Remember when we tiled the floor out back earlier this month? Oh yeah, we barely do either.
It has been such a drawn out process thanks to various battles with cold and rain that I can’t believe it’s taken this long to finally get to this: a (mostly) finished floor! Don’t mind that light looking grout (it’s actually charcoal gray – but we’ll get to that in a minute).
We’re really happy with how it turned out – especially compared to the stained cement floor that we started with (you can read more about why we opted to tile rather than just paint or stain the existing cement floor, and how we picked our tile here). But getting from then to now was definitely one of those DIY journeys with a few unexpected speed bumps, so throw on your most comfortable shoes, because we’re gonna cover lots of ground today. And it all ends in a budget & time breakdown for this entire project so far. Hooray numbers!
Let’s rewind to October 4th, I think it was. I had just finished prepping the floor with some self-leveling concrete so I was finally ready to bust out our tiles and tiling supplies. Basically mortar powder (brown bag) + liquid admixture (gray bottle) = thinset (aka the stuff that holds tiles in place). Since we were using large tiles, I mixed large batches at a time so a big bucket and paddle mixer were crucial.
I used my trowel to spread on a thin layer of thinset (which I like to be toothpaste-y in consistency). I did enough for about two tiles at a time, since I didn’t want to do too much and have it dry out before I could get the tile down.
Once it was spread smooth with the flat side of my trowel, I flipped the trowel over to the notched side and at a 45-degree angle I scraped grooves into the thinset. This helps to make sure your thinset is at an even depth before placing your tile. With big tiles you need a wider notch, so this a 1/2″ trowel. Oh and you can see the little x-like white spacers that we used between the tiles in this shot too. We went with 1/8th inch ones since the tile folks said those would work well with these tiles in an outdoor environment, and we tend to prefer small grout lines whenever possible.
I quickly learned that one of the main challenges to installing tiles this large was keeping things level, since you want to avoid one tile from sitting higher or lower than the ones around it. And since we were doing a brick-layer pattern, it meant each tile was touching 6 other tiles. So trying to keep everything flush to everything else took some concentration and futzing. I “back buttered” whenever I needed to raise one corner slightly higher – basically applying some additional thinset to the back of the tile. Note: check out this post and this post for even more tiling info and additional pictures of other projects we’ve tackled.
This is what I accomplished on that first afternoon spent tiling. It was definitely taking me longer than I had hoped. Not just because of the leveling-larger-tiles thing, but little tasks like mixing up batch after batch of thinset, lugging boxes of tile out from the garage, and making cuts here and there with the wet saw really ate up the day. You definitely can go faster with two people, but seeing as the lady-wife was dealing with some pretty gnarly morning all-day sickness, I went it alone (as she wistfully peered out the window between bathroom breaks).
Thankfully, I was able to finish up the tile job the next day. It took me from about 9:30 – 6pm, but piece by piece and hour by hour that floor was coming together. And I was slowly mummifying my hands with thinset splatters.
In the end, we’re really happy with our slate-like porcelain tile choice. Even when it’s wet it’s not slick like the smooth concrete floor used to be, which was a major concern of ours, and we also like how it goes with the deck and how the tile border that we added really elevates the look (more on how we planned that border here). My original hope was to grout a day or two after finishing things up out there, but Sunday was a wash because I could barely move (thanks to so much lifting, bending, hunching over the day before) and Monday was literally a wash because of rain. As was Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of that week.
When things finally started to dry out on Monday, it revealed something that a week of rain had hidden: splotches of dried thinset all over the surface of the tile. Despite my best efforts to keep the surface of my tiles clean (I used a damp cloth to wipe off any drips or excess as I went) – it’s a dirty job. Not helping matters was the natural texture of the tile (which is one of the things that makes them so gloriously non-slip) – it was apparently also great at capturing bits of thinset AND the color of wet thinset just happened to blend in with the color of the tile. So while I might have expected a bit of a haze on the tiles, these larger dots and smears weren’t apparent until the tiles dried out for a couple of days.
I was pretty frustrated, I’ll admit. The tiles that had looked so sparkly and new in the rain suddenly looked dirty and gross. But I found a tip online about washing them with a 50/50 mixture of water and vinegar to get rid of that thinset residue.
