trim and tile

remember this? the metal door frame that i had to wrastle with to remove?

this is the new and improved cased door opening

baseboard and casing

baseboard and the tile is now grouted (still not painted tho)

while scott was installing trim, i was preparing to tile the entry foyer and first floor bathroom.

when using a material like slate, i like to pile up the tiles according to color so that i can pick and choose the colors as i go.

because i am tiling both the entry foyer and bathroom- and i want it all to be one continuous pattern, i first dry-set the tiles to see how they were going to lay out- i wanted to make sure that the pattern was centered on the entry foyer.

as it turns out the fit is perfect- and there is a full tile that ends at the bathtub edge.

so, because i don't want to tile myself into a corner- i marked the location of the tiles and started from the bathtub back out towards the foyer.

these tiles will look completely different once sealed...much darker and the colors will be more vibrant!

drumroll please...

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrlllllll.................

the granite slab!!!

but wait...even better.

it's installed!

no backsplash was installed at the stove bump-out...we will be installing mosaic tile in this space.

while i tile, scott is installing millwork...

like here in the dining room...casing and chairrail is installed

bunnies and bath tile

our backyard bunnies...

:)

the second floor bath tile- installed today

i still need to miter those corner pieces...saved those for last!

all in a (satur)day's work

i still can't believe that i did this...all by myself!  of course, it isnt finished- i still need to caulk and paint the surround and grout the tile (in case you are wondering, those pilasters will also be white)

the level of difficulty of this project was pretty low- since the entire mantle and surround was purchased as a kit of parts that you simply need to attach to the wall in the correct order...easy peasy.

the tile is glass mosaic that we purchased at lowe's, and i used a couple of aluminum tile edge angles to keep a straight edge along the firebox-side vertical edge of the tile. (the same angles that i used in the bath 1 tub surround)

so here is a little trip down memory lane (because i just love before and after pix!) 

scott is installing the crown moulding everywhere...here is a photo of the crown (oh, and the fireplace just happens to be in this photo)

the crown also needs to be caulked and painted.

oh, and the bath 1 tile surround is completely tiled and ready to be grouted...

tiling update

almost finished...

just the bottom row and then on to grout!

for the edges, instead of using bullnose tile we use this aluminum edge strip that you can find at lowes or home depot. 

it makes for a nice clean edge

and here is the finished sump pump...ahhh peace of mind!

well, almost finished- we just have to fill in the concrete in the gap around the cover.

tiling...

..i started tiling the tub surround at the first floor bathroom.

the tiles are 6x8 glazed ceramic tiles that we got at lowes. 

i started by installing a temporary ledger at the bottom of the 2nd row of tiles- to get a nice level edge to start things off.   i will go back later and install the bottom row.  in this picture, you can see that i first just laid out the tiles to figure out the placement.

i also  picked up some glass mosaic tiles at lowes...these have both clear and frosted glass tiles in them.  i will use them to break up all of the white tile (and add a splash of luxury...ha!)

now, if you look closely, you will see that the mosaic tiles are glued to a mesh backing...but they are not straight and the spacing between the tiles is not consistent...this drove me crazy when installing the mosaic-i am worried that it will look messy after it is grouted- ah well...

so this is as far as i got today...you can see the red lines from the laser level- laser levels are fabulous for tiling, they are especially great for ensuring that the vertical joints align!

the little green dots are tile spacers, you can see where i went crazy trying to get the spaces in the mosaic tile band to be even!!!!!!arghhh!!!

so the field tile (white) are like $0.60 each and the glass mosaic is $9.00 for a 12x12 sheet.  by using a really cheap inexpensive field tile and only a small band of the expensive glass tile, we ended up with a budget friendly bath surround at just $162 for the tile...and $0 for the labor! 

:)

granite, marble, glass....and vinyl?

we selected the granite for the kitchen countertops...its called "venetian supreme"

next step was to select the backsplash.  we found 3 options at home depot.


1.  neutral beige 5/8" mosaic marble:

2. 1" funky glass mosaic:

3.  a combination of 5/8" funky glass and neutral beige marble mosaic:

which one do you think we chose?

we also picked up the flooring for the basement.  it is vinyl plank "wood look" flooring that we got at home depot.  we chose "teak"

it is a safe choice for a basement with a wet past. 

when we dug the hole for the sump pump- there was water in that hole, and we haven't had rain in a bit.

dock that man a days pay for sleepin on the job...

okay...he's not sleeping, he's getting a ton of work done, like installing the kitchen cabinets!

we also installed light fixtures.  like this cutie patootie fixture

too bad it's in a spot that will rarely get seen!

holy stink batman!

i was mistaken thinking that i could work in the basement today...the fumes from the polyurethane were  incredibly strong, even in the basement...i could even smell it when standing outside.  so i held my breath, jumped inside, took a few pictures, then went home!  

scott, on the other hand...braved the 45 degree weather and poured the concrete footings for the deck...so thanks to him, some progress was made today!