In the beginning

In the beginning.

This is a bath surround from my first major tile job.  We did approximately 1000 square feet of floor tile, a full tiled shower and this master bathroom.  I had a couple of nephews working with me on the job and we had a great time working together.  The house was quite impressive with solid alder wood doors and trim, custom wood cabinets, quartz counter tops, built-in entertainment center, and an all brick exterior.  There was not too many things the homeowner skimped on.  I truly felt privileged to be selected to do the tile work and I wanted them to be happy with the job.  We took the extra time to focus on the details of our work and make it "just so".  In the end, the missus of the house told me that her master bathroom was her most favorite room in the whole house.  Wow!  What a compliment.  There were so many other features to her home, I didn't expect that kind of admiration.   From then on, I was hooked.  I wanted to do this work full time.  I had never received this kind of appreciation for any other work I have done for any employer.  Here are some more pictures of what we did in the house.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed the work.

The shower was cool.  This was my first shower.  I studied and read and learned as much as I could on how to build a shower correctly.  In my quest for knowledge, I stumbled upon a tile forum.  John Bridge - Tile Your World was a wealth of information and later, became another turning point in my life.  One of the challenges we faced was finishing the corners.  For outside corners, we decided to back bevel the tile and make those outside corners "just so".  I have since tried other options but this is by far the best I have liked.  The other challenge was the upper corner near the ceiling.  The corner just didn't look right with just tile up there.  So, with approval from the homeowner, we made a simple crown moulding out of the accent tile.  I've used this design many times since.

Another cool idea was this entryway.  She had seen it in a picture and wanted it in her house.  The challenge was getting the tile to come out flat and how to grout the tile.  I had learned about expansion joints and why they are important in a tile installation.  We worked on layout with the other flooring contractor to come up with a 1/8 inch grout joint around the tile.  We installed the tile after the wood floor was complete.  To get the right height, we installed backer board in each square then carefully back buttered each tile to get the right height with the wood planks.  For grout, I opted for a nutmeg colored silicone caulk.  This would give me an expansion joint around each tile and not crack like traditional grout.  Other jobs I've seen like this with traditional cement grout have cracked.  I believe this will give years of trouble-free service.  Was it worth the extra effort on my part? Absolutely.