Tiled over by travertine: it’s all about the tools

After I bought my major fixer-upper house in 2001, my first project was remodeling a bathroom. I redesigned it to accomodate my washer/dryer (the gas dryer had been in the kitchen for 5 years!), and to take out an awful shower insert and replace it with a clawfoot tub which we refurbished. I found a lovely purple tile in Taos and so this is now the purple bathroom. I took my first bath in the tub the night I gave birth to my son in 2003.

While I was pregnant, we gutted the big downstairs room and remodeled it by my design (with help from my dad). I pulled all the permits and drew (and redrew) all the plans, my belly huge with my child. I pulled the last permit 3 weeks over due. The planning office knew just who to call if I went into labor while there; they were sure I was going to have the baby in their office in City Hall.

Part of the plan included a new bathroom downstairs, but since we had two upstairs, it was the least of my worries. By summer 2005, we moved in downstairs, and by spring 2006 we had a toilet. It wasn’t until last summer (2007) that the bathroom was done…sigh. It came out great–green rocks on the floor of the open design shower, glass block window wall, window opens to banana trees, concrete counter…

As soon as the shower was done, I demo’d the upstairs shower insert. I was afraid of what I’d find, but the plaster was in decent shape so we decided to put the backerboard on top and the tile on top of that. I spent many many hours last summer musing on tile designs and shifting tile about on the floor until I had it the way I wanted. My design was going to be simple but I got a screaming deal on some beautiful handmade italian tiles and travertine and a rootbeer glass swizzle piece and so I had to figure out how to bring it all together. My sister, a mosaic artist, helped me with her feedback and to lay the tile in the thinset and to grout it. We were moving along slowly but surely when someone suggested we paint first, so that took precedence. And then I had someone around who had some time and could hlpe me revarnish the kitchen cabinets. And we painted the kitchen, and an entry way…well we were on a painting spree. Sometimes we’d come back to the tile and do a bit more.

On Tuesday, I found out a friend was available to help me do some work and since the boy was in soccer camp, we went for it! Wednesday we cut and placed the backerboard (using the most fabulous tool ever–they’re like scissors and they cut through the cement board like butter! we rented Makita Fiber cement power shears for $5 a day!) and applied thinset then tape and thinset again,  Thursday we placed the travertine (setting tile until 11pm, then cleaning it off), troweling it on top of the backerboard and buttering the bottom, building up the thinset for the thinner pieces of travetine chair rail, and today we grouted.

Taking a break now to give my chewed up fingers and sore back a rest…and to let my readers know where I’ve been and why I haven’t been posting or visiting your blogs this week!