...this is quite possibly the first view the Man had of the house last October...see the lovely blue carpet and matching (er...somewhat) blue slate...
...just including a couple of 'before' reference photos...
...well the blue carpet's been gone for a while...and there were lovely oak stairs underneath...and the blue slate just really didn't match all of our new neutral tones...so...we took hammer and chisel...and hacked away at the slate...
...surprisingly (and thankfully) it was not mortared in place...it was glued down using a now pretty brittle mastic of some sort...so most of the tiles popped right up...we sorted and boxed them up...and we're going to reuse them in the downstairs bathroom...as they won't have to match anything there - the fixtures are white...and the slate is still in good shape...so I'll be happy to recycle it...
...all gone...notice that we pulled up some of the plywood...
...we sanded the bumpy brittle mastic...
...and patched the holes...
...put down the cement backer board...
...I took the threshold upstairs and scrubbed it shiny clean...it looks like new now...love that...
...then we did a 'dry fit'...and carried all the tiles downstairs in order...
...and now it's mortared in place with thin set...
...I know there's very little difference between the 'dry fit' picture and the 'mortared in' picture...some of the little spacers are in different places though...and there really was a lot of work in between the two...
...Now, it has to dry for three whole days with no one walking on it...that's going to be a little bit awkward not being able to use the front door at all and skipping a step as we turn the corner in the stairs...but we'll manage...I've already decided that if someone rings the front door bell...I open the upstairs window and tell them to come around back...haha...
...and I bet you can guess what next weekend's project will be...right...grout and sealant...I love it already...
Looks great! You seem to have an awesome midcentury house, from what I can see of the bones.
ReplyDeleteYou are making so much progress on your house! I love the new tile, and I can't wait to see the blue slate in the bathroom (I really love slate..).
ReplyDeleteReally like the colour.
ReplyDeleteAre you feeling back on form?
Can't wait to see it in person. Soon, MOM
ReplyDeleteLovely! And your tile work looks fabulous. My husband used to do tile for a living and we've put in a LOT of tile for family. It's so much work, but looks so good!
ReplyDeleteYou always amaze me with the amount of work you accomplish in such a short time. I love the blue slate but I also love the neutral tones.
ReplyDeletei like the new tile a lot better next to the brick wall :) the slate is pretty and should look nice in your bathroom.
ReplyDeleteVery pretty!
ReplyDelete