Colours!!

I was a bit nervous about the tiling job being finished without André around to oversee things - we've spent an enormous amount of time and effort on this bathroom, and André is a total perfectionist! But it seems to be going well so far. I'm at work during the day, so coming home Tuesday and Wednesday evenings and seeing the gradual transformation of the bathroom as Sean (our tiler) nears the finish line is quite an experience.

The bathroom floor nearing completion

My major contribution has involved colours. Now, if you think about colours in the context of a home-building/renovation project, you'd most likely think of something fun, like choosing paint or tile colours. I had to spend hours yesterday colour-matching – but I was working with grout!

With all the tiling finally finished, Sean now needs to seal the tiles, apply grout, and then seal them again. Grout, for those who are not familiar with it (and I wasn't, at all, until 24 hours ago!) is the stuff that goes in between tiles that seals the joints and makes them waterproof. Normal, bog-standard grout is white, but André had decided that we needed to match the grout colour to our tiles so that it would look right. I hadn't even known that grout came in different colours, but even I could see that white grout would look terrible with the tiles we're having installed.

Grout samples: colors straight out of the bag

For the limestone, it was easy. We bought Mapei Ultracolour grout in "medium grey", and saw straight away that it was going to be a good match. The slate, though, proved to be highly problematic. We bought a bag of a colour called "terra sienna" but found that it was too light, and too orange-y. We thought that Mapei's "brown" would be perfect – but we couldn't find it anywhere in London. Apparently because brown grout is not a product that people ask for very often, none of the suppliers we checked with had it in stock, and we'd have to order many bags in order for them to do a special order. In any case, we'd need about a week for it to arrive if we went the special-order route - and Sean was planning to do the grouting today, Thursday. The next closest colour was "chocolate brown", but that turned out to be too dark.

Early mixed sample...too orange-y

I thought that under the circumstances we'd just use the grey for the slate as well (Sean's suggestion), since the overall colour scheme would work. But André was determined to get everything to match (that perfectionist thing again...!). So, I got up early and spent an hour before going to work yesterday mixing up little test batches of grout (you just mix the powder with water), combining the different colours in various proportions to try and get something that would match the slate! I'm no colour theorist, so it wasn't easy – plus, I'm not a morning person…

Another sample...getting closer, but this one is too dark

I applied the various test batches to several tile offcuts, left them to dry, and went to work. But when I got home in the evening, I discovered that none of them really matched perfectly. I took pictures of the samples and emailed them to André, who was not pleased *at all* with the results. So, I spent the rest of the night - actually, until 1.30am! - doing more colour combinations and test batches. Finally, *finally*, I figured out that the magic combination was 25% "terra sienna", 25% grey and 50% brown.

The "Magic" Combination!

This morning I got up early again, as Sean (who I suspect thought we were a little crazy for taking this much trouble over grout - he said he'd never seen anyone do such a thing!) did not want to be liable for mixing the colour himself. (He did the first coat of sealant yesterday, so today he was ready to start grouting.) So before he started his work for the day, I mixed up a big batch up the magic colour and left him to it...

Mixing the final batch of grout

Tiling: Bathroom Walls (Day 8)

Having worked all weekend relocating the door and finishing the prep of the walls and floors for tiles, the bathroom was ready for Sean (our tiler) when he walked in on Monday morning.

Morning of Feb 27th - the wood batten is set for holding the tiles above.

Similar to how he started the shower, Sean set a wooden batten at the base of the 2nd row on the wall in order to hold the tiles. By locating and leveling the batten perfectly, it provides a stable and accurate foundation for the walls, and later, once the tiles are set, and the floor is tiled, he can go in and tile the gap precisely. This is one of those great tricks one can learn watching a professional -- if it was not done this way, I can now see that there could be inaccuracies that would be visible. Setting such large tiles is an extremely unforgiving task...I'm now really thankful that "Aglaya" talked me out of doing the tiling myself!

Late morning - most of the wall is finished.

After Sean finished the shower, it was amazing to see how fast he could work with just straight walls and full tiles -  in just a few hours he had finished one of the walls and had started the other. These walls are all in limestone - which is a beautiful but soft stone - and they are intended to provide a more neutral background against the bold color of the slate.

Turning the corner onto the final wall. You can see the red line of the laser level on the left side

By 1pm Sean had completed half of the final wall.

While Sean was working on the walls, I was resetting the loo's push-button flusher - it's wall mounted and had to be properly fixed to the wall before the tiles go over it. This was the last thing I did before heading to the airport...now it's up to "Aglaya" to finish overseeing Sean's work!

The mostly completed shower (with the laser level mounted on a pole)

Bathroom:Waterproofing the floor

The final push to finish the bathroom waterproofing has come down to today, which is a Sunday - my flight back to NYC is late tomorrow afternoon, so anything I need to do has to get done by the end of the day today.

