The Truth About Tile

So, while Hoyne is awaiting inspection approval, we are full force ahead on Carmen.

We've had two weeks to get the 2nd floor unit ready for the owners to move in. Within that two weeks, we need to 1) patch the original hardwood flooring; 2) refinish the existing hardwood flooring; 3) gut the bathroom.

Here's what we're working with:

[gallery type="rectangular" ids="1349,1351,1350,1355"]

Think I can resist the pun? I can't - that bathroom gives a whole new meaning to "blue moon".

...and yet under all of that carpeting is the original hardwood flooring!

The bedroom has plywood so we're putting in new hardwood. We also have to patch in some pieces in the living room which is challenging because we cannot find a supplier that has hardwood flooring that's 2" wide, only 2.5". We'll figure it out.

Knowing our February 1st deadline, we've hit the ground running:

All the carpet is pulled up, the bathroom has been demolished, we've re-framed it, put up drywall, and begun tiling.

I have to say, my clients are troopers - they have rallied for our cause like no client before them. Remember The Rules of Finish Carpentry? Yeah, well, they've had to come up with all of their finishes in less than a week: floor tile, shower tile, vanity, paint, exhaust fan, shower head, faucets...and this:

That's a hanging toilet (yes, it's pink). Did you know these cost about $1,000.00? I learn something every day. Unfortunately, changing the plumbing is more expensive than buying the toilet. There's nothing like spending money on...well, you know.

A major line item that I needed was tile:

Text Conversation:

Client: "Tile fairy came..."

Ally: "I love the tile fairy!"

Client: "If you like the tile fairy, you'll love the toilet fairy!"

Sailors, gotta love 'em.

So, for design aesthetic, my clients opted to make the bathroom appear bigger by using large format tile. Small bathrooms often have huge impact after renovations because the quantity of materials needed is lesser so you can splurge on the quality. The walls involve large format subway tile, accent tile for a custom niche built by Sebastian, and the floors involve marble hexagon tile. We needed 87SF of tile for the shower and 35SF of tile for the floor.

On Friday afternoon, we were just about to put in the last few pieces when we ran out:

What happened?! We checked our floor measurements, fine. Then we checked the tile measurements and found the issue:

Okay, when you go to the store to buy tile and you tell them you need 35SF - it's a 50/50 shot that they'll get you what you need. Don't assume that each sheet of tile is 1SF. See above - do you see those lines on top and bottom? THIS is 1SF. The tile doesn't fill the entire square, it's about 3/4SF. So, while it seemed we had bought 35SF, we had actually bought approximately 26SF.

So, Sebastian and I ran to Floor and Decor to pick up the rest. Of course, this was supposed to be a quick trip except that it became a sanctuary for Sebastian:

I think we're going to need a project for that wood tile...

I digress, we picked up the tile - another entire box needed:

One week left before move-in!

Want to see more projects? Check us out at Integro Rehab!