any crazy colors for the paint?

 

yep, wife is a graphic designer.....

 

nice.

i've been thinking of color schemes for months

 

Good progress again tonight. Wife and mother-in-law knocked out the first coat of paint in the kitchen/dining room, and I was able to get the tile laid out for the laundry room which I will be laying tomorrow night. Also able to get more backerboard cut for tile install in the Jack/Jill Bath.

Love the colors so far Will take pics in the morning.

 

whats your process for tiling? im getting ready to do my laundry room.

from subfloor to tile

 

I always pre-cut all my backerboard (1/4" for floors, 1/2" for walls) before I install it.

Once it is cut, then you need to pick it back up, sweep the floor, then mix your thinset like you would for tile.

Once the thinset is ready, use a 1/4 trowel like you would with tile and spread out, then install the backerboard on top of it and screw it down on all of the X marks on the top of the backerboard. Once you have it all installed, you need to go back and put thinset over the seams, put some backerboard seam tape down in it, and then smooth thinset out over the top of it like taping a drywall joint. Let this dry for 24 hours before continuing.

At that point you are ready to lay out your tile. Measure 24" from one wall at both sides, chalk a line. Go to the wall that is perpendicular and do the same thing (this is for 11 3/4" tile). Once you have a intersection on the middle of the two chalk lines, lay out your tile going both ways and make sure you don't have a super small tile at the edges, if you do, you need to adjust your measurements.

Once you get the layout figured out, you are ready to install tile. Make sure the surface is dry and clean. Mix thinset and apply with a 1/4" notched trowel. Only apply in the spot where you are putting down tile so the thinset does not dry out to much. The first tile you want to level out with a torpedo level. Use 1/4" spacers (I prefer the ones that have a quadrant on one side and a line on the other) between tiles and just repeat the process till you are done.

Then it is just grouting which is simple, and to clean up grout haze use a little vinegar in your water, cuts the haze fast. With grout just mix, then apply at a 45 degree angle across the tiles, back and forth pushing the grout down in the cracks with a grout float.

That is pretty much it, I will take pics of the process as a can and post them up to see if it is any help to you.

 

You're my hero. For reals.

 

Thanks for the tips.

Before putting the backer board on, how much of a floor do you have under it? And what type. I am getting ready to remove my laundry room floor and replace it. I have heard from .75" to 1.25" of plywood or osb over the joists before doing anything else do it. I feel like 1.25" is overkill and will make my floor super high My laundry room is probably only 4x8 or something like that.

 

:draco:

It is not the thickness you need to worry about, it is the deflection. The lowest amount of deflection you can have and tile to be successful is L/360 (which is a 1/3" of deflection). As long as your floor joists are ok, 3/4" plywood and then the 1/4" backerboard you will be fine. Make sure you put down 3/4" OSB though, not 3/4" plywood, there is a huge difference in tensile strength.

http://newstore.southernpine.com/images/ref202.pdf


My new house is built to l/480 and l/600 in spots. Floor is solid as a rock.

 

It is hard to see from the pics, but the laundry room is a bluish-gray, and I think you can tell the color in the dining room/kitchen

Laundry Room


Dining Room Wall


I will get better pics tonight when I have more light. The living room should be done by this evening as well as the laundry room tile laid and backerboard installed in the Jack/Jill