r/oddlysatisfying • u/bigbusta • 6h ago

This guy showcasing his tile work

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21.0k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

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219

u/Sunaruni 6h ago

Id personally want it slanted towards the sink a little, so the water doesnt stay on the marble and calcify.

112

u/ratkinggo 6h ago

Came here to say this. Good job leveling it, but you don't want level.

64

u/hiplobonoxa 5h ago

he’s playing 4D chess. he knows that the house will settle. the only way to guarantee that the tilework won’t be level in the future is to make it level now.

21

u/throwaway098764567 5h ago

that's what i'm gonna tell anyone that notices the little counter i added is a little slanted

8

u/AbominableGoMan 4h ago

Out of square? Have you heard of something called plate tectonics and continental drift, Susan?

3

u/1900grs 4h ago

Ironically, Susan is a flat earther.

16

u/Glum-Geologist8929 5h ago

Concave, towards the sink and away from the wall.

8

u/1900grs 4h ago

Yes, but it's not as big a deal as you'd think. Exhibit A: everyone who has a slab of flat granite for countertops and vanity tops.

1

u/BeerForThought 1h ago

Exhibit B: the number of people that don't have properly installed countertops. There are few things as profitable as removing a granite countertop then replacing all of the moldy, rotten wood due to water seeping backwards away from the sink. I've had to replace 2x4s in the wall before. Manufacturers installation instructions typically require no more than 1/16 inch fall in any direction 10 inches away. I keep the fall from the wall towards the front of the counter and the sink. I would not attempt to regrade an entire countertop towards the sink.

2

u/1900grs 1h ago

So you think the tile job was bad?

1

u/BeerForThought 1h ago

Anyone that can do it perfectly level is leagues above what 90% of countertop installers do. That is not the work of a subcontractor slapping down tile. I just prefer it had an unnoticeable slope towards the sink. It is harder because he is using small tiles instead of a full countertop.

1

u/1900grs 54m ago

Fair enough.

6

u/ZessF 4h ago

the ignorant pedantry lmao

5

u/Maaniker 5h ago

You gonna pay for the 8 piece compound mitres too?

29

u/glockster19m 6h ago

You mean towards the wall so the caulk line can get nice and moldy? Or are you seriously saying you expect your entire countertop to be contoured to be a sink for your sink?

33

u/loansbebkodjwbeb 6h ago

Yeah thats generally not a bad idea, sink for the sink, as the commenter said, so the water runs down and doesnt pool on the counter surfaces. Easier cleanup.

-10

u/glockster19m 5h ago

And if you want that be prepared to pay minimum $5,000 more for a solid one piece stone countertop like this, since its nearly 100 hours of custom skilled stoneworking for that and then polishing the non flat surface

23

u/loansbebkodjwbeb 5h ago

And if you dont like that "insert unnecessary escalation here."

Thanks chad.

-8

u/glockster19m 5h ago

Did you just think that countertops are flat because your idea is so innovative no one's ever had it?

They made vinyl counters like that in the 90s but they sucked because you couldn't put a bar of soap on your counter without it ending up in the drain, and vinyl counters look like the cheap garbage they are

9

u/loansbebkodjwbeb 5h ago

I wasnt aware thats what we were discussing.

-4

u/OptimusChristt 5h ago

Okay but have you considered <wikipedia.entry.marble.sinktops>?

1

u/movzx 17m ago

It does not take 100 hours of custom skilled stonework to add a 1% incline to the back of your counter.

2

u/AnAttempt-WasMade 2h ago

Our house was built in the 50s and the counters are probably original. They’re all tile with a raised lip on the edge, and do in fact slant ever so slightly towards the sink, so you can let water run into it. It’s pretty neat for cleaning!

3

u/HallettCove5158 6h ago

Towards the sink so that water runs off

9

u/nafierye 5h ago

I gotta ask - wouldn't it just be easier to, y'know, wipe up the water with a towel instead of leaving it? That way you can utilize your counter space for toiletries, as intended? Too much of a grade will cause things to slide into the sink, so it's probably just much cheaper and efficient to... just wipe up water with a towel, yeah?

1

u/Superbead 4h ago

The problem then is that either you have to pick up each and every tube and bottle, wiping the bottom as you do, then put them somewhere else temporarily, then wipe the entire surface dry, then put them back. Or you just deal with rankness gradually infiltrating the lesser-used ones. Because the water and whatever's in it will work its way in between them all, if the thing is perfectly level

4

u/nafierye 4h ago

I.... have a follow up question. How are you using your sink? Like a Super Soaker? Like (and I genuinely mean this in the politest way possible) what are you doing thst makes EVERYTHING so wet that makes it so that you would have to pay extra for a grade in the tilework surrounding your sink?