That worked really well for removing the haze on the tiles, but the actual spots of dry thinset took a bit more work. With some combination of chipping things with a screwdriver, rubbing with some cheesecloth (damp with vinegar), and scrubbing with a nylon brush, I was able to get the spots off. Well, that and a lot of elbow grease. If you find yourself in the same spot (ha, pun!) I definitely recommend testing any of these methods in an inconspicuous area before assuming it won’t damage your particular tile. I was a bit worried about my screwdriver technique, but it worked out just fine – although I doubt it would have on something glossier like marble.
But I don’t want to downplay how tedious this unexpected cleaning task was (sometimes online DIY = look how simple this thirty step project was!). I think I spent a full morning and then some… and I still have some spots that I need to go back over. But on the bright side, my Cinderella impressions is pretty killer, no? I just need some cartoon mice and a cranky stepsister or two.
But you can see how much things improved from this extra bit of effort (and it’s definitely a kick in the pants to be more vigilant next time I tile).
Since that whole cleaning adventure was about two weeks ago, you’d think I could jump right into grouting… but since we had to wait for the tile to be fully dry, my cleaning shenanigans put us back to square one (the tile needs to be completely dry for three solid days in order for those cracks between them to dry out and be ready for grout). And then, by the time everything was dry again, we had entered a cold snap and the grout bag said not to apply it in temperatures under 50 degrees. Kinda felt like a cruel joke that Mother Nature was playing on me. Which is why as of Monday morning (as in October 27) it still looked like this. Groutless and alone.
But that was soon to come to an end. Yep, this very week kicked off some serious grouting. Here’s what we used:
- Sanded grout (we chose a “charcoal” color which was inspired by liking the look of our dark thinset between the cracks)
- Flexible Grout Admixture
- Bucket for mixing grout
- Trowel for mixing grout
- Float for spreading grout
- Sponges for wiping off excess grout
- Bucket of water to keep sponges damp and clean
- & 9. Towels and paper towels for helping to keep things (including me) clean
Thanks to the massive amounts of thinset this job took, it wasn’t going to require much grout (since it was just for the cracks). Which is why I only mixed up very small batches at a time, so it didn’t dry out in the bucket before it could be spread. That’s also why I used a simple trowel, not a paddle, to mix my grout. Note: Since we used 1/8″ spacers with our tile, we actually could have used nonsanded grout for that sized gap, but the tile guys said sanded grout should add more durability since this is an outside area, so that’s why we picked it.
I usually enjoy grouting because it’s so satisfying to see a job come to completion, and it’s not really what I’d describe as a challenging job (Clara could probably do it). Basically you use the float to smoosh grout into all of the cracks, trying to scrape off as much excess as you go.
Then to smooth out the grout and further remove some of the excess, you use a slightly damp sponge to wash over the area you just grouted.
Since I was still reeling from my previous thinset mess, I paid close attention to trying to keep as much grout off my tiles before it dried as I could. It’s somewhat of a Sisyphean task (SAT word alert!) because pretty soon you’re just spreading it around. I tried refreshing my water frequently to keep from undoing my wiping too much, but it seemed that my sponge and bucket were black after just a wipe or two.
But I trudged along and managed to complete the task in about 3 hours.
And just as I suspected, when things dried out we were left with that nice grout-y haze over the tiles. At least this time I was kinda of expecting it, since a post-grout film is something we’ve dealt with before.
Since I knew I wanted to share this project in as complete a state as possible today, the picture above wasn’t going to do as an “after.” So later that afternoon I went over the floor again with a very damp sponge and some towels to try to wipe up as much of the haze as possible. It made a huge difference. And we really loved the grout color (this is a better depiction than that lighter-looking photos taken later).
See what I mean about the grout looking lighter in this shot? According to the internetz, it’s probably just haze, and I’ve read a few suggestions that I’m going to try once I give the grout a few more days to fully cure and show its final color (hitting it with too much rinsing/water before it sets can permanently lighten it, so I don’t want to over-scrub it prematurely).
One trick involves another 50/50 water & vinegar solution, and if that doesn’t work, there are some grout sealers we can use to boost its color (and even some grout colorants that we could take for a spin if we’re feeling so bold) so I’ll have to keep you posted.
