Mosaic Tile Edmonton: Project in Terwillegar

12×24 Brick-Lay Shower With Twin Waterfall Mosaics in Terwillegar

Terwillegar is one of south-west Edmonton’s most active renovation districts, with single-family homes built largely through the late 1990s and 2000s along Terwillegar Drive. By the time the original showers in this stock reach renovation age, homeowners are typically looking to replace a builder-grade tub-and-surround with a walk-in shower that reads as custom. On this Terwillegar project The Tile Experts delivered exactly that: a 12 by 24 porcelain shower and floor laid in a 50/50 brick-lay pattern with two 6 inch waterfall mosaic inserts as twin focal axes, and a custom finish step where the homeowner’s chosen grout (which required sealing) was sealed in-grout by mixing a penetrating sealer directly into the grout slurry at install time.

The 12×24 Tile in a 50/50 Brick-Lay Pattern

The shower walls and the shower floor both carry a 12 by 24 porcelain laid in a 50/50 brick-lay pattern (every course offset by exactly half a tile from the course below), set with VersaBond Mortar. Purpose: the 50/50 brick lay reads as a contemporary update of the classic subway pattern, scaled up to the 12 by 24 format. It is the right choice on a Terwillegar shower where the homeowner is looking for a strong horizontal rhythm to balance against the vertical waterfall mosaics. Property: the 50/50 lay requires that the tile face’s bow profile be tight, because at this format any out-of-plane variation between adjacent tiles is amplified by the larger face. The installer verified every tile against a laser reference line before the bond coat was allowed to grab, and lippage was controlled at each joint. Relationship: VersaBond is a polymer-modified professional-grade thinset rated for ceramic and porcelain in wet-zone applications, with the bond strength to hold the 12 by 24 vertically on the shower walls.

Why Run a 50/50 Lay on a 12×24 in a Shower

The 50/50 lay is the more design-forward choice on a 12 by 24, where most installs default to a 70/30 to manage tile bow on long rectified formats. Trade-off: a 50/50 brick lay puts the maximum bow of one tile directly against the minimum bow of the next, which can produce lippage at the joint centre if the tile is not within manufacturer tolerance. Mitigation on this project: the tile selected for this Terwillegar shower was held to a tight bow tolerance, and the installer pre-sorted every tile by edge profile before the install so adjacent tiles came up in matched pairs. Result: a clean 50/50 brick lay across the full shower with no visible lippage, and a horizontal rhythm that the 70/30 stagger does not produce. This is the kind of layout decision that separates a custom shower from a builder-standard one.

Twin Waterfall Mosaic Inserts: A Pair of Focal Axes

The defining design move on this Terwillegar shower is a pair of 6 inch waterfall mosaic inserts running vertically from the ceiling line down to the shower floor. Visual story: a single waterfall mosaic produces one focal axis on a back wall; running two on either side of a centred showerhead or centred niche produces a symmetrical composition where the eye reads the entire shower as a composed elevation rather than as a single accent on an otherwise plain field. Layout discipline: both mosaic strips had to land at exactly the same elevation, at exactly the same width from the inside corner, and on full-tile boundaries within the 12 by 24 field. The field layout was planned around the mosaic placement, with the entire wall set off a single laser reference so both mosaics landed clean. Result: a shower elevation that reads as a custom designed surface, with two vertical lines of detail balancing the strong horizontal of the brick-lay field.

Sealing the Grout In-Grout: A Custom Finish Step

The Tile Experts default to a high-performance, stain-resistant grout (Prism Grout) that does not require any additional sealing step because the calcium-aluminate chemistry cures to a hard, low-absorption joint on its own. On this Terwillegar project, however, the homeowner had specifically chosen a different grout for its colour, and the chosen grout required sealing after install to resist staining and water absorption. Conventional approach: grout the joints, let the grout cure for 72 hours, mask off the tile face, and apply a penetrating sealer with a brush or roller. That works but it is two separate site visits and a meaningful additional cost. The move on this project: the penetrating sealer was mixed directly into the grout slurry at install time, so as the grout was packed into the joint the sealer migrated into the cement matrix with it. Result: the grout cured already sealed, which eliminated the separate sealing visit, simplified the homeowner’s maintenance schedule, and delivered the same stain-resistance the homeowner expected.

Planning a 12×24 brick-lay shower with mosaic accents in Terwillegar or anywhere in south-west Edmonton? Call The Tile Experts at 587-333-9800 or request a quote.

Working With Customer-Specified Grout Products

Most of the bathrooms we install are grouted with a stain-resistant calcium-aluminate cement that requires no separate sealing step. When a homeowner specifies a different grout: we still install it. Our job is to deliver the design the homeowner is paying for, not to insist on the product we default to. What changes: we read the manufacturer’s data sheet for the chosen grout, identify any post-install sealing requirement, and integrate that requirement into the install workflow rather than handing it back to the homeowner as a homework assignment. On this Terwillegar shower: the chosen grout required sealing, so we mixed the sealer into the grout at install rather than running a separate sealing visit. The homeowner got the colour they wanted and the durability they expected, in a single install window.

Terwillegar Custom Shower FAQ

How much does a 12×24 brick-lay shower with twin mosaic inserts cost in Terwillegar?
For a project of this scope (12 by 24 porcelain shower walls and floor in a 50/50 brick lay, twin 6 inch waterfall mosaic inserts, custom in-grout sealing of a homeowner-specified grout), plan on 6,500 to 11,500 dollars in tile-scope labour and material, depending on tile selection.

Can you install a 12×24 in a 50/50 brick lay without lippage?
Yes, but only with tight tile-bow tolerances and a pre-install sort. We measure the edge profile of every tile in the lot before the install, pair adjacent tiles by matched bow, and verify every joint against a laser reference. On a tile that meets the published flatness specification, a clean 50/50 layout is achievable.

Why mix the sealer into the grout instead of sealing after?
On a grout that requires sealing, mixing the sealer into the slurry at install time delivers the same stain resistance as a post-cure topical sealing, but in one visit rather than two. It is a finish-step optimization that simplifies the homeowner’s maintenance schedule.

Tile Installation in Terwillegar and South-West Edmonton

Terwillegar sits in south-west Edmonton along Terwillegar Drive, with neighbours in Magrath Heights, MacTaggart, Windermere, and Riverbend. Custom showers, 12 by 24 brick-lay installations, mosaic accent work, and homeowner-specified grout installs are some of the most common projects in this active renovation district. The Tile Experts install bathrooms, kitchens, floors, custom showers, fireplaces, and feature walls across Terwillegar, Magrath, Windermere, and the rest of south-west Edmonton, plus the full capital region. Contact us or call 587-333-9800 for a free in-home walkthrough.