The Bathroom is Crawling Along

Our bathroom is still a work in progress.  Granite, slate, and marble are beautiful materials, but it takes longer to complete your tiling job because of the extra steps.   It also doesn't help that we can't work on the wall tile until we get all the black grout done because we don't want the white marble to stain.

Last week we tiled the floor, sealed it, and applied black grout.

We tiled the curb on Monday, and sealed it on Tuesday.  We couldn't grout it today because I had to buy more grout and pick up some groceries.  So our plan is to grout it tomorrow.  

On Friday, we will work on the wall tile layout, and hopefully get a chance to work on it this weekend.  

Shower is Waterproofed (or at least we hope so)!

There were several different ways of installing the Kerdi membrane, so we decided to start with installing the larger wall panels.  Lets just say there was a learning curve.  The videos made it look so easy, but we learned otherwise.  I hope that once we start tiling the wall, the thinset will allow us to even out all the imperfections. 

After waterproofing the last wall, we cut the shower pan and curb to size and installed it.

On Saturday we waterproofed the shower pan, and installed the first half of the drain.  The only thing left was to wait 24 hours to finally start tiling.

The original plan was to tile the entire floor with slate, but we quickly learned that the 12 X 12 tiles would not work with the shower slopes!  So we purchased a 2 X 2 flamed granite mosaic to fit the pan. Fortunately tiling the shower floor went much faster than we expected.  

Because it's a small space, we thought that the bathroom floor would go just as fast and easy.  Wrong!!  The cuts around the toilet flange really slowed us down, so we only got the first row installed.

However, LD managed to lay out the remaining tiles, and made several customized cuts.  So next time we get a chance to work on the bathroom, the floor should go pretty quickly (famous last words?).

Bathroom Update-Part 3?

The drywall  is complete!  This weekend we painted 2 coats of primer, and finished painting the ceiling. For the time being we don't know what the final paint color will be.  But we'll start with white and see how it feels.  

Next LD and I fitted and installed the HardieBacker on the floor.  Our plan was to get the shower tray and the waterproof membrane installed today, but spent more than half the day running errands like buying a couple of new power tools.

Trying to cut the holes in the 1/2" HardieBacker did not go smoothly, and we needed a new tool.  LD saw the Dremel Trio which was perfect for the work we are doing right now!  It worked like a dream on the Backer and the subfloor.

Unfortunately our drill's cord was getting quite frayed, and this is after trying to salvage it with electrical tape for 5+ years.  So during our shopping spree, we finally ditched the cord and bought a new 18V DeWalt Drill.  It was so easy to use on the floor.  I don't know how we lived without one for so long!

The new plan is to install the shower pan and membrane this week, and get everything ready for tiling hopefully this weekend.

All the spackling finally inspired me to take care of the hole in the laundry room, which used to house an "outlet safe".   It actually fooled me, I didn't discover it was a fake outlet until I tried plugging in an iron! The first thing LD asked me "Was anything in it?"  It was empty.

Insulation, Drywall, and Lucky Find

In preparation for the drywall going up this week, we spent last weekend stuffing as much insulation as we could into the outer wall and the ceiling.  Working in 95 degree weather while wearing a long sleeve t-shirt was not my idea of fun.  Nothing a nice shower and a movie afterward couldn't cure though.

On Monday, Ken the drywall guy, showed up and got about half of the drywall and HardieBacker up.  I had to leave work early because LD was not very happy with the quality of his work.  I was ready to call his company up and ask that they send somebody else, but we decided to give him a second chance.

His  attitude had definitely improved by Tuesday, and he managed to get all of the drywall hung and the part of the first mud coat on.

He came by the rest of the week to continue the mudding, and he told us that he thought he might be done tomorrow.  We certainly hope so, because we are hoping to get started on installing the Kerdi membrane next weekend.

On another note, we took a trip to the Tile and Stone Warehouse and came across some beautiful tile for the tub surround in our other bathroom.  We've been looking for the right tile for a while, but as soon as LD laid her eyes on this tile, she knew it was the right one.  So we purchased tile for the bathtub and backsplash.  We have to get our master bathroom done before we can move to the hallway bath.