But those little lingering tasks aside, it feels pretty darn good to have this dang floor finally done… ish.
The room as a whole still has things we’d like to attend to, like:
- boxing in those wires that snake down the brick
- hanging sconces on each of the columns around the room for eye-height light
- doing something about that groovy intercom on the wall
- adding more appropriate furniture (it’ll eventually all be outdoor-safe like deck furniture)
… but this is actually the closest it has looked to a finished space since we started this makeover back in August! And since we’re not sure how much more we’ll accomplish out there this season, we thought this was as good a post as any to drop a budget breakdown on y’all. Warning: it’s a lotta cheddar.
- Wood to finish raw sides where sliding doors were removed: $194
- Contractor to remove ceiling beams: $200
- Electrician to move wires, create 2 fan fixture boxes: $318
- Tongue-and-groove planks for ceiling: $297
- Plywood to fill large triangles on either end: $85
- Trim, paint, primer and caulk: $197
- Fans & downrods: $260
- Self-leveling cement & supplies: $150
- Tile: $680
- Thinset, grout and other tiling supplies: $490
- TOTAL: $2,871
I know, it makes me wince, but what puts that budget into perspective is that just to replace the old foggy & broken extra-wide sliding doors would have been around $3,200 – and that’s without even lofting/planking the ceiling or tiling the floor. In the end, I think we would have been thrilled to spend less, but neither of us wanted to cut corners or cheap out mid-project. So once we got those broken sliders out, things like lofting the ceiling and tiling the floor became let’s-do-this-right choices that we made as we went (instead of shorter term solutions like painting the concrete, which we learned would mean we couldn’t tile it down the line).
And the difference is pretty exciting for us…
Actually, if there’s anything I could take back, it’d be some of the time we’ve poured into the sunroom.
Not because I don’t like the outcome, but just that a lot of these tasks seemed to eat up big chunks of time. So here’s a very rough breakdown of time spent working in here over the last two and a half months:
- Removing old sliding doors (more on that here): 5 hours
- Trimming & caulking openings (more on that here): 3 hours
- Demo-ing the ceiling (more on that here): 3 hours
- Coordinating with the contractor & electrician (more on that here): 1.5 hours
- Adding triangle panels (more on that here) and trim, twice (more on that here): 6 hours
- Priming, painting, installing (more on that here) & caulking the ceiling (more on that here): 21 hours
- Installing the fans (more on that here): 1.5 hours
- Prepping the floor by scrubbing it, using self-leveler, and determining the pattern (more on that here): 2 hours
- Tiling, cleaning & grouting the floor: 26 hours
- TOTAL: 69 hours
I’m really bad at keeping track of time stuff, so take that number with a grain of salt. I’m also not sure where I mentally drew the line in terms of including / excluding tasks like cleaning, shopping for, driving to pick up, and photographing for the blog – all tasks that can quickly add up to lots of minutes that aren’t necessary representative of how the task will go for everyone. But the point is, it has definitely been a time intensive project – especially since morning sickness has kept us from being the dynamic working duo that we usually are. Thankfully it has completely been worth the effort (and the sweat, and the mumified thinset hands). Plus, look how much our offspring loves it out there…
Aaaaand since this post isn’t long enough already. Sherry asked me to address two details that were asked about the last time we talked about the floor. First, here you can see how I installed those metal edging pieces. I put them and place and then thinsetted right over them before placing my border tile. A few folks asked if they held the tile in place. They don’t (that’s the thinset’s job) – they’re just aesthetic in providing a nice clean edge to the tile job and, in our case, helping your eye see the slight step up from the deck to the tile.
Which leads me to my next follow-up. The deck has always been slightly lower than the cement sunroom floor, and that distance has always varied slightly around the perimeter of the sunroom, but the metal sliders for the doors that encircled the entire room actually used to bump things up higher than they are now. So since removing those thick metal door slides and tiling, the transition between the two spaces is actually less dramatic. After living with it for a while now (the room has been open for over two months and tiled for nearly one) we haven’t had a single tripping incident, even with tons of kids/relatives/neighbors over, so we don’t think we’ll need any sort of additional transition or step, which we’re grateful for. We actually think the new tile makes the situation a lot less hazardous since the change in flooring is more obvious now. Here’s Sherry foot-modeling it for you.
Congratulations, you’ve made it to the end of this post! That’s basically like defeating a White Walker or winning the Hunger Games. And speaking of hunger, we’re sticking a fork in the sunroom conversion project for the year since the weather is becoming cooler and the thing we’re most excited to do next (new furniture!) will probably have to wait until our bank account stops yelling at us – although Sherry trolls Craigslist every night on her phone like a crazy person.
What are you guys hoping to check off your list before winter comes a’ knockin? Or have you had weather (or other) pesky conditions interfering with a project’s progress recently? Boy can I relate.
Dude, you are the KING of patience. If I saw the thinset issues afterwards, I probably would’ve gone fetal in the corner, cried and thrown astroturf on it Brady style.
Oh yeah, and if I were ever lucky enough to see that sunroom in person, I guarantee I’d be the one to trip and face plant into your tile. I’m graceful like that. ;)
I was just coming here to say the same thing: such patience! And in the face of, yes, a Sisyphean task!
That was three grand very well spent! The sunroom looks awesome.
Looks great guys! I don’t have a comment – just saw that there weren’t any yet and I get to be first! Woop woop!
seriously?
Kristen, you SERIOUSLY have to spread the negative? S’all good. :-)
Is there any special treatment needed for where the tile abuts the wall? Do you have to leave a small gap, or do you caulk it? What about the transition to the deck?
We got caulk to match the grout exactly (so handy!) and used that along that point where they meet. Looks just like grout and fills that space.
xo
s
Looks great! We tiled an entire wall in our kitchen last year and cleaning the haze off was the worst part. We found that just wiping them down with baby wipes worked best!
The deck-to-tile transition doesn’t look bad to me, but if you find yourself bothered by it, maybe you can throw down some of that PVC quarter round? It will never rot and is paintable. We used it around a window behind our backsplash and you’d never know it isn’t real wood.
Love the baby wipes tip! Thanks Liz! And quarter-round would actually be higher than the lip in most places, so we think it might be smoother without it for now. Will definitely keep you posted if we adapt it over time though!
xo
s
The tile floor looks GREAT! Like it’s always been there, so must have been meant to be. :)
We hit the same problem with our grout when doing our kitchen – we used charcoal grey and expected it to come out pretty dark, and it ended up all white and hazy. We tried vinegar and haze remover of various concentrations and after having no luck, we eventually decided to ignore it. (We also considered grout stain but it isn’t available in our area.) I haven’t looked closely recently, but I think it worked itself out with time. I’m curious to see what you guys end up doing!
Thanks Mary! That’s good to know! Maybe over the winter it’ll just fix itself. Haha!
xo
s
I was put in charge of cleaning the haze off our basement floor tile and I had no idea what I was doing. It was a tan color grout and when it dried, it had the white haze on it. When I have time, I’ve scrubbed it with a mixture of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. I think I found that tip on HGTV’s website. It works (with elbow grease) and I rinse it with water and it hasn’t bleached it out or anything. (That’s what I think of when I think of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide). Good luck, I hate grout!!!
Sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing the tip Stephanie!
xo
s
We tiled an entire house ourselves, so I feel your pain – literally. Seriously, dude, you need a helper! It takes a village to lay tile/wipe down grout! You could have cut that time in half easily. Hire yourself a high school kid. It does look wonderful, though, so I do hope you’re incredibly proud of yourself (said in my best mom voice).
This space has come so far – kudos, guys!
Looks great! Sherry, what app do you find best for trolling Craigslist on the phone?
It’s called Mokriya Craigslist. It’s the best one I’ve found.
xo
s
Great question!! I thought I was the only one who may have had a meltdown when the old app disappeared. Best Craigslister luck to everyone!
Congrats on finishing! It looks really great and I love how the brick pulls some amber-y tones in the tiles. Gorgeous!
We just finished tiling our office with large scale (18×12) porcelain faux-slate, so I can really relate! We expected the ENTIRE job to take a weekend. It took us two weeks because we could only get snatches of evenings after work to finish it. Totally worth all the work, though!
Looks gorgeous Jess! Totally worth it!
xo
s
Outdoor projects are always expensive. I don’t know why, but I have memorized that fact. It’s like that time I wanted a new garage door but we had to sink $700 in even gutters first. Least satisfying home improvement ever.
