IKWYDLS 2012

Here is that outlet that I told you I would photo-up for you.  It's just an outlet.  Well, it's a GFCI outlet.  But, other than that, it's nothing special to anyone but me.  It just represents a ton of work to me.  I have wired it from the back with the old wall, replaced the box, rebuilt it for the new wall, sheet-rocked around it, then around it again, then re-positioned it for the tile, and finally worked all the tile in around it.  I had to break up a sheet of tile to get around it, then hand-place stones back in around it to keep the shape and dimensions.  But, I had to do the same thing around the corner of the sink, too.  In spite of yapping about it so much here, I probably will just forget all about it after a few months and it will just be another ordinary part of the house.

Today I sealed the grout and applied the caulking around the edges.  Then I put the outlet back together and took pictures.... and that means...

The whole thing is done, as of today.  Well...  Ok, so, after I took this picture, I took all the doors off and sanded them down and then primed them.  That much I knew.  My lovely bride is considering painting them a darker color to accentuate that whole wall.  But, she hasn't decided on a color so we don't have the paint.  Today was the last nice day for what could be a long time and it was the warmest day in a long time.  So, I wanted to take advantage of that small and closing window to work out in the garage (for one thing) and also to have paint-friendly temperatures.  I expect to be able to apply the final paint to the doors after I hang them back up.  Maybe not, though, depending on what gets decided about the hardware.  If we keep the old hardware and paint it, then I'll paint after hanging.  If we want the hardware not to be painted, then I have to paint first, then hang.

That will probably be it for this year, so here is the before and after:

See ya later!

IKWYDLS 2012

Today is Labor Day.  Holiday!  I decided to get to the mowing before it gets too hot outside.  I got our lawn done and somewhere around half of the farm before I got rained out.  Fine by me all around.  We need rain.

Last night I sealed the tile.  That is pretty simple-- I just used a paint brush and painted the stuff on, then wiped it down like the instructions said.  More importantly, because I did that last night, today I can get the grout in.

Or so I thought...

Surprise!  I have never used grout before-- because I have never done any tiling before.  For one thing, I thought the little one pound tubs we bought were ready-to-use.  Turns out they are just powder and I have to mix them.  The instructions said to fill the tub to the inside edge with water and mix.  Having never used grout before, I was expecting a consistency similar to, say, sheet rock/joint compound or even the mortar used to hang the tile-- something like peanut butter.  What I got was very runny.  Runny is hard to apply on a vertical wall.  That first tub did not go very well.

Having mixed concrete (and stucco) before, I had an idea that the amount of water makes a big difference.  On the second tub I used less.  And, like concrete, the line between too little and too much is very thin.  For the little one pound container (about pint size) I was adding mere drops at a time.  But, I ended up with a much better mix on the remaining containers.  Also, a grout float is basically a trowel with a pad stuck to it, so I was very comfortable with that tool.

Surprise number 2 is that we did not buy enough grout.  I have the lower right "wing" left to do.  I doubt that even had I mixed the first tub correctly I would have had enough.  No big deal.  We have leftover tile to return anyway.  Quite a bit, actually.  I was expecting the sheets to have more of a distinct pattern, so when I figured how many I needed I was trying to be careful about where the pattern would be from tile to tile and bought them based on that.  There is no pattern.  That's way easier to work with and uses less tile (and requires fewer cuts) because a scrap from here can go over there and vice versa.  The money from the returned tile will pretty much cover the cost of the saw.  Sweet.

IKWYDLS 2012

Day 2 of the "Holiday" weekend:  Actually hang the tile.

First, take it all down and lay it all out so that I can put it back in the right order very quickly.  Quickly is actually pretty important.  I have never done this before, but the one thing that resonated in all the instruction I have read is that the mortar stuff that is used for it cures quickly.  In fact, it says to not spread more than can be used in 10 minutes.  Fair enough.  My concern, though, is all I have is a 10lb bag of powder that has to be mixed with water.  If I try to make it in 10 minute batches, I have a lot of measuring to do.  All that leads to inconsistency.  I took the chance that I could mix up the whole bag, with the recommended amount of water (1.5 to 1.7 quarts) and what stayed in the bucket would last long enough for the whole project.  The 10 minute rule applies to what is on the wall, spread out at 3/16" inch-- not what is in the bucket.  I was right.  But, I wanted to move quickly either way.  It took about 2 hours:

It's a good thing that the stuff-in-the-bucket lasted so long, because I almost forgot to hand-place a few of the tile bits I had cut off yesterday for the corners of the sink... and around the outlet... and where the tile met against the wall without cutting (but the edges are staggered so one piece interlocks with the adjacent piece...)  You can see why I forgot them all.  Or not.  Either way, I did, and it lasted just fine.

None of my jobs would be complete unless I had something really painstaking to do to it.  In this case, some of the mortar squished through the mesh in the placing process and filled in the gap as if it was grout-- except I need that space for the real grout.  So, I had to go back with fine-tipped tools (including a few toothpicks) to clean those back out.  None of that is visible in the photos, of course.  But, I did it.  Honest.  It took 2 more hours.

I also had to readjust the outlet.  I'll show you a picture of the outlet when it is all done.  It's one of those details that means almost nothing to anyone except me.  The previous owners put it there to plug in the light over the "window."  Since then, I have changed it to be GFCI (Hello!  It's right by the sink!) and located through two layers of sheet rock and now a layer of glass tile.  The original mechanism for holding it secure was designed for one layer of sheet rock only.  Today, I had to get and use some of those thin little metal strips that slide in and bend over the edges to secure it in place.  This is the first time I ever got them to work satisfactorily.  I literally just sat and stared at the "finished" outlet (I still have the sealing and the grouting, blah, blah, blah...) for a few minutes.  That's also why I am burning all these words to tell you about it.

IKWYDLS 2012

By a stroke of good fortune, I get a 4-day weekend this Labor Day.  I was not expecting that at all.  So...

I started in on that backsplash.  Last weekend we got the tiles and supplies.  Among the supplies was a saw for cutting the tiles.  It says it is a Wet/Dry tile saw, but the instructions clearly say to keep the blade wet.  It is pretty cool.  It's basically what I call a "Skil Saw" but that is a brand name for a powered hand saw.  Here's a picture of one:

It made the job much easier than any of the non-powered options.  It was also quite precise, which I appreciate.  I was not able to cut the rounded corners around the sink, but everything else went well.  I (of course) built a contraption for using it in the utility sink in the basement.  I deliberately built that sink so that a standard garden hose could be attached at any time.  The picture doesn't show it, but the saw has this tiny, cheap-ish water line with a garden hose attachment, so I was ready for that.  But, I wanted a way to clamp the tiles down while cutting.  Some pressure-treated lumber made a platform that sits over the top of the sink.  I clamped the tiles between that surface and a 2x4 with woodworking clamps.  The result was a firm grip on the tile with an ergonomic work height that discharged everything into the sink.  Well, when the blade gets spinning, the water flies around pretty well, so I got a little wet over the entire process, but I was sweaty anyway.

The net result of all that effort today was I got all the tile laid out.  It took 5 hours-- including the time to build the sink surface and read the saw instructions.  The stones are glued to a mesh backing, so I was able to use small finishing nails to "pin" them up, place, measure, etc.  At the end of day 1, it looks like this: