Refinish stand with tile?

[mcsassy]

Would it be possible to give your aquarium stand a makeover? I have a 72 bow on a wooden stand and I was thinking it would look cool if it was covered with say, turquoise, teal and various blue tiles on it to give it a fresh oceanic feel. Is this task feasible? Has anybody done or attempted to do anything like this before?

[ToeJam]

Would it be possible to give your aquarium stand a makeover? I have a 72 bow on a wooden stand and I was thinking it would look cool if it was covered with say, turquoise, teal and various blue tiles on it to give it a fresh oceanic feel. Is this task feasible? Has anybody done or attempted to do anything like this before?

Well I dont see why not but it depends on the stone. Ceramic, marble, Granite, ??

because of weight and being wet.... consider this:

Prepare the stand by cleaning off the surface with a rough sanding pad ...try to strip the paint if it has it ..the paint stops sticking so does the tile...

Also reinforce the frame work of the tank with some braces.. stone and thinset add to the weight. So some reinforcement by brace is recommended.

Now that you have preparations ready its time to pick the tile. I would go Granite or Ceramic and be sure to use a leveler ...also using things like poker chips in the thinset will prevent you from pressing down too far on the tile...

They make these spacers to + sign looking things for the newbie to keep space between tiles corners set better...

Give the thinset about 24 hours minimal to set i would wait longer. Then use the appropriate groute (spelling off i know). After that is cleaned and set...

Seal the tile with stone sealer liquid. Masonary departments should have them ..even tile and granite stores . Make sure you seal that stone.

Also for edge work I would use a variable speed grinder and putting bevels on the edges at the least or even a bullnose by using stone grinding at 100grit then finishing it with 200-300 grit sand paper...then down to water polishing ...(if this is far too advanced then just stick to flatening the edges with a grinder and 100 grit on low rpms. worst case a wood block with sandpaper and make sure you use a sponge and keep it wet.

(yes I did stone masonry for a while back in the day)

PS> Thinset mixing is the key.... use the trowel and scoop up a glob... turn it over if it sticks very thick it needs more water...if it drips off it needs more thinset powder... you want the consistency of dough ...it should slowly glob downward not drip...staying as one thick goo vs falling off in chunks or not moving at all...

[mcsassy]

ToeJam,

First off, thanks for the awesome reply. I was thinking the expansion of the wood would probably crack the grout and/or tiles.

This is a cool one. What kind of tile do you think it is?

http://www.rimlessreef.com/uploads/1/4/7/4/1474682/1272671_orig.jpg

[fsn77]

The one in that pic is probably a built-in counter. It was likely designed from the beginning to be tiled and was put up with masonry board then tiled similar to how a bathroom wall would be tiled.

Stand integrity would be my biggest concern, as I would not recommend trying this with most commercially made stands.

[ToeJam]

Same way... they applied the thinset and stuck tiles on... let it cure ...then grouted it... sealed it. Done.

The work isn't that bad as long as you mix the thinset correctly and have the tile prepared before hand. The pro's dont use spacers on walls only counter surfaces due to gravity...the tiles will sink into the thinset... so the spacers we put in kept it from going down too far ..

They most likely preped the serface and then applied thinset to each tile piece its all done in one go. The edge work was beveled on the corners (cant tell without looking at it up close) so the grout settles in the grooves better. If not then it probably has funny edge work on the tiles...but only a mason would recognize it.

You should prepare by measuring and determining how many tiles per row and if you need to cut pieces on the ends... from there its all setting it on the spot. Its how my shop and I did walls of kitchens....

[ToeJam]

The one in that pic is probably a built-in counter. It was likely designed from the beginning to be tiled and was put up with masonry board then tiled similar to how a bathroom wall would be tiled.

Stand integrity would be my biggest concern, as I would not recommend trying this with most commercially made stands.

Thats also a possibility .... yep I agree on the stands ...prefab particle board not a recommended idea... solid wood...k some bracing would be advised first.