But list, this project is worth it. It looks fantastic, and that price tag is still super low, I think.
That’s an awesome observation. You’d think we’d be hip to that fact after building a patio and a deck at our last house (both that went over budget). Haha!
xo
s
Ugh typos. New gutters; listen.
Lovely, just lovely! Out of curiosity, which side of the sunroom are you dreaming to one day put an outdoor fireplace?
We’re both leaning towards the side furthest from the table on the deck, just because if it was on the closet side to that it could be double sided but it would block the open line of sight, which we like a lot.
xo
s
That has turned out really wonderful! You guys should be proud! I applaud you John for doing all the tiling yourself. I do all the tiling at the Wolf Den, but I need my hubby’s help when it comes to grouting. I need that extra set of hands to help wipe down the haze; otherwise I spend the next week cursing! Since you did this change if you went to sell the house did you lose square footage? I’m never sure on sun rooms some places count them others don’t.
The sunroom didn’t count when we bought the house since the heater wasn’t functional (here the space has to be heated to count) but once we finish the storage room over the garage we’ll end up with more square footage so that should be a nice bonus!
xo
s
The new space looks amazing! I think all of the hard work has paid off and you’ll be enjoying the new space any minute now! Way to go John!!
What a marathon for this space! But so worth it – it looks great! Tiling is such a killer task (dirty, takes forever, frustrating even at the end of the haze), but really it looks wonderful when you are done. Your time totals of your work is the very reason I don’t keep track of my time on projects – I might never do a project again if I saw how slow I was!
Wow, John. Hopefully you can take a break and do some easier projects cause I am exhausted for you just reading what you did! Lol, but it seriously looks amazing and absolutely professional. Great job!
I feel so sad for Sherry with this morning sickness, gah, it needs to go away!
Aw thanks Lisa! Clara had a field trip this week and I thought I wasn’t going to be able to go because I’m so sick in the mornings. But I was determined, so I stuck a baggie in my purse and off I went. Haha! So glad I didn’t miss it. I’m about a week away from where it ended with Clara though, so I’m so excited and hopeful that this goes the same way!
xo
s
Wow!! What an amazing result! Congrats on all the hard work and the major payout in the end. It almost seems like this was as monumental a task as building that deck last year. I bet you can’t wait to just enjoy it now – in the few days of fall Virginia will give you!
Haha, yes! I’m all about being out there all the time – even if we’re in winter coats. Happily the forecast looks really nice for the next little while (some 70 degree days still out there!) so I want to make John soak it all up and rest his tired bones.
xo
s
Wow, I’m exhausted from just reading that!! John, you go on with your bad self. The result is absolutely stellar.
I’m afraid we’ve lost any slightly warm days here in Chicago already, so I’ve been sketching out my winter indoor project plans. I want to tackle my craft room start to finish and build a console for behind my new couch. Can’t wait to start!
We also had the SAME exact issue with the charcoal grey grout from the tile shop. Loved it wet then when it dried it was so much lighter then we wanted it to be. We were seriously disappointed…to the point where my husband wanted to pull up all the grout and regrout it. But…..it just seemed like way too much work so we left it. I did a ton of research and couldn’t find a fix (most people want to lighten their grout lines not darken them). When we sealed it I did usea sealer that “enhances” grout lines so it did darken it a little but it still wasn’t charcoal grey. I was told that was what happens when you wipe it down too much during application and dilute it.
Aw man, that stinks! Thanks Ally! I think John is dead set on figuring out how to darken it (even with one of those grout stain pens if he has to) before we seal it, so I’ll keep you posted!
xo
s
Hey guys (Petersiks and fellow readers):
We recently had the exact same issue with our dark gray grout drying to almost white. We also did a porcelain slate tile, and were going for tone-on-tone, not checkerboard. Seriously disappointing, but there is a solution (I searched for hours).
It’s groutdye.com (original, I know). Call the number on their website, and make sure you talk to someone about what you want. They make dyes for EVERY grout on the market, and can also make custom colors if needed.
It’s really a great product, and super easy to apply. You basically paint it on, it dries in the grout within 45 seconds, and you wipe the excess off the tile.
