the difference between the 2 shrug. I've seen how calling products the wrong thing can cause a 10k repair bill when a shower has to be ripped out so you aren't the first and you definitely won't be the last.

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Sheets of ploycarbonate?

Recycled cardboard and paper mache the only cost will be the glue and paper mache is really sturdy when done properly

Quarry tile comes in everything from a dull white to a deep red in sizes from 4x4 up to 12x12. It is used everywhere from commercial kitchens to K12 educational environments to commercial automotive shops. I have dealt with literal tons of quarry tile in schools and homes built in the 1950’s to the early 2000’s and can confidently tell you it isn’t limited to red 6x6 tiles.

Just because you sell tile and have attended a handful of TCNA courses doesn’t make your knowledge the end-all, be-all. We’ll agree to disagree on this one.

For the amount of work you'll do, you can just as easily grind the grout down and re-do it vs trying to save it. You'll appreciate it more as well.

Always looks crap, never settles well, transitions look silly. Worse, you're just leaving double trouble for the next person down the line. Do the job properly (I just spent a month removing a double tiled floor).

I bought a house built by the person who built the terrace of houses of which it's part, he built this place for himself. One look at the roof (no lead in the rain channels, joists too thin) and I knew he'd cut every corner imaginable. However, it's huge, south facing at the rear, with a triple sized garage outbuilding which is also south facing, and I'm handy.

Paid for the full flight survey, got a whopping discount on the condition of the building. BUT year round solar from sunrise to sunset on two roofs means tiny electricity bills, and I got a large workshop to play in.

Man, do I curse the work of the bloke who built it on the daily. I think he built it from the spare parts he had left from the other houses, nothing about it makes sense. Bizarre drainage, floors in thermal contact with the outer skin of the building, garden walls build on six inches of micro gravel, brick interior in the chimney, the roof looks like it was built from plans made by a child.

However, if you like DIY, want free electricity, lots of space, and a big workshop you couldn't otherwise afford, then removing the artex from every inch of every wall in the house was worth the effort.

All that said, don't half arse it.

But if you want to do gravel....

https://unilock.com/storage/2019/11/advanced-tech-guide-en-final-lr.pdf

That's a good reference on what you'll need underneath and to the sides...

I have been in the tile sales business for 20 years, directly with the contractors and commercial dealers and installers...I've been to more TCNA and NTC classes than I care to relive. I know my shit. Not about everything but most definitely about the tile world.

Quarry tile is commercial kitchen tile and comes usually red or gray. It comes 6x6 and larger, is usually half inch thick.

This is unglazed porcelain mosaic used on shower floors. None of this is a generalization...I know tile. The thinset thing is just worded weird... We are saying the same thing there. It's an adhesive that provides a mechanical bond to adhere tile to a substrate. It comes powdered in a bag and is mixed with water to make a spreadable glue...yes applied with a trowel.

Make the box walls out of an epoxy resin pour. And then connect them with more epoxy.

That's why it works. Be safe out there.

In most cases I wouldn't suggest this. But that would level out the threshold, and if it's straight on concrete it shouldn't deflect any or crack much. It's actually a decent use case. Basically using the old tile as an extension substrate.

But as for the edge, you can do anything from metal to wood to bricks standing on edge embedded flush into the ground to keep the edge straight and from moving about.

Really depends on just how "muddy" and quick that ground becomes...

https://www.familyhandyman.com/project/this-paver-patio-base-will-save-your-back/

Look at the photo between plastic paver vs traditional base - the point is you don't need gravel!

What the hell are you talking about?

1. tile is absolutely laid on thinset with a notched trowel. The qualifiers “with” or “on” make zero difference in OP’s situation

2. I never once stated it was unacceptable to lay tile on a concrete substrate

3. This is absolutely quarry tile. I have either personally installed or overseen the install of this exact quarry tile nearly a dozen times in my two decade’s long career in various residential and commercial construction settings

4. I asked if OP had clearer photos to adequately address the situation. Where you’re coming up with these wild generalizations is beyond me

If the bathroom is on an exterior wall and the joists are going perpendicular to it, you could vent out the exterior wall.

How is this a top comment? None of this is true. This is an unglazed porcelain... Close to Quarry but not. Tile is laid WITH thinset not ON it.

Also, it being laid on concrete is perfectly acceptable. I'm not sure what you assumed it should be laid on but even, clean concrete is the best substrate for tile. None of this has anything to do with cleaning grout. Grout is cementious just like concrete so using a cleaning product is mostly useless, especially if it was a lower grade cementious grout. Lifting stains with steam is much more effective. You can also buy an epoxy colorant and tape and paint the joints if it has become discolored. FYI.... ALL cementious grouts will become discolored eventually. You can grind it out and regrout, color it with epoxy colorant, steam it or just sanitize and move on...

I'm actually more worried about the transition between the 2 tiles, how do you not stub your toe on that? Tiles shouldn't be different heights without the use of a transition. EDIT: I guess this is a step down into your shower after looking closer. If you're worried about this being on concrete because it's the shower floor....the waterproofing is under the mud bed which is what is directly under the tile and thinset and looks like concrete.

Is that a wood base... In a shower?

This is good advice right here. I used their grill and oven cleaner on my stovetop grates without gloves and got chemical burns up my arm where it dripped - I could rub my skin off where it happened. It was a great reminder to read the instruction and take precautions. My grates cleaned up nice though.

Good info! Thank you.