 This will include affixing the waterproof tile backer boards (Marmox boards) to the walls and floor that will be tiled (outside of the shower). These are the final bits of waterproofing, and this will allow our tiler (Sean) to complete his work. Since I'm leaving tomorrow and he's still going, it's become apparent that his work will (unfortunately) only be finished after I've gone. This makes the perfectionist/architect in me nervous, but I've seen over the past week that Sean is very meticulous and we've spent a lot of time going over all the details and issues...so hopefully it will be OK. But "Aglaya" is going to have to step up and take charge after tomorrow!

Marmox boards lining the bathroom walls

Once the waterproofing on the bathroom walls had dried for 24 hours, I was able to apply the waterproof tile backer boards (Marmox boards) Sunday afternoon. Similar to the shower, after the boards are fixed to the waterproofed plywood, the joints are sealed with a waterproof silicone bead, followed by waterproof tape.

After removing the loo

After the walls were completed, it was time to focus on the floor - I had been nervous about this, as it involved removing our loo (toilet) in order to fully waterproof the floor below. Fortunately it went relatively smoothly and was easy to remove (with a little help from "Aglaya").

The plywood under the loo waterproofed, and the 1st batch of flexible tile adhesive ready to go

With the loo out of the way, I quickly applied the waterproof membrane to the plywood and after it was dry enough (could not wait the 24 hours this time!), I prepped for putting the Marmox boards on the floor. This involved pre-cutting all the boards so they would fit, and then mixing smaller buckets of the tile adhesive.

The first batch of the flexible tile adhesive spread out on the floor

It's worth pointing out here that I had ordered a special type of tile adhesive for the floors. Wood joists with a plywood sub-floor are not the best base for tile because they have a tendency to subtly move due to expansions/contractions in the heat/cold. In an old Victorian building like ours, movement could even be caused by large truck driving by outseide. These very small  movements have a tendency to make tiles -- or the grout lines between them -- crack, so one has to minimize the possibility of movement, while still accommodating for some movement. Here I had fixed the plywood with as many screws as possible to make the subfloor as rigid as it could be, and will then apply a flexible tile adhesive that is designed to go over wood subfloors. The adhesive will fasten the Marmox boards to the floor (minimizing the transfer of any vibrations or movement) while the Marmox board itself will provide a very rigid and inflexible base for the tile. The hope is that this carefully thought out system will minimize any cracking of our large, beautiful limestone tiles...

The 1st Marmox board in place on the floor - using some sacks to hold down the boards in a few areas

Yours truly placing the 2nd Marmox board in place

Spreading the next batch of adhesive

A close-up view of the adhesive - one uses a notched trowel so the adhesive grabs the boards better

Mixing smaller amount of the adhesive made it easier to work with, and within two hours I had all of the Marmox boards in place. Similar to the walls, beads of silicone are placed bewteen the joints, and then taped over with a waterproof tape.

The silicone between the joints (on the left); the silicone covered by waterproof tape (on the right)

After the work is completed, the loo is fixed back in place

By the end of the day (10pm!) the bathroom floors and walls were completed, and ready for the tiler to carry on with his work in the morning...

Bathroom: Closing one door / opening another

Once the tiler finished his work early Saturday afternoon, I was able to begin my work for the day. Today's agenda includes closing up our temporary bathroom door, removing the plywood to open up our new door, and waterproofing the bathroom walls.Although this is a relatively simple work, it's a very big deal for us psychologically as we're officially reconfiguring how we enter the rooms, making the bathroom en-suite (accessed through the bedroom). We had agreed with our tiler when he started work that we would leave this step as late as possible so as to minimize traffic (of people and construction materials!) through the "bedroom".

I started by removing one of the plywood panels lining the "bedroom" (in truth, it's still really "the Box") and attached hinges to it, making it a temporary door between the bedroom and bathroom before the actual finished door replaces it.

Afternoon of Feb 25th - removing a plywood panel where the new door will go

With the plywood rehung as a door, you can now see straight through the bathroom - here we're looking in through the new door, and out through the old opening that's on the living room side

Once the door was up, I began to cut plywood to fill in the opening that up to now had been our access to the bathroom. It was amazing how this relatively small change completely transformed the bathroom - it started to feel like a real room!

Starting to close up the opening

One last look between the rooms...

The opening fully closed!

After the opening was covered, I began the waterproofing - the plan is to waterproof the lower half of the wall, up to and including the ledge. As with the shower, the first layer is a primer, followed by a the paintable rubberized membrane.

Starting to waterproof the bathroom walls

Yours truly painting on the rubberized membrane waterproofing

Once the membrane was completed, it starting to look more and more like a bathroom: the shower is mostly tiled, the blue-grey coating is on the walls...we're getting there..!

End of the day...getting there!

Tiling: The Shower (Days 4-6)

So over the next three days Sean (our tiler) plugged away at the shower - like everything else on this project, it has ended up taking him longer than expected! 

Looking at the work involved, though, and the level of precision required, I can see why it's taking so long. I'm also glad that in the end, we decided to get a professional in to do this! I have to admit, I'm extremely impressed with his work...and can't even imagine how much longer it would be taking if I were doing it.