FYI – Porcelain and ceramic tile are NEVER supposed to be sealed, but the grout should be sealed. This product also acts as a sealer, so you’d be killing two birds with one stone!
Hope this helps!
Thanks so much Justin! So helpful!
xo
s
It’s actually not so bad now. I’ve gotten used to it. Everyone says it looks great but I think in our heads it just wasn’t what we were originally picturing (hence the original disappointment). I figure through the years the grout lines will only get darker with 2 little kids running around on it, right? lol. John did a great job though – that is a LOT of work to do by himself and the room looks really great.
Haha, I know what you mean! I’d be tempted to rub some mud into them or something! Haha!
xo
s
With it being outdoors, I would think nature would take care of making those grout lines dirt-black by spring.
If overwiping/diluting caused the lightness (I don’t even see it, btw), wouldn’t just adding a thin layer of grout over the top re-darken it? It seems like when I overwipe, I also over-remove & lower the grout level.
It looks terrific. I’m jealous but seeing how much work it was, I think I’ll hire out my patio tiling now!
That’s a good thought! I think John’s weary of adding more grout because all of the haze he scrubbed to remove would be there again, and even if he waited and then scrubbed it, it sounds like some of the comments coming in indicate that dark grout just tends to do this, and using other products to darken them after they set might be easier than regrouting. We’ll definitely keep you posted!
xo
s
Looks GREAT! What a long process but look at that after photo! :) Seems to be coming along great, I love watching your house change so much!
-courtney
We’ve definitely had the same issue before with a bathroom renovation and it blows! We had white tile, so we didn’t see all the hazing until we glanced in for a closer look. Your patience paid off because the tile looks absolutely awesome!
Love the result! Much better! You were so right…outdoors meets indoors: it’s perfect.
By the way…congrats on the baby.
Love,
Milly
Our local handyman paid us a visit yesterday, and after realizing that the roof and foundation issues were non-issues, we asked him about what he’d do for removing the concrete ponds.
He had a very reliable recommendation, and we’re looking to get estimates to have them removed before winter ends which is perfectly timed for my birthday (near the start of Spring).
Something we learned is that the time required to efficiently remove all of the concrete and rubble was greater than what we could do on our own. While we’d love to sledge and jack hammer them out, paying someone to remove and properly fill them will be much, much easier in the long run.
So exciting that the roof and foundation issues are non-issues! Always great to hear!
xo
s
Beautiful! Have to say I’m also digging the rainbow-sparkle Puma’s in the last shot :)
Haha, that was from a secret book project that didn’t even make the book! Ah, memories.
xo
s
I love the final result of this project! Echoing Amelia’s love for the rainbow Puma’s. I initially thought “Where did she find rainbow stars on her shoes? I want a pair” and then I realized it’s from painting eleventy-billion parts of the house. Looks like I have some painting in my future if I want to be like Sherry
Haha, thanks Jules!
xo
s
I bet you are SO GLAD all that tile work is done. The room looks awesome! Way to kill it.
Thank you for the time-spent-on-this breakdown. I’m terrible at judging how long things will take, so I routinely jump into “quick and easy” projects that end up lasting FOREVER. Seeing how much time you put into this gives me a better sense of the commitment required for the project, even more than the budget-breakdown does.
Looks great! I love that you even tiled the step up to the door into the house – that little detail really stands out and gives things a nice polished look.
I absolutely LOVE how this turned out! Such an improvement!!
If you guys take a break from your busy schedule and you’re not doing anything tonight…tune in to Wheel of Fortune. My air date is today! It’s going to be the longest.day.ever.
Cheers!
NO WAY! That’s my dream show. I hope you CLEANED UP BIGTIME!!
xo
s
Apply online!! I know the “Wheelmobile” was out in Woodbridge this weekend so that means they are probably holding auditions in VA sometime in January/February. You might just get picked to come in for one! Second to my wedding, it was the best day of my life. And let’s just say it might be worth watching ;)
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! That’s so exciting! Totally setting my DVR.
xo
s
Awesome! :)
You killed it! Congrats to you!!
Thanks Sarah!! :)
The floor looks really pretty! well worth the effort!
Have you considered adding curtains to the sunroom? I think light blue airy curtains next to the columns could look really nice. You could also hang flowers. So many possibilities!
