Category Archives: Tile

Tile work

Finished Pillar

Posted on December 5, 2019 by ellen

When I finished the pillar I realized the stone is another heat sink in the living area for the warmth of the sun. After the stone was all glued on, it took a few days to scrub the stone. I … Continue reading →

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Progress on the Pillar

Posted on November 26, 2019 by ellen

The weather this November has been colder than usual. We have already had several snowstorms with the typical melt in between. The challenge was to cut the faux stone tiles outside while the weather was warm enough. At first I … Continue reading →

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Tiling the Pillar

Posted on November 16, 2019 by ellen

The installation of the tile is a matter of cutting it to fit and mortaring it to the cement board. However, there are challenges involved in cutting and fitting. The first block I cut with a grinder and while tapping … Continue reading →

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Change of Plan for Living Room Pillar

Posted on November 14, 2019 by ellen

Not only was there not enough stone for the pillar but it was way too bulky to install in the house. So instead I am going to use it to cover the broken stucco on the garage wall. This pile … Continue reading →

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Imported Tile

Posted on October 28, 2019 by ellen

My son was very impressed with the beauty of some Moroccan tile in a specialty tile shop in San Francisco. The cost was $250 a square foot. So he did some research to see if there was a shop nearer … Continue reading →

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Patching the Tile Floor

Posted on June 13, 2019 by ellen

At my son’s new house we shortened the kitchen island because it was so long it interfered with the breakfast area. The eat in kitchen was important for the young family so the last island cabinet and an ancient trash … Continue reading →

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Reused Vinyl Plank Flooring

Posted on May 15, 2019 by ellen

The master bathroom in my son’s house had practically new vinyl plank flooring installed over the old tile. The tile in the mud room was dated and unattractive. I decided to salvage the master bath floor and taking it up … Continue reading →

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Tile Removal Means Drywall Repair

Posted on May 6, 2019 by ellen

I did not take my time removing the tile backsplash in my son’s kitchen. I hacked the tile off with a pry bar and hammer. Directions after the fact said don’t do it this way, Remove the grout first and … Continue reading →

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Caulking Mess

Posted on November 22, 2018 by ellen

Have I ever mentioned I hate caulking? The family room shower is large and that meant lots of caulking. At the ceiling, at the floor, in the corners and inside the niches; all needed caulk. I used the same dark … Continue reading →

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Setting the Granite Shower Bench

Posted on November 21, 2018 by ellen

I had a nice piece of dark brown granite already cut for the bench. Originally I wanted to use left over granite from the sink top but it was not wide enough to completely cover the bench, and the narrow … Continue reading →

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Grouting the Shower

Posted on November 21, 2018 by ellen

It took me several days to get the family room bath shower grouted. My right arm got really sore. But after a few days it was back in shape. This shower took a lot of grout. I mixed seven batches … Continue reading →

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Shower Floor is Mortared

Posted on November 11, 2018 by ellen

The shower is getting closer to being finished! The floor layout has finally been mortared into place. I mortared the mosaic tile first, then waited a day to mortar the trim tiles. That way I could adjust them to the … Continue reading →

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Shifting Tile Layouts

Posted on November 5, 2018 by ellen

No matter what I do the tile in the family room shower is not going to be square. The walls are off square and my job is to figure out how best to hide the tapers. Of course I asked … Continue reading →

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Kerdi Shower Floor Installation

Posted on October 26, 2018 by ellen

The Kerdi shower floor is made of sloped pieces of EPS styrofoam that are fitted and mortared to the floor with a non-modified mortar. I had to trim the pieces of shower floor to fit my shower. The floor pieces … Continue reading →

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Leveling Cement on the Shower Floor

Posted on October 25, 2018 by ellen

I was fortunate to pick up a couple of free 50 lb bags of Mapei Novoplan 2 self leveling cement compound for free. I needed it to level the shower floor. Although some filling had been done with mortar, specifically … Continue reading →

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Wall Tile in Shower Completed

Posted on October 25, 2018 by ellen

The final wall area was around the shower head and under it on the bit of ceiling that has the shower light. I didn’t mix mortar for these two areas but used the acrylic mastic. Plain unmodified mortar is specified … Continue reading →

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Shower Niches

Posted on October 25, 2018 by ellen

Just before we left on our extended trip away from home I tiled the shower niches. These are Schluter Kerdi preformed styrofoam covered with the orange waterproof membrane. The niches were an area that the handyman who tiled most of … Continue reading →

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Tile Handyman

Posted on September 18, 2018 by ellen

When I hadn’t finished all three tasks from the final inspection list in April by the August 28th deadline I got to feeling desperate that I would never finish the building permit so I looked around for a tile installer. … Continue reading →

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More Tile in the Master Bath

Posted on March 12, 2018 by ellen

The master bath floor is finished. I just have to decide if I will use tile or baseboard in that room. I only have eleven trim tiles left. I could use them in the master but then I would not … Continue reading →

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New Switch for Tile Saw

Posted on March 8, 2018 by ellen

I bought a Husky bridge style wet tile saw for a bathroom remodel tile project in our Tempe house in 2007. That was the first really creative tile layout that I designed and it turned out pretty well I thought. … Continue reading →

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