Need for a "plinth"

[Garald]

Another chapter in the saga! 

 

I just had to play again the exhausting role of diplomat between my (French) architect and my (American) girlfriend. In brief: 

- I am letting GF set up one bathroom exactly as she wishes, so that she gets a bit off my back elsewhere.

- She was initially quite happy to see how it was turning out:

 

(The thing in the middle is for a freestanding bathtub.)

 

Later, looking at the picture, she noticed the empty grey strip on the bottom. I asked the architect, and she asked what sort of plinthe ( = plinth, baseboard) we would like. GF was horrified. I told the architect (very diplomatically) that GF wanted no plinth, and it was the architect's turn to be horrified: a plinth is indispensable in a wet room, I take no responsibility for the disaster that is going to happen, etc.  "Look around you! There are plinthes in every bathroom." (I was actually sitting on the toilet in my rented flat when I got that text; no, no plinth in the bathroom there.)

 

And then the architect told me she would install a plinthe made out of tile. I didn't know that was a thing - then all that drama was unnecessary, no?

 

At any rate, GF is somewhat mollified, but not entirely, and would like me to give her a good explanation for why a plinthe (even one made out of tile) is necessary, or at least a good idea. (Even if it is made of tile, it disturbs her sense of aesthetics. Also, it is true that the top will gather dust...)

 

So: explanation? Or is it a French thing only?

Edited January 18, 2023 by Garald

[ProDave]

So what is the grey strip at the moment?

 

I would expect floor tiles down first right to the very edge of the room, then wall tiles down to the floor tiles and grouted.

 

If the grey we are seeing is the tanking membrane, then you should still be able to fit the bottom row of the same tiles, but they all may need cutting unless they anticipated that and left exactly the right gap.

[Onoff]

Total bolloques!

[Garald]

13 minutes ago, ProDave said:

So what is the grey strip at the moment?

 

Nothing; it's the grey wall panel that has been covered with tile otherwise. 

 

13 minutes ago, ProDave said:

I would expect floor tiles down first right to the very edge of the room, then wall tiles down to the floor tiles and grouted.

 

The floor tiles do seem to go down to the very edge of the room. The idea seems to be that a plinth is better than just plain old grout. Or maybe it hides a lot of unsightly super-grout.

 

Pros and cons of the bizarre possibility of not having a plinth, in French:

https://www.quotatis.fr/conseils-travaux/faq/cuisine/le-carrelage-sans-plinthes-pour-ou-contre/?fbclid=IwAR3zQn9m14tQXLqtI-g_A5LtfV0vcbRMwjqykH00t0Bsj32EgOHXYM3akDY#:~:text=La plinthe est un élément,en bois ou en PVC

[ProDave]

Do you have a close up picture of a "plinthe"  I take it is is more than just a row of contrasting coloured tiles?  does it stick out? perhaps thicker tiles etc?

[Onoff]

You leave the gap at the bottom slightly less than a tiles height. (I screwed up btw, should have had a full tile at the bottom then wouldn't have needed those silly rips up at the ceiling):

 

 

You then place the bottom tile where it's going but flipped on its long edge. Mark the cut line. Cut to that line less any spacer width. 

 

 

When you flip the right way it should fit perfectly with a nominal 1mm gap at the bottom. You cut the bottom tile like this to accommodate any undulations with the floor.

 

 

Once stuck on remove the (yellow) packs. Force clear CT1 into the 1mm gap and baby wipe off. Finish with a bead of silicone you can replace when it gets grubby. 

 

 

 

My tiling is sh!t but I know the concept.

 

Edited January 18, 2023 by Onoff

[Garald]

3 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Do you have a close up picture of a "plinthe"  I take it is is more than just a row of contrasting coloured tiles?  does it stick out? perhaps thicker tiles etc?

I think you can make a plinthe out of plenty of things, including the tiles you've used to tile the wall (the option we'll follow, since GF hates the concept of a "plinthe"). I think the point is that it sticks out, and hides some mystery behind it - otherwise there would be not much point in calling it a plinthe, would it be. Or perhaps a plinthe can be invisible. But then what was the fuzz all about?

[Garald]

A quick Google search shows that these all count as "plinthes":

 

 

though so does something that looks more like a plinth, or like a baseboard:

 

 

If the first of these is a plinthe, though, what isn't a plinthe?

[SuperJohnG]

A plinth in a bathroom, which is tiled,  sounds like a weird idea. 

 

Just tile it and don't let it stick out.  

[Onoff]

I'd say if it sticks out it's a plinth. Ledges hold water, collect dust, mould etc. 

[Onoff]

Is the gap at the bottom higher than one of those subway style wall tiles? It looks it from the first picture. 

 

If the gap is higher then what clearance would you have if you were to put a row of tiles at the bottom?

 

 

You don't really want a "huge" gap there. The bottom row of tile's height should be a bit less than a tile's height allowing each one to be trimmed to suit the floor as aforementioned above, with a 1mm gap between bottom tile and floor. 

 

The suggestion to have a plinth makes me wonder if the tiles were started too high.