Too Much Tile

We're back at it! I started to tell you about our bathroom project and I left you with a lot of demolition and a bathroom where shoes were DEFINITELY required. So now onto the tiling

First Mike laid out the tile on the ground so we could see the general pattern and placement of the tile. Then we got to work!

#1: Scrap down the cement where your tile piece will go. Make sure it's thick enough to have ridges in the cement - better grip!

 

#2: Place the tile and press down. (You can see the pencils lines on the floor every so faintly of where Mike marked the first tile should go, so we could work our way down)

 

#3: Scrape away any excess cement around the tile. (You don't want cement where you eventually grout will be!)

 

#4: Keep on keeping on. (Throughout the project, periodically make sure everything is level. And don't forget to put spacers between the tiles when you're placing them!)

So here was the flooring without grout.

Then with grout! So much better! (Oh, and I painted the cabinets like I've done in the past to jazz the old wood up a little bit)

Next up tiling around the tub and the shower. Those may be what broke our DIY-back but we're still here to type about it right!?? In the meantime here are some pictures to show what the true meaning of DIY looks like.

The corner of our bedroom. I stepped on many cut tile pieces.

 

Mike using the tile saw outside in the not to warm weather of Wisconsin.

Bless our neighbors for putting up with the buzzing of this saw until wee hours of the night.

The aftermath of the tile chipping on the last cut. Mike Was Done.

The final countdown ...of tile!

And the tiling continues around the tub to the shower walls and to the shower floors. I was the (delirious-because-it-was-way-past-my-bedtime) cement applier...

 

And Mike was the placer.

 

It a labor of love. Look as all those tiles and spacers and literally hours of my life hanging on those walls! You can see we added the decorative base to the tub enclosure we built earlier.

 

After the tub, Mike started on tiling inside the shower. That was a pain! So many angles. And you can see he put in blocks of wood to hold the first row of tiles as they set.

 

 

So here's how I'll leave you today - so close! We're almost there in this never-ending bathroom remodel! This is also the point where I tell you Mike had to have surgery on his shoulder so we called in a professional to finish the job. Clearly, Mike (nor I) thought my talents could finish this project off. Next post - FINISHED BATHROOM!!

Rub-a-dub-dub! Let's build a tub!

Before we could continue with the tiling, we had to address the tub. What to do? What to do? So after a lot of hunting around the web I decided I really loved the wood surround on some of the tubs I saw. So that's what we set out to do. Here are the steps to building a wood tub enclosure:

 

 #1: Measure and cut plywood to fit around the base of your tub.

#2: Apply wood glue (see below for the brand we used) to secure the plywood to the base.

 

 

#3: To prevent gapping (like below), use a nail gun around the perimeter of the board. We tried to place our nails where we knew the decorative base would cover it up.

 

Side note: We also build a small bench in the awkward space between the shower and the tub. We included this as part of the "tub surround" so it would look like it was also meant to be there.

 

ANOTHER NOTE: See that piece of paper inside the bench. We tossed in a quick note from us to any future home owners. I love the idea of passing love along in a house!

So we sealed it in...

 

#4: After gluing and nailing the wood to the base, paint as desired. I used the same color paint as the cabinets to tie it all together.

Don't worry that it looks ridiculously flat. We wanted to create a "built-in" look so we primed and painted these cabinet doors (that match the existing cabinets) and secure them to the tub surround. Pictures to come! With tile!



We may be crazy

Way overdue. Apologies. But I honestly think Mike and I may be clinically crazy for some of the projects we take on. It's been a little too hectic to keep up but it's calming down (just in time for it to rev up again though, right?!)

So we started our bathroom demolition like I said. So here are the pictures of our Mike's demo:

Out came the shower doors

Out came the tile and drywall around the shower

Out came the shower base! It's getting real, people.

The demo continues around the tub. Can you tell demo is Mike's favorite part?

So then the bathroom was a Hot Mess. All the places where Mike had taken off the tile (around the tub, in the shower, on the floor), we had to put up Durock (cement board). So in the picture below you can see Mike started putting up the Durock in the shower area.

And then around the tub

He also installed Durock underlayment on the floor to be the base for the tile.

 

You can see after screwing it down, Mike taped and sealed the boards with mortar.

 

Take note the half walls enclosing the shower area. They did not exist in the bathroom before but we knew we couldn't afford floor to ceiling glass enclosures for the shower. Solution? Half walls = half the glass. So Mike went to building the walls with 2x4's, patience and a lot of calculating.

 

 

After he built the walls, he was able to start the waterproofing kit. I'm sure there are technical websites on why's and how's so we followed the directions and I suggest you do the same! To me, it looks like paper, but it's special paper!. You basically wrap it around anything and everything (so all our shower walls and flooring) that we want to be waterproof, adhering it with mortar.

 

 

 

 

And this is how I leave you, with our bathroom being a Hot Mess. Next up - tiling!