Friday, December 21, 2007

In the home stretch...

Well, at least for the shower tile. I have to install the 4" squares at the top and the tile will be D-U-N. Oh wait, I still have some glass mosaic to do for the niche. Then the tile will be D-U-N. Don't forget the grout too. Definitely excited though to see some good progress. This project is moving SO slowly. Lots o' down time. Oh well. Not as much urgency since there are two other bathrooms.




Mosaic tile is not a very forgiving tile. I tried the technique where you pre-grout the tile (under the paper face) and then set it in thinset. Worked okay, super messy. Didn't have that thinset push through problem with this technique. Still need to do some grout touch up, but overall I would say that method is pretty good. I'll probably do the same with the vanity wall. That's going to be oh so fun. Can't wait... :(

Happy Holidays!!! Be safe.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Okay, faith restored some...

I guess I did the toughest section of tile first. I was able to tile most of the other walls reasonably quickly. Still couldn't make a living doing this, but at least some significant progress was made. Even the wife said, "Wow, you got a lot done." That happens every full moon that occurs on a Tuesday during an odd numbered Leap Year.



I have to build up the section at the top of the tile (hence the thinset there). The mosaic glass tile is about 1/2 the thickness of the white tile. So I'm actually thinking a little bit now. Amazing to actually use the brain periodically.

Just waiting now for the package to arrive that has that little trim detail I posted below so I can finish up the field tile. I'll then move onto the mosaic that will be 6" tall and extend all the way around the shower. I need to install the bullnose finished trim pieces as well at the front of the shower. And then the 4-1/4" square tiles at the top. Can't wait for those - the easiest part of the job!!!

Sunday, December 02, 2007

You think you know, but you don't. And you never will...*

Well, here is what 5 hours of tiling looks like for someone who thought they knew how to do tile. That's all folks. Whoever gave me the idea to diagonal tile will be hunted down and properly addressed. Holy crap. I used to think I liked doing tile. Can I choose a more challenging tile project? Diagonal tile for the first time and a bunch of glass mosaic tile. That cultured marble is looking pretty appealing right about now...

In the end it will look fantastic, but I still have to question my sanity (should do that on a regular basis really). Oh and you won't be able to tell by the photo, but the tiles creating the border around the niche are actually slightly lower than the diagonal tile. Gawd dammit. I didn't account for there being a slight bow in the tile due to the curing/baking process. So I will have to get a little creative with grout. It's really too bad - all I needed to do was to build up that border tile slightly and all woulda been good. I need to stop doing small chunks of tile where there may be differences in height - after setting some of those border tiles, I shoulda set some diagonals - before the thinset setup. Oh well, ain't changing now.

Oh and I'm about 3/8" too high at the bottom now. Just perfect. So much for spending all that time laying things out. Fortunately my butt will be saved - I'll just need to order this product:

* Quote courtesy of one of the all-time great quote machines, Jim Mora.