I completed tiling the shower/bath area, after two trips to Home Depot for a couple more decorative tiles and some cuts. For the entire bathroom I spent only $30 in cutting charges for all the shower tiles (ceramic) and floor tiles (marble). This is far cheaper than renting and a lot less risky given they use an $800 wet saw and do it for a living. Of course you need to be very accurate with your measurements to make it all work. Now I’m waiting 2 days for all the mortar to set up before applying grout to the tiled surfaces.

After deciding on how to lay out the remaining tiles I began my second day of tiling, applying the mortar to the wallboard ensuring the trowel grooves all go in the same direction.

Tiled the entire shower area and opted to trim out entire window with tile.

Here is the bathroom with the new shower tiles set and marble floor tiles set. I will wait 2 days before applying grout to both, then another 2 days before applying sealer. Then I can install toilet, vanity and fixtures.

Monday the lighting arrives (ordered online) so I will wire that up or perhaps wait until everything is installed to ensure it is lined up with vanity and mirror???

Again, the inspectors approved the work - this time the floor is not going anywhere!

UPDATED (Wednesday 12:42 am - June 14)

GROUTING TILE:
I found a couple websites with instructions on applying grout to tile. In addition, the bag of grout included instructions. In short, you should mix only enough so you can work the space as things move a little faster than with mortar. I used sanded grout which simply requires adding water. To get the creamy peanut butter consistency, I added 1/2 quart of cool, clean water to the bucket. I then used a plastic 8 oz. dixie cup and scooped 3 heaping cups full of grout mixture and hand-mixed until a creamy paste using a plastic scraper (use anything or spend money on a mixer).

Tools you need in addition to the grout, water and bucket include a sponge (like you wash your car with) and a rubber grout float.

Grout mixture in bucket with rubber grout float.

I read and was told to smear the grout over the tiles in an X motion (diagonally from side to side) to allow the grout to fill in spaces between the tiles. I found that it wasn’t that easy or I pressed too hard to jam grout in there because it often pulled some back out as I was going. I adapted my style to ensure grout filled the spaces and by the end got good enough that I could mix less and less and cover more space without as much waste (there is a LOT of waste and mess afterwards).

Grout filled into spaces between tiles - see all the waste that falls to the floor

About 15-20 minutes after you fill in the spaces with the grout, in a similar X pattern use the float to scrape off excess grout (hold at 90 degree angle and be sure NOT to scrape along grout lines - do it diagonally to ensure the grout stays in the spaces).

After this, wait another 15 minutes or so, then use your lightly damp (CLEAN) sponge and rub in small circular motion to smooth out the grout and wipe of excess from the tiles. You may need to flip over your sponge or clean it out a couple times during this process. Afterwards, you will see a film or haze appear on the tile. DONT worry about the haze and you can revisit and wipe again with the clean sponge in a couple hours to remove some of the grout haze.

Grout haze over tiled surface after sponge application. WAIT about 1.5-2 hours before attempting to wipe it off, again leveraging a damp, clean sponge.

Grout lines after setting up and wiping again with sponge (next day). It is recommended that once you get to this point, wait another day or two before applying a penetrating sealer. Note that ever 2 tiles (each way) I added some accent tiles with an “S” for what else, Sparr. It’s subtle but gives us a custom touch.

Here is what the shower now looks like with new tile and grout applied. Later this week I’ll apply sealer and then 2-3 days later (giving as much time as possible) we’ll potentially touch up some paint (if needed) and then install bath fixtures, toilet, vanity, sink, mirror and new wall lighting.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 30th, 2006 at 4:38 am and is filed under Home, My Projects. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site. This post has been viewed 1,329 times.