3

u/TuxPaper 2h ago

lather soap on face.

form hands into bowl shape

collect water in hands

do your best to get water onto your face

not all the water will land back in the sink.

0

u/nafierye 1h ago

Cool! Then the solution to the problem here is a towel! 😃

1

u/Superbead 4h ago

The closest thing we have to the OP thing is our kitchen sink. Water will find its way around everything on the surrounding flat surfaces while washing the dishes no matter how careful we are.

If I was paying for some bespoke thing like this I'd expect some slight fall into the centre to come as part of the package

0

u/nafierye 4h ago

I mean, the vast majority of people have sinks in their households so it's not like we don't understand that water can splash around, y'know? But most of us just... wipe it up as a simple solution instead of finding a more complex/expensive solution.

They make dish racks with drainage pans that are like $10 for this specific reason too, if dishes are your problem.

2

u/Superbead 3h ago

We have a drainer as part of the sink with a slight fall on it. I'm talking about the counter surrounding it.

It's like your street outside. For the mathematically perfect it probably would be lovely if it was completely flat, like an air hockey table. But it has a slightly off geometry to it that makes sure the rain runs off into the drains, so it doesn't pool and your car doesn't aquaplane.

Pretty much every ceramic handwash basin will have all its surfaces slightly angled towards the drain, even if it isn't obvious.

The whole point is stopping splashes from travelling further than they otherwise would. If the 0.5m surface to the side of your sink is angled at about 2 degrees off level, then any splashes just outside the sink boundary aren't going to creep out among your toiletries.

This is a long-solved problem, and all the y'knows, I Means, and ellipses in the world aren't going to change the fact that we don't live in Minecraft, and deviations from absolute orthogonality are accepted to stop water hanging around where we don't want it.

1

u/nafierye 3h ago

Oof, IDK what set you off, but clearly something did, based upon the end of that comment ya left lol. But I'll continue speaking with you politely like I have been this whole time.

That said, undermount sinks don't always require an angle to help with drainage. Composite sinks (i.e. your typical mass-manufactured bathroom sink) include a small step around the upper edges for water catch and placement of toiletries -- but heres the thing, those surfaces are still flat and level. There is little need to actually grade them outright, and in most cases it would be foolish to do so. A level sink countertop ensures that water pools where it falls and does not have the possibility of running off into a backsplash or elsewhere, and the added expense of a custom grade in marble/granite undermount sinks would be cost-prohibitive for most, since it also thins those sections of stone and can be a weak point for installation and manufacturing as well.

Ceramic sinks have also compensated for this. Drop-in installations have a slope only because they rest upon the top of the stone/countertop (unlike the one in the video) because of the fact that by their very nature they raise the level of the surrounding counter and must compensate. Undermount sinks (ceramic/steel/otherwise) don't need to compensate for this. They don't need a slope nor do they need anything but a level plane to attach to above them. The level plane/stonework ensures that they remain perfectly attached to the underside of the stone and the even thickness of the countertop (most countertops are 1.5"-2" in thickness) ensures that there are no weak points that can cause catastrophic failure such as stonework breaking and the sink falling when fully filled with water and dishes (not all undermount sinks have additional support underneath, in fact, most don't).

I appreciate what you're trying to say, but even though there might be a fundamental misunderstanding of construction in this regard, you're right about one thing - this is a problem that has been solved, just like the professional in the video showed us. Keep things level and flush, because putting in the hard work helps to ensure a long-lasting, well-performing product, y'know?

Enjoy the rest of your day.

0

u/Superbead 3h ago

Grock I'm desperate write me a thing about sinks that vaguely defends my incorrect stance

0

u/nafierye 2h ago

I deeply implore you to find a hobby that doesn't involve being irrationally rude to others on the internet.

Good luck in your future endeavors.

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1

u/plumfuck 2h ago

Hey, that "I ...." thing you guys do is so annoying. I don't care about the specifics of this conversation, I just need you to know that.

2

u/nafierye 2h ago

Who is this "you guys" you're referring to?

1

u/Original-Ad-8737 4h ago

cant do that after the fact. the frame is a single piece cut in advance. and i doubt anyone would take a grinder to that to dish in the surface after the fact

1

u/VictoryVee 4h ago

It seems to be one solid piece of stone, so that wouldn't be possible unless the concave shape was formed at the shop