Can’t wait to see what happens next (spring)! :)
Yes, I’d love to add breezy curtains when we get it furnished and add the sconces. And some pots at the base of each of the columns with something leafy and green would be so pretty too!
xo
s
The sun room looks AMAZING!!
I have been playing with doing some trim/baseboard painting soon… we have an old home and all of the trim/baseboard is white with the exception of the trim/baseboard going up the stairs and one room upstairs.
Do you have a post about painting trim and baseboard before y’all got your sprayer? In regards to sanding, stripping, priming, painting, etc?? I was hoping to avoid sanding and the like but I’m afraid I’ll have to tackle the beast the slow and dirty way =(
We have actually never stripped it since most of ours starts out wood or is painted an odd color like blue or mauve but we just prime and paint it white. We have sanded to degloss it when it’s sealed but raw (be careful sanding anything that’s painted since it can be lead though!) so I’d recommend just priming and painting if yours is chalky and matte, and sanding it if it’s shiny and glossy and then priming and painting (after doing a lead test if it’s already painted).
xo
s
Oh I didn’t even think about lead! Thank you!
Ours is just stained wood, so I’ll probably have to sand lol
I thought of you guys this morning as it is AGAIN raining here in Richmond. Hope it doesn’t screw anything up for you guys! Looks great!
Oh yes, rain is back! Thankfully it had 24 hours to set and we called the tile guys in a panic and they said it should be just fine (we were thinking of tarping it if they told us to) so thankfully we just made it under the wire.
xo
s
While I’m sure it’s easier said than done (b/c I’m not paying for it), I find that price tag to be really small considering the results!
The room is totally transformed and will function year round if you guys ever do a fireplace or any kind of space heater. I’m envisioning a little Christmas tree out there with music playing and you & Jon sipping on some wine (aka apple juice for you) while it snows or something … picturesque huh? :-)
Aw thanks Cristina! Someone else said we should put a tree out there and I’m totally INTO IT! I would stare at that thing from the living room all the time!
xo
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Looks great! All of your time and hard work has definitely paid off and you all will be able to enjoy this space for YEARS.
I realize now that its paint splatters, but when I saw the last picture with John’s shoe in it, I first thought he had a rainbow of stars trailing up the side of his shoe. LOL
Haha! That’s actually my foot! And the funny story about that is it was from one of the first book projects we did and it failed miserably so it didn’t even make the book but my shoes are permanently colorful.
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HA HA! So sorry!! I thought the foot looked small, but just assumed it was John’s. :)
Haha! I had to go back and look at the picture. I was like “maybe the angle makes me look like I have the feet of a 6′ tall guy?!”
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s
I love this project still and don’t think you’ll ever regret the money or time spent on it. It may be too late in VA but a lot of outdoor/patio stores and even places like Garden Ridge/Target have really good end of the season sales. These may have taken place closer to Labor Day but you might find one of them itching to get rid of a set so they’ll have room for new inventory in the spring.
Thanks Tricia! I have been checking those out, but unfortunately after all we spent on the project it’s still scary to sink $800 (down from $1200) into furniture, so I think we might wait a season or two for the bank account to refill, although if I see a screaming deal it’ll be hard to resist!
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John, I think this looks great. If it makes you feel any better: the same week you started this project, I had a bathroom flood that ruined the floor. I’d never done tiling before, but your posts inspired me to bit the bullet and try it. I copied everything you did, even the brick-pattern for the tile. I finished grouting before you did (indoor job) but I’m still not done with all the finishing work either. Tiling is a really difficult process (if you have a bad back!) and I give you a lot of kudos for getting this large area done and finished!
Thanks Heyruthie. That does make me feel better. High fives!
-John
I have to say, I absolutely love that you tiled the step up to the living room door – details like that and the border make for a very professional end result! Keep on being awesome :)
Thanks Hannah!
-John
I didn’t even notice the step at first and had to go back to look. It really does take it to the next level! I probably wouldn’t have even thought to do that. I would have just left it cement and then been sad about it afterwards, haha.
AWESOME! So many times I have wanted to create an outdoor room and never committed all the way. Now, seeing the results (although unfinished to you, sooo finished to me!) I am totally inspired. We live with 7 months of snow, so it will have to wait until next year, so I will be referring back to your unwavering belief in your vision, and tapping into it when the time comes!
