There hasn’t been much talk of my bathroom remodel since I posted some of my finalized design decisions in February. But I have been hard at work! Believe it or not, the remodel has been in full swing since mid May — when my husband and I suffered through three days of difficult demo.
Yes, we did a gut remodel, and I spent June putting in drywall, concrete board, getting the wiring done, etc. All of that hard work on what I like to call the “unpretty parts” has been worth it, because now it is time for the exciting part — installing pink tiles. With tile, trowel and mortar in hand, and knee pads on (a must) the installation of my Merola University pink mosaic ceramic floor tile has begun. As you will recall, we discovered and profiled this tile pattern — which is available in several color ways — because it’s been around since at least the 1970s — made in the same factory — and is easily accessible at Home Depot — and relatively affordable, currently at $9.26/s.f.
This post will not give you how-to or DIY instructions — that is for the experts (I did my own, extensive research). What follows are the highlights of my floor tiling experience thus far — along with a few things you may want to consider if you are going to be installing a mosaic ceramic tile floor of your own.
Installing mosaic tile is not for the faint of heart. A few tips on getting started:
- Make sure you figure out the best tile arrangement for your room. There are plenty of places to read about how to do this, but basically, you need to find the center of your room and work from there.
- Take into account the possibility that your walls might not be totally square… and where you want your tile cuts to be. My goal was to have no tile cuts along the outside structure of the shower, since that area is most visible upon entering the bathroom. This took a little figuring, not only because it was difficult to find the center of my room, due to all of the jutting walls, closet and shower — but also because my initial center lines had to be adjusted to make sure tile cuts fell where I intended.
- It was much easier to figure out the tile layout inside the shower itself since it was a smaller rectangle shaped area.
- Once the first row was installed in each direction, putting down the rest of the floor went fairly quickly.
- Make sure your mortar is not applied too thick. You don’t want to fill the space between tiles where the grout will go — because then you will have to scrape it out — a pain, especially for random tile patterns. To minimize this problem, trowel mortar at a 45 degree angle to get the proper thickness, then knock the ridges back down with the other side of the trowel. That way the ridges of mortar don’t fill in the grout lines when you press the tiles into place.
- Make sure to lay your tile out in the direction you will be installing it to assure it goes in the right way. Somehow I ended up with two sheets of tile that are backwards. They are hard to spot, but I know where they are — which is one of the hazards of DIY renovations.
Then came the fun part. Cuts. Lots. Of. Cuts. Cuts were not fun for the following reasons:
- After a while, the tile nippers kill your hands.
- When you nip tiles, they sometimes explode everywhere (safety glasses are a MUST).
- Figuring out the pattern — which color/shape of tile goes where — took a lot of concentration.
- It took me just as long to make the cuts and install the cut pieces as it did to put down the main bathroom floor (once the layout was established).
Here’s a close-up of some of my tile cutting and piecing fun. The worst tiles to cut were the 1 inch x 2 inch tiles that needed to be cut lengthwise. I used a scoring tool to score the tile lengthwise — not an easy task with the textured glaze — and then silently prayed while trying to snap it. One out of every five tiles was cut as intended. The other four exploded. Not fun at all.
The outside wall of the bathroom had a lot of cuts. It took forever. Before starting this batch of cuts, I asked my adorable husband Jim to remind me exactly how much this tile makes me happy every time he heard me complain about cuts taking forever, tiles exploding and how badly my eyes were crossing from figuring out the pattern. By my estimate — he had to remind me about 342 times throughout the day.
In the end, the tile floor turned out amazing. I love it so much it isn’t even funny. It makes me giddy and I find myself going to “peek” at it several times a day to make sure that it is really in my bathroom.
There is still some serious grouting to do. (Right now I’m debating between using SpectraLock Epoxy grout or traditional grout and it is stressing me out.) So this floor is far from finished, but so far, it is pure love.
Of course there is plenty more to tile — like the 800 pound pallet of pink B&W tiles that are sitting in my garage waiting to be installed — but for now, basking in the joy of a pretty pink floor is making me happy. Stay tuned, there’s much more pink in progress.
Chad says
Kate, it’s great to see the stages of a project where the progress is visible! I’ll live vicariously through you. And I totally sympathize about researching everything in excruciating detail. Reminds me of how long I spent obsessing over the placement of a wall separating my bathroom from a closet. And the funny thing is, no matter what you pick it’ll be great.
