Betcha thought our grouting post was the last time we’d talk about installing our tile, eh? We’ll you’d be incorrect, sir – er, madam? We had a few other less-fun and less-interesting steps once the grout party had wrapped. And since a bunch of folks have asked us to detail the de-hazing and sealing steps… here they are! So stay tuned while I try to make them as interesting as I can. Maybe I should get my laser pointer. Anyone who has tiled knows that grout often leaves a bit of a hazy film on your tile. We saw it on both the subway tile and the marble floor tile in our old bathroom and
Search Results for: sealing tile
How To Paint A Bathroom Floor To Look Like Cement Tile (For Under $75)!
I hear everyone who’s asking for our annual Black Friday deals post and I’m putting it together as we speak! But in the meantime, you guys have to see this awesome tile transformation that a reader named Angela sent over. She not only COMPLETELY transformed her old blotchy beige bathroom floor, but it was super wallet-friendly (UNDER $75! HOLLA!), and it has already held up for well over half a year without any issues. In a wet bathroom that gets everyday use, no less! I know this is probably going to be hard to believe, but that beautiful bathroom above used to look like this. Again, she did not put down new tile – she
Our Duplex Paint, Cabinetry, & Tile Choices (Let’s Just Say They’re Not “Safe”)
I’m not gonna lie. Simultaneously choosing a bunch of finishes – like paint colors for walls and ceilings and trim and doors, cabinets for two kitchens, and tile for six bathrooms (plus two mudroom/laundry rooms along with two kitchen backsplashes) has felt overwhelming at times. Heck, planning just one room, like a bathroom renovation on its own, can feel overwhelming… and here we are planning six different bathrooms, two different kitchens, and 10 other rooms simultaneously! But we’ve managed to keep our heads on straight (so far) and even have some advice to offer through it all. So whether you’re working on a new construction and have to make a lot of decisions like this
Installing A Subway Tile Kitchen Backsplash For $200
Ever wondered if you could DIY your own a kitchen backsplash? Turns out it’s not only easy, but can also be pretty cheap too. Here’s how we added this subway tile backsplash in our aunt’s kitchen using affordable tile sheets. It took us just two half-days to complete, and rung in right at $200. Why Add A Kitchen Backsplash? One regret Sherry and I have about our first house is not doing a tile backsplash as part of our kitchen makeover. Best I can remember, we wanted an easily changeable “pop of color” in the form of good ol’ fashioned paint instead (and we spent a lot on that makeover, so it was a cost saving
Laying Porcelain Tile In The Laundry Room
A newly tiled floor in a new room of the house is almost enough to give me jazz hands (a York peppermint patty is enough to give Sherry jazz hands, so clearly we have different thresholds). We’re completely enamored with this floor – and there’s a budding romance that involves a saw – so let’s cover the laundry room tile installation, from floor prep to grouting & sealing. Before any tile could get installed, the subfloor needed to be prepped with some cement board, which is a preferred surface for tile installation. They come in 3ft x 5ft sheets, so I was able to fit two full pieces plus a few strips in the room.
Sealing The Deal (And Our Concrete Counters)
Thanks for all the kind words on Teddy’s arrival last week. We’re home now and settling into life as parents to a newborn again (anyone have tips for getting one to sleep between the hours of 10pm and 4am?), so we’ll definitely be on a lighter schedule, but one project that we rushed to check off the to-do list around 48 hours before Teddy was born was finally sealing our kitchen’s recently Ardexed counters. We’ve shared a few other “how to seal” tutorials (like this one about de-hazing & sealing tile, this one about sealing grout, and this one about sealing cork) so here’s what we settled on for protecting our Ardex counters. We read
Replacing Old Shower Border Tiles
First a little Facebook diatribe: we’ve been hearing from folks who no longer see our posts or Instagram pics hitting their Facebook feed and have learned that FB made a few changes, so if you’d still like to see our posts in your feed again, just take a second to do this: Click over to our Facebook page Hover over the button that says “Liked” Make sure the box next to “show in news feed” is checked. If it isn’t, just check it. Then everything should permanently show up in your feed again. Sorry for the trouble! And now back to our regularly scheduled blogging… In case you missed the post where the tale of
Sealing and Trimming Out Our Kitchen’s Cork Floors
When we last talked floors in the kitchen, they looked pretty much done. But if you looked closely, they weren’t. They still needed some finishing touches – namely shoe molding to cover the gaps around the edges (which are intentional to allow for temperature expansion and contraction) and some coats of sealant (to keep moisture out of the seams and provide some added durability). The short version of the “adding shoe molding” step goes something like this: Now you see a gap… And now you don’t… Of course then there’s caulk and paint involved (to cover the nail holes and any seams like where corners meet). But let’s go with the longer version of the
How To Grout White Subway Tile & Marble Floor Tile
With tile all set, it was time to get our grout on in the bathroom. People said I should dread it, so I did. But I’m here to tell you “fear not.”
How To Install Subway Tile In A Shower & Marble Floor Tiles
It wouldn’t be a bathroom project without some major tiling to do. Here’s a recap of how we installed subway tile in our shower and marble on our floors.
Demoing Tile, Mortar, & Metal Mesh In The Bathroom Walls
When we say we’re “tackling a room” it’s usually a figure of speech, but in this case it’s pretty close to being a literal description of our big bathroom demolition weekend (check out this post for more info on why we’re doing it and this post for our plan for the space). The biggest surprise from our weekend of knocking stuff out and gutting the room? Well, the bathroom sorta tackled back. Before we could be all “in with the new” we had to take care of that pesky “out with the old” part. Here’s what the bathroom looked like once we cleared all the simple stuff out (baskets, shower curtain, mirror, rug, etc). We told
Fireplace Makeover: Tiling The Mantel With Marble Herringbone
With our fireplace refacing plan all worked out, and our supplies waiting at the ready, it was time to dive into step 1: TILE! So we’re here with every last detail, from prepping and tiling to grouting. In case my sketch below is still indecipherable to everyone but me, I highlighted the areas of the photo below that are going to get the tile treatment. The tile border is only about 7 inches wide because the rest of the brick is going to get framed out with wood and MDF (which will layer on top of the tile, hence doing tile first). Oh but it’s smart to check the code in your area to make sure
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