Looks great! I can imagine how ecstatic you are to finally have this finished before winter sets in. When I tiled our backsplash, I was a nervous wreck and was thrilled to have it finished. That project took me two days of pain, sweat & tears, lol. I can’t imagine spending 26 hours doing that job! Kudos to you for having the patience & for doing sich an excellent job! :0)
Aw, that sounds awesome Julianne! Congrats on getting it done!
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Looks very nice! As for your lighter than expected grout, I had the same issue with charcoal grout used in our laundry room and ended up using This Old Grout colorant. It was a tedious process, you have to use a tiny paint brush to paint the grout and be careful because it does adhere really well to tile too, but it has held up well and made a huge difference.
Thanks for the tip Shana!
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Looks amazing – great work! I get to pick up my tile for my backsplash tomorrow from The Tile Shop and I’m so excited. I ordered it on Monday and it was such a rush because it was my first time ever haggling. It was so out of my comfort zone but I’m glad I did it because I ended up saving about 30% on my order!
That’s awesome Becky!
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Love every bit of this project – including John’s rainbow sparkles on his Pumas in the last photo! :)
Those are mine! I was the darling foot model. Har-har. That was a book project gone wrong (never even made the book, but my shoes have the memory forever etched onto their sides).
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I thought that was a tiny Clara foot!
Haha!
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You guys continue to amaze me! This looks amazing. Is there anything you guys can’t do!?
xx
Amanda
http://www.denimanddaydreamsblog.com
Love the tiling — it looks great! And what a difference in the before/after shots!
How’s the deck resurfacing holding up? We want to do the exact same process on our deck, but want to make sure that’s the way to go (rather than, say, deck Restore)
So far it has been great! We have gotten tons of rain and it still looks good.
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Looks wonderful! I know you’ve spent a great deal of time, John, DIY is funny like that… But now that it’s done-ish, you have so much more time to enjoy it. I’m curious to know, now that you’ve opened up the space and vaulted the ceiling, how much more light comes into your home through those 3 windows. Is there a dramatic difference?
Oh yes! It’s a huge difference. The funny part is that the doors fogged up and had screens so I’d say it’s nearly 50% more light with those off and light just streaming through without obstructions. The living room still isn’t the brightest room because of the awning of the sunroom (the rest of the rooms in the house don’t have any overhang behind them) but it has definitely been a big upgrade.
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WOW! What a wonderful job! I’m really, really loving your tile choice!
The time and $ spent were worth it in the end. It looks great!
My only before-winter project is re-caulking around all the exterior windows before the snow hits in Colorado!
To save those old knees I used knee pads while painting baseboards, they really work. The step up to the tile may actually keep water off the tile. I assume you have outlets on the walls for sconces. Looks great.
Yup, we have a crazy amount of outlets out here, although we’re debating if we want to hard-wire the sconces, since they have to be outdoor safe.
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Oh my gosh. That sounds like the most frustrating and taxing process ever!
We had a similar issue this year – albeit way smaller – our outdoor paint said you couldn’t use it in weather over 90 degrees. Which in Texas, means all summer. I got up at 7 am to paint the front door one “cooler” weekend, but I ended up keeping the door open/inside the air conditioning. Had to wait about two months before we could paint the shutters!
The sunroom-to-porch conversion looks absolutely amazing. I didn’t think the sunroom looked bad before, but it’s simply stunning as a covered porch now. Good vision, guys!!
Looks awesome! Just out of curiosity, what have you found to be the best method for keeping things level as you go?
When the tiles are this big it really just helps to study the relationship between the tiles. You want it to meet up with other tiles that have been placed at the same points (and not have one corner or one side poking up more than the others if that makes sense). You can use a long level or even just a long board to place across multiple tiles to see if they’re level too, but the most helpful thing for me was keeping an eye out for raised corners or too low sides which were obvious when you looked at how each tile met the ones around it as it was placed.
-John
John, you have more patiene than I do. The result looks amazing, I’d feel so accomplished everytime I looked outside if I were you!
As much as I like all the after pics, my favorite part of the post was the “Congratulations!” at the end. Thanks for making me feel accomplished too! Haha