As for my project, I thought I was going to do a little cosmetic work, have the floors sanded, and move in. Instead I’ve found that my hundred year old plumbing and wiring are shot, the roof is shot, the windows are shot, the new bathroom was so poorly installed it was unsalvageable, and while I’m stuck with all this I should modernize the layout – no more 12-inch-deep 19th century closets. My next project is leveling the floor in a room that hangs over the back yard so that I can have insulation blown in. But as for what really needs to be done before fall (not by me) is the chimney. I’m grateful that no one has died; as it is currently, gas boiler fumes don’t make it out of the house, and I can’t turn the heat back on until I fix it.
jay says
Chad, I experienced much of the same with my 57 ranch. More an indication of poor prior maintenance then age. I had to have a stainless chimney liner installed with my new oil fired boiler. Seems that older houses have wide masonry chimneys and new fuel efficient furnaces need a narrow flue to conduct the combustion byproducts up and out.
Chaucea says
*hugs and kisses and cuddles your tile floor*
Yes, yes, that pink tile is definitely something to love and adore! Its beautiful! 😀
Kate says
Yes, I *may* have laid down across the floor to cuddle it a few times… I love it so much! 🙂
Jennifer Kepesh says
WOW! It is Beautiful! You will love it every single day.
Rebecca Prichard says
Wow, good job! I do good research and make good design decisions, but I pay someone to do the work.
dtrix says
Way to go! It looks great. I just got done grouting our kitchen back splash this weekend. It was my first grout job ever and I used a urethrae grout called QuartzLock2. It was surprisingly so easy!
http://www.greenbuildingsupply.com/All-Products/Paints-Coatings-Grouts-Grout-Sealers/StarQuartz-QuartzLock2-Urethane-Grout
I highly recommend it. It is pricey, however, for a DYI it was well worth it. The color is consistent because it is premixed. No time wasted having to stop and mix more. It was SO EASY to use. You basically open up the container stir it a bit and it is ready. Put the lid on when you are done and come back and finish the rest another day. I did a lot of research and the only thing that was tricky was not going too far before you clean the tile ( you don’t want the urethane to dry on the tile or it leaves a film). Youtube it for a demo if you are interested in using it. Best of luck. ps I promise I don’t work for them . It really was a great product! 😉
Sarah g (roundhouse) says
Grouting seems so wrong at first. It’s as if you are about to dirty and mess up the tedious tile work you’ve just completed! But after you get over that, grouting becomes the fun part!
Robin, NV says
Kate, your floor looks awesome! I’ll be installing the blue Merola tile in my guest bathroom at some point, so the pointers/cautions in this post are definitely food for thought. But I’m super excited to see the blue mosaic tile on the floor. I think it will look smashing with my original Regency blue shower tile.
Kate says
Make sure to send pictures when you have your floor in Robin! We’d love to see it.
Desirae says
That tile is amazing!
Karin from Toronto says
Bravo, Kate! What tenacity! The pink Merola was my dream tile, but Home Depot Canada doesn’t stock it, and won’t order it. We had a tiler come in and install hexagonal black and white tiles in our 25 square foot bathroom. They were my second choice. For folks who want to save a bit of money when hiring a pro, I suggest removing the old tile yourself. One weekend and two excruciating layers with a mallet and chisel. With removal done, tiling only took him about two hours. I opted for a pro because I was nervous about messing it up, and buying all the tools would have added to the costs. When I look at it now, I’m positive I couldn’t have done it as well. Twenty years of tiling experience, and even he broke a tile or two! Can’t wait for the rest! Retro Reno has been my go-to for my bathroom and I’m not done yet. Another lesson from Kate-do it stages! Next step is Rejuvenation for the Gemini lights! Thanks so much for all your posts, RR, you’re my heroines!
Kelly Wittenauer says
Cheers for Kate! It looks great. You are such a DIY inspiration. As for my current project – I’m applying the finish on the 66 squares of 1/4″ plywood I decided to use instead of standard fiber tiles in the drop ceiling portion of our basement rec room.
Carolyn says
The floor was worth, looks fantastic. This is perfect timing, I will be waiting eagerly to see what you do with the wall tiles as I’m looking to do the same thing in my pink bathroom. http://thehouseofpancakes.com/2013/08/04/a-saved-pink-bathroom/
bests,
carolyn
Kate says
OHHHHHH! I love your bathroom floor and is that PINK SPARKLE LAMINATE ON YOUR COUNTER???? If so, I’m so very jealous. If you need to replace the floor, I highly recommend the Merola University pink tiles that I used. I am in love with them! If possible, I’d save a hunk of the current floor and frame it. It is awesome. 🙂
Carolyn says
Thanks Kate! It is pink sparkle but unfortunately several spots look more like grey puddle sparkle now. Not sure what a suitable replacement should be. If the floor can’t be kept I’m definitely framing some. 😉
Kate says
Aww that’s too bad that it isn’t in good shape…
Yay for framing some of that awesome floor! 🙂