I learned how to lay and grout tile a few months ago. Here are a few pictures of my newly tiled bathroom sink area.I purchased various white ceramic tiles from Home Depot and Lowe's and created my design on a paper template. (The red tiles are broken china pieces.) I hand cut the tile to fit where necessary and glued them in place with mastik. I mixed and slathered on the grout and wiped it smooth (what seemed like a million times, mind you!). I painted on sealer and caulked a few days later.
Fortunately for me, I sealed the tile including the existing floor. When I pulled off the blue painters tape, three sections of paint came off along the perimeter of my newly tiled area. Time to patch and paint. I brought in a can of paint for touch-ups. Can you guess what happened? Yes, you are correct, the can of paint spilled all over. Ugh!
I did a "Steve" and screamed the "F" word from the top of my lungs. My electrician came running asking if everything was okay. I showed him the spill and promptly said "Well, I'll see if that tile sealer I painted on the night before works." It did. Yippee!!!
While wiping up the paint, suddenly a "light bulb" moment occurred. I grabbed the roller and started using up the paint from the floor. Why waste paint, right? Lesson learned: Always seal your grout, makes for easy clean-up.
The following week, it was time to decorate. The two small red framed prints (1st pic) are from Utah artist, Jamie Johnson and the larger one (2nd pic) from StoryPeople artist, Brian Andreas. (Earlier this year I watched HGTV's Green Home Show building Brian's new eco-friendly "green" home in Santa Barbara, CA.) While hanging Brian's print, the hammer slipped. Ugh, again! It fell on my new tile job. Fortunately, there weren't any cracked tiles. Only a small piece of grout chipped out. I love lightweight tack hammers!
Looking back, I've come full circle with my tile laying. Best of all, I have a really cool looking bathroom that satisfies my creative muse within.
2 comments:
wow that looks amazing!
what did you use to seal the grout and tiles?
I have MCS too and have used the AFM grout sealer but it's definitely not good enough to make it easy to get paint off :)
great job (and I bet it was TONS of work!!!!)
Thanks for your compliments.
I used a grout sealer from Home Depot. I don't remember the name of it, however, it was in a dark green plastic bottle with gold writing. It was the most expensive one they sold.
As far as your MCS, I don't remember it being that odorous. Plus, as you read, it really worked after I spilled the paint on it.
I enjoyed the challenge of this project from start to finish. It is so beautiful.
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