Posts Tagged ‘tile’

potty time

Friday, November 16th, 2012

I haven’t talked about the work going on in the downstairs bathroom since back in September. I blame slow progress and work eating up all my time. Excuses, excuses. Now that my work is becoming more manageable again, let me show you what’s up down there.

Great news: our shiny new Hans Grohe shower hardware is now installed and working!

the new shower hardware is in

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hans Grohe showerhead

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ooh! Aah!

Caulking between the tile and the ceiling still needs to be attended to… all in due time. The shower controls are on the opposite wall…

the shiny shower controls

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The teak slatted shower tray still needs to be made, but that pretty much does it for the shower.

The wall-mounted Duravit Vero toilet is finally in, too. Rectangular! (Try to ignore the construction debris under the toilet.)

Duravit toilet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

don’t worry, the hole in the seat is oval... ish

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The water-saving dual-flush mechanism got set into the wall. You know, save the planet with every flush. The large button is for #2. The small button is for #1.

the flusher, on the wall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still to come: the sink and vanity, plus a bench/storage cabinet. And then this room is ready to roll!

back in the bathroom

Sunday, September 23rd, 2012

On Friday, RI Glass delivered and installed the shower glass and mirror for the downstairs bathroom…

the shower glass arrives

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bathroom mirror was installed atop an electronic mirror defogger. It has a heating element to keep the area above the future vanity from fogging up when you take a shower. That’s my clever boy for ya…

the bathroom mirror is in

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The oval hole in the glass at top is where the lit shaving mirror will go. Below that will be a regular electrical outlet…

electrical: lighted mirror goes above, regular outlet below

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice, clean aluminum edge divides the glass from the tile…

aluminum edge between tile and mirror

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I posted this once before, but here’s a reminder of what this wall will eventually look like…

layout of sink area

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the risk of being repetitive, let me remind you of this:

A walnut box/countertop will be open on the end next to the toilet, so we can stash magazines and toilet paper rolls. (No toilet paper holder like in the drawing.) A walnut shelf will stretch from under the sink to the corner of the room where it becomes a bench. Behind the bench is a floor-to-ceiling wall of walnut with a few hooks up high for hanging clothes.

Over on the opposite wall, the shower got its new frameless shower glass. Hard to get a decent shot in this small bathroom but you can see it’s finally looking like a bathroom!

it finally looks like a shower!

 

The shower base still needs to be topped by a teak slatted shower tray. Actual shower hardware not installed yet.

As always, tried to keep it fairly minimal in here, which is why we went with a frameless design. The metal bar is bolted to the header to keep the heavy sliding door setup sturdy. Closeup of the hardware at the top…

closeup of the hardware at the top

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Closeup of the sliding door track at bottom…

closeup of the bottom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fixed glass is silicone-mounted right to the tile…

shower glass wall siliconed to the tile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finger-pull on the sliding glass door. No handle to extend into the skinny room! Have I mentioned lately how much I love this tile?

fingerpull on the sliding glass

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The plumber comes next week to make the shower a working thing and install the wall-hung toilet. Woohoo!

hey, look who’s in the shower!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

what happens in the shower

Friday, June 1st, 2012

… stays in the shower. Pretty sure that applies to the fancypants aluminum edging that now divides the tile and the cork ceiling, because I can’t imagine it escaping its new confines…

aluminum edge between tile and ceiling

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks good, no?

aluminum edge in the shower too

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s still more to be done, so don’t be too judgmental yet. The niche will be tiled soon and there’s more metal edge to come. And grout, of course. But I’m loving how it’s coming together so far!

in the bathroom, again

Thursday, May 31st, 2012

Overdue for a check-in on the tiling progress. Let’s see how it’s going down there…

Mark and I figured out the placement of the niche. Actually, the placement of the pipes in the wall figured out the placement of the niche for us…

niche placement

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really had my heart set on a long, skinny niche like this one, but the pre-made offerings were laughably short… we would have had to lay our shampoo bottles on their sides. Once again, had to settle. Sigh…

pre-made niche goes in

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

niche gets mud

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, it is mudded up and ready for tile, so there’s that.

Meanwhile, the tiles on the end wall almost reach the ceiling…

bath is tiled almost all the way to the ceiling now

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And did you happen to notice the aluminum edging?

crisp aluminum edge on the white tiles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Will make a nice, crisp line between the tile and the mirror above, and between the tile and the walnut built-in going to the right of the sink.

The sink, if I can remind you, looks like so…

our duravit sink

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of which, I suppose you haven’t seen the rough layout yet…

layout of sink area

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We probably have a nicer scribble than this somewhere… I’ll see if I can dig one up.

Anyway, the top of the white vessel sink will be on level with a walnut box/countertop — the wood will get a heavy-duty coating of something you’d see used on boats. Green? Unlikely. Impervious to water? Most definitely. The box/countertop will be open on the end next to the toilet, so we can stash magazines and toilet paper rolls where no one has to look at them. (No more toilet paper holder like in the drawing.) A walnut shelf will stretch from underneath the counter to the corner of the room where it will also serve as a bench. Behind the bench is a floor-to-ceiling wall of walnut with a few hooks up high for hanging clothes. Built-in storage is planned for the intersecting wall — details later.

So that’s that. Did I mention that the wood for the bath built-ins arrives TOMORROW? Woot!

so how’s it going?

Monday, May 21st, 2012

With the tile, I mean. Like so…

measuring where the tile will fall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And thusly…

tile now wraps around another wall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tile now wraps around another wall — the wall opposite the shower where the wall-hung toilet will be. The yellow bits in the back corner are plumbing related. Above the yellow bits, that square will be the flusher. In the foreground, the pipe is where the wall-mounted faucet will go above the sink. Trying to maximize our space here wherever we can.

tile check-in

Friday, May 18th, 2012

Mark was back at it yesterday, tiling those walls in the bathroom downstairs…

mark at work

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That shot doesn’t really show off his handsome side. I apologize for that. By the end of the day, tile stretched across the full width of the room…

tile by the end of the day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eventually it will meet the ceiling and this will really start to look like a bathroom. Thanks, Mark!

tile time!

