Someday After a [Tile]

If you didn't already know, I'm not the do-er in this project. I show up, physically, yeah, but not always mentally. I may go to the house 90% of the days I have off work, but 90% of that time, I couldn't tell you what I was doing while I was there. I must say, it's a little frustrating to spend so much of your time someplace just to turn up rather unproductive (but hmmm maybe that sounds like my life in general...?).

For instance, while I spent two whole afternoons installing and adjusting light switches and wall plates this week (intermixed of course with some singing, dancing, having soul-searching conversations with Lyle, and wandering eerily around, imaging myself in our house 100 years ago), Dad was installing tile. A lot of tile, to be more precise.

So sometimes, because I don't actually write this blog to tell you about all the imaginary conversations I've had with our house's previous occupants in my head, I have to check Dad's blog for the details of the real work being done. This was especially true during the framing, plumbing, and electrical when my perceptions of what Dad was working on would have sounded like, "Dad spent all day holding heavy boards above his head and, most likely, trying to avoided hitting his head on a nail." This was also true this month.

Fortunately for me, it's easy to find Dad's blog online. All I ever have to do is visit the Owner-Builder Book website because it's almost always the most recently updated blog page. This is fortunate for you too, if you enjoy fine details, more frequent posts, and actually learning about home renovation. (If you've lost the link, here it is again: https://www.ownerbuilderbook.com/blogs/users/Mutton-Busting.aspx)

ANYWAY....

A picture's worth a thousand words, right?

MASTER BATH FLOOR

 For the master bath, we picked varies shades of white in classic styles to keep the room both historic and easy to live with for years. The tile above has a clean white marble look to it. Here, Dad has placed a piece of waterproofing material covered with a layer of thinset. Those red stopper things help level the tiles respectively to each other. Sadly, they don't do much for leveling against the waviness of the floor (or as we say, its "character").

The tile after grouting...and with a toilet!

 The photo above could be its own blog post: THE DAY WE GOT A TOILET!!!!

I, as the one who drinks the most water, was obviously the first to use it. THANK GOODNESS....for us and our neighbors who had to avoid looking out their upstairs window in fear of seeing us peeing in the corner of our yard for the past year.

MASTER SHOWER.

 In the showers we repeated the process of waterproofing, applying thinset, "back-buttering" the tiles, and then placing the tiles them on the wall. Dad, of course, did most of the tiling on the master shower as well, but Mom and I teamed together for part of the process one evening.

For the guest room, we went a little crazier, mixing up the neutrals with some fun textures. This was the idea palette we created at the tiles store:

This week we got the guest bathroom floor set and grouted.

We'll use the large white subway tiles again for the shower walls to brighten the room up, and the reflective metal penny tiles for a fun twist on the floor. More photos to come!

After all those months of staring at 100 year-old studs and the mess of wires and piping (not to mention DIRT!) they contained, it sure is nice to see this place looking like a house. I certainly haven't given up my love for all things historic, but I have to admit, these shiny new things are pretty attractive at this point. But then again, who knows, maybe I'm just excited to stop breathing dust and old spider-remains...