Tiling Oct 13-16, 2006
(Jasper's latest "smile for the camera".)
A few weeks ago we went up to Tanya's place and ripped out all of the tiles, bath and laundry in her bathroom area ready for a tiler to come in and work some magic, but after low phone quotes, when the tiler picked finally made it, ready to start work the next day the quote had gone up by a couple of thousand dollars, SO, ever ready to try our hand at something new, we thought, why not do it ourselves...
Mum (Tanya) came down to Sydney and we picked tiles, a new bath, vanity, taps and grout colours. Zoran surfed the net for 'how to' articles and we made concrete plans for the weekend. With a stroke of luck, Jess decided to come up to Sydney for a visit and to finalise the garden design and found herself roped in. So the five of us, a five month pregnant me, a tooled up Zoran, a curious aunty Jess, an excited young Jasper, and a cautious Tanya got ready to try tiling.
The first job was to fix the existing plumbing and install the new tub. Jess and Zoran laid aerated concrete blocks to make a frame, and created a shelf at the end of the tub out of a piece of concrete sheeting which was glued to a frame of stud timber.
Next came the laying of the bedding - five hours of me on my hands and knees - the babe in my belly found this wonderful, rocking back and forwards, a constant rhythm.
Zoran and Jess mixed the mortar mix, many, many bucket loads as the initial flooring was terrible so we had to use a fair amount (two inches) of bedding in some areas.
The bedding covered an old concret floor which was pitted and rose and fell like the ocean. Slowly I levelled the floor giving a getle fall to the drains. When this was finished we let it dry over night.
The next morning we could begin tiling. Jess and I started with the bath which Zoran mixed up batches of adhesive. Working up the walls we finished in a few hours. Tiling around the bath finished it had to dry before we could grout.
Jasper came in and out to help and Tanya set him up with lots of activities.
With the walls finished, we could start on the floor. Bit by bit it began to come together. We all took turns tiling, Tanya and Jess did most of the tile nipping to shape edges, Zoran and I cut hundreds of tiles for edges and Zoran used the grinder on tricky bits.
By 11pm we had finished, but the rain began! The last loads of adhesive were mixed on the kitchen floor and tile grinding of the six tiles left had to be put on hold - spaces were left around drains and doorways. We just hoped that the tiles right under the back door would last the night and not become unstuck. That night there was no walking on the floor so we had to use the garden for any nighttime needs - and in the rain, five months pregnant this was not a fun choice!!! Zoran had to get back to Sydney to work so Jess, Jasper and I stayed on to finish the job.
The next day we could carefully walk on the tiles and lay the grout. This involved mixing grout, squeegee-ing it into the gaos and rubbing it smooth. We worked together taking turns at each job, even jasper helped. luckily we found a lovely tiling shop who cut our remaining tiles to the patterns I had marked out, so we could glue those down and grout around them instead of leaving gaps. Another day finished after 10pm.
Here is a pic of the bath when we left. Mum couldn't use it for three days but then sealed it and it works perfectly now. Next week we plan to go up and install the vanity unit, glass shower screen and laundry tub. Mum has already cleaned all the grout powder off the tiles so I will post pics of part 2 when we get back!!
It is amazing how children learn, ever since Jasper got home after we tiled mum's bathroom he has been mixing his own version of bedding and mortar (sand and water), using an old trowl and making the 'goo' (glue) stick to the concrete, then laying his wooden blocks neatly, and grouting with new sand mix. He took me through the steps carefully when I asked what he was doing in the sandpit. He repeated verbally and physically every step he had observed over the weekend. Here is a pic!!!
Txx
(Jasper's latest "smile for the camera".)
A few weeks ago we went up to Tanya's place and ripped out all of the tiles, bath and laundry in her bathroom area ready for a tiler to come in and work some magic, but after low phone quotes, when the tiler picked finally made it, ready to start work the next day the quote had gone up by a couple of thousand dollars, SO, ever ready to try our hand at something new, we thought, why not do it ourselves...
Mum (Tanya) came down to Sydney and we picked tiles, a new bath, vanity, taps and grout colours. Zoran surfed the net for 'how to' articles and we made concrete plans for the weekend. With a stroke of luck, Jess decided to come up to Sydney for a visit and to finalise the garden design and found herself roped in. So the five of us, a five month pregnant me, a tooled up Zoran, a curious aunty Jess, an excited young Jasper, and a cautious Tanya got ready to try tiling.
The first job was to fix the existing plumbing and install the new tub. Jess and Zoran laid aerated concrete blocks to make a frame, and created a shelf at the end of the tub out of a piece of concrete sheeting which was glued to a frame of stud timber.
Next came the laying of the bedding - five hours of me on my hands and knees - the babe in my belly found this wonderful, rocking back and forwards, a constant rhythm.
Zoran and Jess mixed the mortar mix, many, many bucket loads as the initial flooring was terrible so we had to use a fair amount (two inches) of bedding in some areas.
The bedding covered an old concret floor which was pitted and rose and fell like the ocean. Slowly I levelled the floor giving a getle fall to the drains. When this was finished we let it dry over night.
The next morning we could begin tiling. Jess and I started with the bath which Zoran mixed up batches of adhesive. Working up the walls we finished in a few hours. Tiling around the bath finished it had to dry before we could grout.
Jasper came in and out to help and Tanya set him up with lots of activities.
With the walls finished, we could start on the floor. Bit by bit it began to come together. We all took turns tiling, Tanya and Jess did most of the tile nipping to shape edges, Zoran and I cut hundreds of tiles for edges and Zoran used the grinder on tricky bits.
By 11pm we had finished, but the rain began! The last loads of adhesive were mixed on the kitchen floor and tile grinding of the six tiles left had to be put on hold - spaces were left around drains and doorways. We just hoped that the tiles right under the back door would last the night and not become unstuck. That night there was no walking on the floor so we had to use the garden for any nighttime needs - and in the rain, five months pregnant this was not a fun choice!!! Zoran had to get back to Sydney to work so Jess, Jasper and I stayed on to finish the job.
The next day we could carefully walk on the tiles and lay the grout. This involved mixing grout, squeegee-ing it into the gaos and rubbing it smooth. We worked together taking turns at each job, even jasper helped. luckily we found a lovely tiling shop who cut our remaining tiles to the patterns I had marked out, so we could glue those down and grout around them instead of leaving gaps. Another day finished after 10pm.
Here is a pic of the bath when we left. Mum couldn't use it for three days but then sealed it and it works perfectly now. Next week we plan to go up and install the vanity unit, glass shower screen and laundry tub. Mum has already cleaned all the grout powder off the tiles so I will post pics of part 2 when we get back!!
It is amazing how children learn, ever since Jasper got home after we tiled mum's bathroom he has been mixing his own version of bedding and mortar (sand and water), using an old trowl and making the 'goo' (glue) stick to the concrete, then laying his wooden blocks neatly, and grouting with new sand mix. He took me through the steps carefully when I asked what he was doing in the sandpit. He repeated verbally and physically every step he had observed over the weekend. Here is a pic!!!
Txx
posted by Tam x at November 01, 2006
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