Over these three days, Sean tackled some of the trickiest parts of the job: the niche, the arch and the floor. My only concern now is time, since I'll be heading back to NYC on Monday and I'd prefer if he was finished before I leave.

Morning of Feb 23rd

Tiling the arch, using posts to hold the tiles in place while the adhesive dries

Beginning the slate on the rear wall

End of the day

Feb 24th - by mid-morning Sean finished the rear wall. One can now see the "wrapping" effect of the slate...

The shower floor - had a long discussion on the spacing and location of cuts...

End of the day - montage of the shower...it's almost finished!

Late morning on Feb 25th - starting on the shower's final row (between the floor and 2nd course)

By the end of the day (Saturdays are 1/2 days), most of the course is completed

Tiling: The Shower (Day 3)

As our tiler continued to work his way around the shower, it had become apparent that the plumber needed to come back to install the faucet for the sink. Sean had started on the limestone, and would soon begin the rear wall of the shower - this rear wall is also where the sink's faucet is located, so once the more time-consuming shower was completed, the remainder of the bathroom was expected to go quickly.  Because the faucet is wall mounted, this became a critical issue as it had to be installed before the tile, so Sean could accurately cut the tile around it.

The limestone starts to go up

"Aglaya" and I had actually spent quite a bit of time deciding on the type of faucet (or tap, as it's known in the UK) - I was advocating a simple, modern wall-mounted one, whereas "Aglaya" was keen on a more traditional deck-mounted version. We looked at literally dozens of models trying to come to a resolution. So a stalemate ensued for a while..."Aglaya" wasn't necessarily inclined to give in, but I think when it became evident how much this particular design decision meant to me, she relented...I have always envisioned having a wall-mounted tap in my loo!


The tap arrived that morning, so while Sean was setting limestone, I was marking up the plywood wall to locate the faucet, so it would be ready for our plumber when he showed up.

Locating the faucet & cutting the holes

Fortunately everything was ready when the plumber showed-up - he immediately mounted the faucet onto the plywood, and then  began connecting the pipes to it. Because this was happening while Sean was tiling, there was a lot of activity, but fortunately no one got in anyone else's way. By the end of the day, Sean had installed most of the smaller limestone pieces, and our faucet was connected and ready to be tiled around.

To properly install the faucet, our plumber removed the plywood to do it

The plumber connecting pipes to the faucet

End of the day - limestone and faucet installed (faucet is in the bottom right corner)

Once Sean and the plumber left for the day,  I cleared out the bathroom floor and primed it for the rubberized waterproof membrane. After 20 minutes it was dry, and began painting on the membrane - the same waterproofing used on the shower walls. At the same time, I also installed a few pieces of the insulated waterproof tile backer board on the side wall. By the time everything was finished it was late at night, but fortunately the work had been silent...

The bathroom floor primed for waterproofing

Part of the floor waterproofed, and a few pieces of tile backer-board installed

Midnight - Yours Truly painting on the rubberized membrane

1am - the completed waterproof membrane on the bathroom floor

Tiling: The Shower (Day 2)

On our second day of tiling, Sean (our tiler) pushed ahead and began cutting/installing slate for the main shower wall. Once he turned the corner, we could really start to get a sense of what it was going to look like - I had initially been lukewarm about "Aglaya"'s choice of copper slate, but I have to admit, I now think it's actually going to look quite stunning - particularly (I hope) when contrasted with the limestone.

Sean appeared to be moving somewhat quickly, but somehow, by the end of the day, only 6 tiles had been installed...

Morning of Feb 21st

The first few rows of slates

Here you can see the tile adhesive right before the slate is installed

End of the day's tile work - can really start to see how the completed shower will look!

Once Sean had wrapped up for the day, I began my work, as part of our tag-team approach. Tonight, my task was to frame out part of the bathroom wall and what will ultimately be our bathroom door. Because  the bathroom is now en-suite, this new door is going to be between the bathroom and the bedroom. We're currently accessing the bathroom through a temporary door on the opposite side (the living-room side) so that while everything is a messy construction site, we (and our workers) aren't constantly traipsing through our "bedroom" to use the loo or while working on the loo.

Of course, the "bedroom" is still very much The Box - that is to say, it's still sheathed in plywood and not really a proper room yet. So I'm aiming to do this framing work from the bathroom side rather than the "bedroom" side so as to keep the dust and mess outside our sleeping space.

Cutting the rough opening in the floor stud for the new door - the temporary plywood wall is simply pushed out of the way

I carefully measured out where the doorway would go (making sure to accommodate trims, etc)  and cut out the rough opening from the floor stud using a circular saw and handsaw. From there, studs were cut and installed on either side of the opening - each one perfectly leveled. I then installed a few other studs and was able to temporarily attach some scrap trim and plasterboard on either side to see how the door would look....

The studs erected with temporary plasterboard & trim to get a sense of the wall & doorway