The Long-Awaited Tiling Post

Matt actually got done tiling the bathroom a few weeks ago... I just haven't gotten around to posting it. I'll blame it on my new role at work which has kept me tired and busy this past month. But now it's the long weekend and I can relax and recap.

Matt and tiling are no strangers to one another - he did our entire house in Tucson a few years back, and then got some more experience in our master bath 2 years ago. So this was less a learning experience for us and more of a "buckle down and get it done" experience. But I'll walk you through the fun steps anyways :)

Since he's super meticulous, he always starts by laying the tiles out on the floor and arranging them. Some people just pick a corner to start from and go for it, but Matt likes to be assured that the end product is going to look the way he wants before he commits and cements it to the ground. So that part is a lot of measuring, cutting and arranging. He also put up plastic borders for the shower tiles to abut to so he could cut those accurately.

Meticulous Planning...

Next came the physical laying of the tiles - a role where I actually get to help some! Matt mixes up the mortar and then I hand him the appropriate tiles one by one. Spreading the mortar onto the floor is called "buttering" and spreading the mortar onto the backs of the tiles is called "back buttering." The best way to lay tile according to his research is to do both (even though it is more time consuming and costs more in mortar). This ensures that the tile has a lot of cement holding it in place and makes it less likely for air pockets to get under the tiles and cause cracking. So he'll lay a tile, and while he is prepping the next one, I come in on clean-up duty. I scrape the excess mortar out of the grout lines (because it's a pain in the neck to do later once it's dried) and place tile spacers (quality control to make sure everything is evenly spaced).

Once the floor was all down, we gave it a day to settle and then did the same thing for the shower. The only difference is that since you are working on a vertical surface, you have to be careful that gravity doesn't try to pull the tiles into bad positions. So we end up using a lot of painter's tape to keep them in line. Once that was done, it was time for the cool inset detail that I have been so excited for. Matt taped the little tiles together and buttered the inset wall. Then we just used the trowel to tamper the tiles back into their little nook and voila! It looks great and adds an awesome element of fun color into the shower.

Then came grouting day. I didn't get many pictures of the grouting because I was busy jumping between working late and changing out the nasty grout water for Matt and it slipped my mind. Oops! Basically, what Matt does is mix up the sandy-textured grout and then crams it in between the tiles with a tool called a grout float. He packs it in nice and full, and then smooths out the edges with the tool. Since it makes a giant mess all over the tiles, he also has to take a wet sponge and clean up the tile tops as he goes. It's an exhausting day for him, for sure, but it got done pretty fast and then we just had to wait for it to set a few days.

After the grout set, Matt went in and used caulk (purchased in the same color as the grout at Lowe's) to seal up the areas where the tile met the tub. And then we were officially done with tiling! (Actually, we still have to put "The Impregnator" on the grout - a sealant so water can't permeate through, but that won't be for another week or so.)

As I'm writing this, the bathroom is actually already complete - but I won't have time to post pictures until tomorrow since I have to squeeze in a workout today. But get excited, ladies and gentlemen, because it is a beauty!

Bonus picture of Jordan thoroughly enjoying an ice cream stick :)