Do you remember when I told you about us partnering with The Tile Shop to spruce up our master bathroom? Yeah, I barely remember since we last discussed the tile at end of May. Time sure does fly, doesn’t it?
Zero Summer weekend plans quickly turned into weekends full of fun and celebration. We figured the tile would wait. And it did. Good tile.
Here’s a refresher on what we were starting with. Not bad but there was some room for improvement.
We decided to tackle one of the vanities this past weekend. I’m not sure why it takes us 100 times longer to do a DIY project than it used. Must be old age. Young Nate and Michelle would have that entire bathroom tiled and crown molding hung. (Okay, maybe not but that’s how I would like to remember our youth. Go with it.)
Nate removed the old mirror with a pry bar. The tape was on the mirror to help prevent the mirror from shattering. We safely removed the mirror with no breakage. We carried it to the garage and then I accidently set it down too hard and it cracked. Go team Michelle.
Our next step was to determine if we wanted to place the tile horizontally or vertically.
Nate was big on the vertical. I was impartial. My brain had trouble visualizing the vertical. I decided to trust Nate. He has pretty decent taste. I mean, he’s married to me. We understand that the vertical is a personal preference. We have all intentions of this being our forever (or at least a very, very long time) home so we went for it.
We first applied the Pro Mastic to the wall. I was most concerned about this step beings we used The Tile Mat in our kitchen. I'll write a post comparing the two in the future. The mastic was easy to work with. My only complaint was the smell. But I also had that complaint about Nate that day as well and I keep him around.
We didn’t do so well with math on the first row. There was just a sliver of a tile on the end. I didn’t photograph it because we were pretty stressed out at that point. We were able to remove all of the tile safely and fix our error. It was pretty smooth sailing after that. Until we realized that the right side of the wall is not straight. There were some foundation issues during our build. Our builder did an overall great job of correcting the foundation errors. We are just finding more of the errors as we do further projects to the house. I guess we are getting that old home “character” that we were wanting.
Side note. I do not recommend doing a new arm workout before installing tile on a wall. You will want to crawl up in a ball and cry. Not that I would know.
28,000 hours later, we had a lovely tiled wall. Okay, it wasn’t quite 28,000 hours. We’re just impatient. It was probably more like 3-4. Nate and I have decided to start a tile installation business. We’ll charge by the hour. We’re going to billionaires.
We still need to grout. And complete the entire other vanity. Look for that update in October.
Are you a fan of vertical tile? Is it hard for you to complete DIY projects with a smelly spouse? Is old age slowing your DIY projects?
Ike picked the winners of the Frosty Paws Travel packs. Was your pup a lucky winner? Find out here!
Do you remember when I told you about us partnering with The Tile Shop to spruce up our master bathroom? Yeah, I barely remember since we last discussed the tile at end of May. Time sure does fly, doesn’t it?
Zero Summer weekend plans quickly turned into weekends full of fun and celebration. We figured the tile would wait. And it did. Good tile.
Here’s a refresher on what we were starting with. Not bad but there was some room for improvement.
We decided to tackle one of the vanities this past weekend. I’m not sure why it takes us 100 times longer to do a DIY project than it used. Must be old age. Young Nate and Michelle would have that entire bathroom tiled and crown molding hung. (Okay, maybe not but that’s how I would like to remember our youth. Go with it.)
Nate removed the old mirror with a pry bar. The tape was on the mirror to help prevent the mirror from shattering. We safely removed the mirror with no breakage. We carried it to the garage and then I accidently set it down too hard and it cracked. Go team Michelle.
Our next step was to determine if we wanted to place the tile horizontally or vertically.
Nate was big on the vertical. I was impartial. My brain had trouble visualizing the vertical. I decided to trust Nate. He has pretty decent taste. I mean, he’s married to me. We understand that the vertical is a personal preference. We have all intentions of this being our forever (or at least a very, very long time) home so we went for it.
We first applied the Pro Mastic to the wall. I was most concerned about this step beings we used The Tile Mat in our kitchen. I'll write a post comparing the two in the future. The mastic was easy to work with. My only complaint was the smell. But I also had that complaint about Nate that day as well and I keep him around.
We didn’t do so well with math on the first row. There was just a sliver of a tile on the end. I didn’t photograph it because we were pretty stressed out at that point. We were able to remove all of the tile safely and fix our error. It was pretty smooth sailing after that. Until we realized that the right side of the wall is not straight. There were some foundation issues during our build. Our builder did an overall great job of correcting the foundation errors. We are just finding more of the errors as we do further projects to the house. I guess we are getting that old home “character” that we were wanting.
Side note. I do not recommend doing a new arm workout before installing tile on a wall. You will want to crawl up in a ball and cry. Not that I would know.
28,000 hours later, we had a lovely tiled wall. Okay, it wasn’t quite 28,000 hours. We’re just impatient. It was probably more like 3-4. Nate and I have decided to start a tile installation business. We’ll charge by the hour. We’re going to billionaires.
