Saturday, March 20, 2010

Steps to Tiling the Master Bathroom Floor

So you probably have seen the  Master Bath Reveal and know that our bathroom now looks like this and we are enjoying it.



But before our little (ha!) project, our bathroom flooring was vinyl & since it had to be replaced, Mr. Fanatic took a week off from work. By the end of the week he was definitely ready to go back to work! Here's what the vinyl floor looked like.


It was a long week plus a few days, but we finally made it! Our Master Bath & closet is approximately 175 sq ft. so it was a big job. If you haven't installed tile before, I highly recommend a good book on the subject.

Here's what we did:
Saturday:Removed toilet, vanity, doors, closet doors.
              Tore out existing vinyl flooring and sub floor
              Removed baseboards



Sunday:  laid down cement board

 Monday: Attached cement board with 800 screws & taped joints




Tuesday & Wednesday: Installed tile ... making sure that the lines were squared with a chalk line, spread thinset with a notched trowel, then put the tile down. Tile must be pressed down evenly so that the edges are even. The orange spacers keep the spacing even as you are setting the tile. Mr. Fanatic has a tile saw which we've used on other projects. Lowe's will cut tiles for no charge, but if you have angles in your bathroom, it would be better to do the cutting yourself. The tile from Lowes was a closeout at 68 cents a square foot.
The whole project including backerboard, screws, tile, new furniture base molding,& toe kick for the vanity was $407. Not bad!
  
Thursday: Grouted tile. This is probably the easiest thing to do of the whole project. Grout is spread on all the tile & then wiped off. The grout has to be wiped several times to get all of the grout off the tile.






Friday:The vanity was installed-(we wanted the vanity a little higher, so  he installed it on wood 1" higher)


 He also installed tile on the front of the tub. It was attached with mastic. He also started on installing the baseboard.



Saturday: Finished baseboard, filled & sanded nail holes. Touched up baseboard
I painted the molding first, then filled holes after it was installed & touched up the paint
We covered the vanity side where it you could see the shims with a veneer skin that I ordered for another project but didn't use
The veneer toe kick for the cabinet was only 4" high, so we raised it up 1/4" off the floor, leaving a 1/4" gap at the bottom which will be covered by a piece of shoe molding -The toe kick is now 5 1/2" high so the 1" gap at the top that the toe kick doesn't cover will be covered by a 1 1/4" piece of scribe molding.





After putting the vanity back together,the vanity top was put on.
Then the toilet was hooked back up (yay!!!)



We are certainly enjoying our new master bath floor, but it was definitely hard work. I guess we are gluttons for punishment (as my mother used to say) because we are going to be replacing the tile in our upstairs bath starting next weekend! At least the bathroom is much smaller!!!
This weekend we are working on our honey do list and doing a little Spring yard clean up.
Anyone doing any weekend projects? I want to hear about them!

Thanks for stopping by,

Pam



6 comments:

  1. It really does look like hard work, hard on the knees too!~ But worth it, and just think what it would cost to hire out!~

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  2. I'm so glad to see this! We have been "thinking" about it but I don't have the courage to deal with the plumbing! Electricity I'm ok with, plumbing, not so much! Looks like the cement board is the hardest part. You did a great job and might have inspired me to go for it!!

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  3. That looks so good! I love how you carried the tile up the side of the tub...how lovely to take a long bath with a glass of wine and some candles!!! Your hubby is so handy!

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  4. This is beautiful! I'm getting ready to tackle ours, so I appreciate all the detail you included here. Now I just need to figure out what "mastic" is because we have a whirlpool tub and I'd love to do tile on the sides like you did.

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  5. Jen, mastic is available at Lowe's & Home Depot. When I googled it this is what I came up with:
    http://www.buy.com/prod/custom-building-products-arl4000qt-quart-white-cer-tile-mastic/q/listingid/47149616/loc/66357/204610444.html

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  6. What color is your bathroom?

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