Floored

It’s been a busy month, in many ways: the holidays, the tattoo studio has been crazy busy, and the floor in the bathroom is installed!

Heated floor mats…

11/30 - Floor warming pads, from Lowe's
11/30 – Floor warming pads, from Lowe’s

Why they price them by the foot, I have no idea, especially when you have to buy the entire thing. But so it goes.

12/06 - Floor warming pads installed
12/06 – Floor warming pads installed

Now we have to wait 30 days before we can turn on the heated floor. Nothing like anticipation.

And then I started the laying of the tile.

12/07 - The first run of tile down.
12/07 – The first run of tile down.
12/08 - Second run installed
12/08 – Second run installed

I realized that doing an entire 40 pound bag of mortar at one time was a little more than I could handle. By the time I got about 3/4 of the way through, that last 1/4 was starting to harden. So I started halving the bags each “session” after the first weekend.

12/14 - Third run installed
12/14 – Third run installed
12/15 - Fourth run installed
12/15 – Fourth run installed

milli frequently inspected my work at all times. If she didn’t like the way I placed the tile spacers, she was quick to bat them out. 😉

12/20 - Fifth run installed
12/20 – Fifth run installed
12/21 - Sixth run installed
12/21 – Sixth run installed

Next time I design a room, I need to remember to NOT do anything with funky angles. *sheesh*

12/21 - Seventh run installed
12/21 – Seventh run installed
12/22 - Final tile run installed!
12/22 – Final tile run installed!

And then we got to pick out the grout color. Which took the both of us forever to decide. Unlike paint, once the grout is installed it’s not something you can just roll over and change. We went with a dark color that was close to the darkest wood grain color in the tile.

The grout. Combining these two makes some color called "Ocean Deep", although I have no idea why they call it that.
The grout. Combining these two makes some color called “Ocean Deep”, although I have no idea why they call it that.

The grouting was an interesting process. It was like the day after bad Mexican food induced Botulism. So much wiping!

12/28 - Grouting in progress.
12/28 – Grouting in progress.
12/28 - Grouting done.
12/28 – Grouting done.

It took several wiping sessions to get all the haze off the tile. And probably a few more just to make sure before the entire bathroom is complete.

12/29 - The finished floor!
12/29 – The finished floor!

Once we have completed the installation of the wainscoting and the fixtures, we’ll apply a sealant to the floor that will give it a wet look. As you can tell from the last two photos, the tile and grout look way better “wet”. At least to me.

Up next, starting the wainscoting…

Until next time...
Erik

12 thoughts on “Floored

  1. I’m impressed with your technical abilities! I absolutely love the tile you chose. Had it been available 8 years ago when we did our bathroom, I would have chosen it or something quite similar. Dark grout is definitely the way to go. Light grout collects dirt over time that doesn’t come out with mopping. You will love the heat under the tile floor!! SOOOOO worth it.

    1. I’m excited to see how the heated floor works out. It seemed like one of those unnecessary luxuries when we originally decided to do it. Maybe we’ll like it enough to retrofit other parts of the house. 😉

  2. Excellent work that you have done here!! You made the right choice for grout color.
    How many more days until the heated floor is turned on? 🙂

    1. Thank you! And technically we’ve got about 2 weeks to go before we can use it. But we’ll probably wait until the shower area is completed before we turn it on. In theory. 😉

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