We still need to grout. And complete the entire other vanity. Look for that update in October.
Are you a fan of vertical tile? Is it hard for you to complete DIY projects with a smelly spouse? Is old age slowing your DIY projects?
Ike picked the winners of the Frosty Paws Travel packs. Was your pup a lucky winner? Find out here!
Looks fantasticular! Me likey vertical. Yeah, I keep putting off the "finishing touches" on this house -- like thresholds in some doorways, tiling the nasty kitchen floor, fixing the peeling bathroom ceiling. . . Keep telling myself that I've done ENOUGH to this place. I DESERVE a couple of years off.
ReplyDeleteSo, good on you: only a couple of months? You're on FIRE!!
Love your sense of humor. Thanks for the blog. (I've been lurking for a while now).
L
We are on fire! (Don't encourage me.) :P
DeleteThanks for lurking! ;)
I think the vertical looks great. It's different... way to go Nate.
ReplyDeleteThanks! It's growing on me!
Deletelooking good! i can't wait to see it all finished, so get to work!
ReplyDeleteIf only we didn't have pesky day jobs! Soon, my friend. Soon. Sort of. Maybe.
DeleteVery cool! The vertical tiles looks great--it's unique, and I always vote for that.
ReplyDeleteI love the tiles going vertical (it's not something you see every day)!
ReplyDeleteWhere is the best place to.find a vanity? I cant find one that I love for my half bath. BTW I love yor blogs.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see it finished! I beg to differ though...I am truly the most impatient person on the planet :)
ReplyDeleteQuestion. What color grout are you guys doing? I used a darkish grey in my bathroom and loooove it. If you're undecided on the grout color, take a look at the non-traditional options, they're great.
I dig the vertical. I have the same question as Mindy - what color grout? I'll be anxious for a Christmas update. ;)
ReplyDeleteI love the vertical tile. It looks fantastic and I love that it's a classic tile with an installation twist. Go Nate.
ReplyDeleteMy arms hurt just thinking about that. I'm sorry. And ow. I hope Nate blow dried your hair for you the next day.
I like it! It's interesting without being weird or outdated in 10 minutes. Also, tiling is hard work and for me a post-tiling margarita is a great incentive.
ReplyDeleteIt's looking good! Now come do mine! Seriously, I don't when we will actually get to that room ;) xo Kristin
ReplyDeleteI'm with Nate, the vertical is definitely the way to go with those tiles, especially in that space.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think I'd like the vertical, but I do. Go Nate! Nice job you two.
ReplyDeleteI love it! We were just talking about doing subway tile vertically since we saw it in a restaurant the other day. It looks really great. It's a nice change up but still gives you a classic look. Best of both worlds right?
ReplyDeleteLOVE the entire wall backsplash. Looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteChampagne Lifestyle on a Beer Budget
I love that you guys went vertical,it's kinda sexy. Taken out of context that could sound really bad...
ReplyDeletei am suprised but still loving that you guys changed it up! such a risk taker you two! cant wait to see the finished project!
ReplyDeleteI like the look of the vertical tile! It's different, but it still looks great!
ReplyDeleteLove it, you speed demons ;P Can't wait to see the rest!
ReplyDeleteNon-straight walls=story of our life in a 100+ year-old house. "Character" is the nice word for it. ;) The tile is looking good!
ReplyDeleteI'm liking the vertical. It looks different from the rest in a good way. You and Nate can come tile our house any day.
ReplyDeleteOoooooh! The vertical tile looks fantabulous! Go team Nate!
ReplyDeleteIt looks really great! And it's not so bad that you broke the mirror after all, maybe you'll get something small so that you can see all that hard work on the wall better!
ReplyDeleteFun! Though I am with you on the woes of tiling. I swear, no wall is ever straight!
ReplyDeleteI love it vertical- its different and unexpected!
ReplyDeleteSo I read all the comments just to see if anyone mentioned the situation with the smell. No one dared, so I will just say you have my sympathies x2.
ReplyDeleteBliss
Super pretty!
ReplyDeleteThe comment about your husband being stinky. HILARIOUS. I snorted which means you win.
You are so funny. Clearly he does have good taste! I love the vertical tile =)
ReplyDeleteI don't know that I've ever seen vertical tile before, but I dig it!
ReplyDeleteThe tile looks pretty hot. I dig it. I know all about DIY projects moving slow. I literally have done nothing but curl up in a ball the past two weeks. So things around the house have been pretty boring around here.
ReplyDeleteawesome
ReplyDeleteI love the different take with the vertical. It's personal preference, and I personally prefer it. Looks awesome!
ReplyDeleteLooks pretty already!! :)
ReplyDeleteLovin' the vertical look. Can't wait to see the finished project... in October.
ReplyDeletelove that you hung it vertically! It makes it look so much different! Oh and don't feel too bad about posting about something you last talked about in May... I'm about to post the nursery reveal that I last year. How's that for punctual?
ReplyDelete