Wednesday, May 16th, 2012

Not too much to show yet but this should give you an idea of how the downstairs bath is coming along since we last checked in. First, Mark “mudded” the walls of the shower — mud is basically a sand and cement mix used for setting our porcelain tiles

walls with just mud

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m sure there were steps that I didn’t catch on camera through most of this time-consuming and exacting process. It’s a tiny bathroom with tiny tiles that require a bit of concentration… I don’t like to interfere too often.

After the mud dried, the first tiles went on…

walls not too far along yet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And by the end of the day yesterday, a roughly 3′-band all the way around was set…

walls at the end of the day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nowhere near finished but it’s well begun. Thanks, Mark!

shower with appreciation

Wednesday, May 9th, 2012

I bring up our recent trip to Palm Springs yet again. Last time it was the use of concrete at our vacation rental. This time it’s the tile in the bathroom of the casita next to the pool. Here, the owner took a better photo than I did…

fabulous casita bathroom, from rental site

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Swank, eh?

Here’s my shot. A bit dark but you can see the tile better. Don’t let the reflection of me in my swimsuit frighten you… it was 115 degrees by the pool, you know…

lousy shot of a gorgeous shower

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m sharing this for Mark, our tile superhero, who’s got the downstairs bathroom prepped and has thus far politely entertained our aspirations. By this Friday, the finished cork will have had its full 10 days to dry, and he’ll be back at it again.

So what do I like about this bathroom? It’s light. It’s minimal. The aluminum strip is a nice detail…

beautiful tile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I like the way they used the aluminum as edging around the shower shelf inset, even if the grout could be a little neater…

aluminum edging on the shower inset

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the edges of the shower stall step…

aluminum edging on the shower base

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the edge of the end tiles…

minimal shower glass clip

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m not suggesting we add an aluminum strip everywhere, no. But I did think this was a nice detail and solved some of the issues about how to deal with the corners around the shower shelf inset. That is all.

That, and nice tile.

happenings

Monday, April 9th, 2012
Before we get started, I apologize for some text and spacing issues the blog seems to be experiencing. Hmmmm. Can’t figure that one out.
So here’s what you missed since I got slammed with work:

The ceiling is now completely tiled in cork (click to biggify the grandness)…

ceiling is corked, yay!
Something about it says eco-chic luxury spa, doesn’t it? The planks will get a protective finish tomorrow and the floor will be prepped for cork installation after that.

I mentioned the other day that Rob has been busy giving us light. The ceiling fixtures are in now…

first lights going in
Best of all — they actually work! Illumination. I dig it.

Also ongoing: tiling the bathroom. Our friend and fellow remodeling pro Mark Cummins has been prepping the walls, furring them out (building them up with wood shims) such that the diminutive wall tiles we’ve chosen will space out perfectly and require no cutting. That required a good amount of mocking-up and measuring. (And patience.) Followed by much re-measuring and marking, just to be safe…

marking the tiles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once Mark was confident we had it right, the 1/2″ cement board went up. In the shower, it’s gone from this…

shower wall before

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To this…

walls cement boarded in shower

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s the hand-held shower pipe poking through on the right. There will likely be an inset section in that wall for setting soap and sundries… a complication but hopefully not an impossibility. After that, water-based waterproofing and then tiling.

At this rate we may actually have a functional downstairs by summer. Doh! I just cursed us, didn’t I? Fudge.

color for downstairs

Friday, March 2nd, 2012

It’s taken a few days to switch over, but I have now made the full switch from Mountain Time…

back from colorado

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

… to Remodel Time:

walls finally plastered

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yep, we got plastered. Completely plastered. And now it’s time for the cherry on top: paint!

First, the bathroom. We carried the tiles over to Benjamin Moore and matched up a white to coordinate…

paint to match the tile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, the white tile isn’t a crisp white, it has a lot of grey in it. So we opted for a white with soft grey undertones: Classic Grey in Natura Zero VOC, Eggshell Finish. On top is Ann Sacks Texere in Dove, 12″ x 24″ plank tiles — for the floor. On bottom is Ann Sacks Savoy Stacked Brick Mosaic in Chalk, 5/8″ x 1-7/8″ — for the walls.

Had to choose grout for the tile too…

choosing grout for the tile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only other real “color” in the bathroom will be the walnut built-ins. Spa-like but modern and spare.

Unlike the upstairs which is really all about the view, the downstairs is darker, with fewer windows. Because this will be the cushy, flop-on-the-couch entertainment area, I want it to accentuate the coziness, so white didn’t make sense.

I also want to bring some of the outside in so that it’s not so starkly different from the upstairs. Therefore, natural, neutral colors. This is what will go on the walls…

benjamin moore mustard olive

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know, I know, Mustard Olive looks like an “off” color, doesn’t it? But because it’s a shade of green with a lot of gold in it, it’s warm without being too dark. There’s not a whole lot of natural light down there, so it won’t read as bright most of the day.

It will look good next to our dark walnut built-ins and the cork that will be on the floors and ceiling (we kept that pale to bounce more light around)…

paint and cork and walnut

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You’re still not convinced? I could tell. Here it is against more stuff. I like how it looks with grey…

paint against more stuff

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s Cavern Blackbird wallpaper in Kraft (yes, same paper I put up before), the charcoal wool of our Libre sectional, and one of the pillows we like to plump up while watching AdventureTime.

Don’t worry, when it’s all said and done it will look great. Or else.