Friday

 

Thursday was a lovely, warm day with temperatures in the mid 70s, finally. We drove to the causeway after lunch to walk.

The sun felt so good and so did the exercise.

We met with the tile installer and our designer Friday afternoon. We showed them our recent selections and we talked through the options. The first thing we all decided is that we need 12x24, not 24x24 tiles because we have a lot of tight spaces where large format tiles are hard to work with and there would be a lot of waste. The installer believes that 12x24 tiles will be easier to work with around door frames, inside closets, down narrow halls, etc. He recommended a vertical stack pattern (shown above) for our house, for the modern look. The grout lines would be the minimum.

The picture above from the web shows how stacked tile looks.

Our designer liked the 24x24 tiles at first, but after we talked, she saw that we needed 12x24 tiles. She liked the 12x24 on the right above, if the tile came in different images; otherwise, the repetition would be too distracting. It's an Italian tile which means a lot to the designer and installer. They recognize the brand and the quality. The color goes all the way through the tile, not just on the top, as with less expensive tiles. Later, if a tile gets nicked and the base is a different color, it will stand out.

She also liked the tile above. It's hard to see but it has a linen texture that gives it subtle dimension.

It also has good grip and is slip resistant. It would be a good tile to go right into the shower.

Here's a close up. We like the texture. But it turns out this tile is not "rectified" (machine cut with precision) so the grout lines could not be as thin as we want.

She thought this tile above would work in a 1x2.

Sadly, she thought the coral-like tile didn't work in our house. John really liked it. She said it was too rustic or unpolished. She said we need a more refined tile, not shiny polished, just more formal. She liked it for the sunroom or outside. However, her recommendation is that we do the sunroom in the same tile as the house. She assured John that it would be safe despite the step down. She said the slider track would be a visual cue to step down. The installer said we could put the sunroom tile on top of the existing tile, and that would save demolition costs, for that room at least.

We also decided that it would be best to replace the baseboards rather than try and save them. They are embedded in the current floor (in the grout line, next to the tile) and would be difficult to remove. The installer says it's much easier to install the baseboard on top of the tile, that way it can conceal any imperfections. 

Our current baseboards are "colonial," a very traditional style, rounded and detailed. Our designer suggested a 5 1/4 inch block baseboard with no grooves or details, only an eased edge. She said it would match our clean, modern style and look great with our tall ceilings. I asked about the curved wall in the living room. The installer said they make rubber baseboards for walls like that. Who knew?

Bottom line: we know the size, and we are on the right track with color and finish of the tile. We've got a couple of tile stores to check out. The installer measured for the whole house, and when he comes back with his estimate, we will decide how much we can undertake. He recommended stopping at the second bathroom if we decide to do the whole house, to keep that as a separate project later. That makes sense because we will need a bathroom during renovation, and even though that bathroom is small, it's going to be a complete teardown: walls (because they are tiled on all four walls at least four feet up, including the entire tub enclosure), toilet, tub, vanity. We'll save that for our next project. 

Our designer brought updated drawings. This one shows the round tub, which she likes because it solves many problems. She says most people don't have the space for that shape but we have space to fill. Also, the shape breaks up the rectangles. The shower will be two walls of 1/2 inch glass, very thick, about 82 inches tall. The tiler and designer want to have a minimum curb for the shower door, about the thickness of the marble on our window sills, about a finger width. They both emphasized how wonderful it was to walk in without having to step over a curb. And that's good for aging in place, too.

Then he wants to install a linear drain against the back wall with a gentle slope from the shower door, sort of like the one above. 

Here's a close up of a linear shower drain. The advantage is that it's off to the side and you don't have to stand on the shower drain. Also, it makes sloping the floor easier since the tiler only has to consider one plane, not four, as he would if the drain were in the center.

He will be able to add a niche for shampoos. At first, he said we couldn't because it's an outside wall made of block. But I told him that the company owner said the block wall was framed with 2x4s in front of the blocks to allow for plumbing. The installer took another look and agreed. The walls are 16 inches thick.

This is the view looking at the vanity. There will be space between the vanity and glass shower wall (doesn't show up in the drawing) on the left side and between the vanity and water closet on the right side, where we can hang towels.

I found this cool towel bar for that space. They are 10 inches long. We would need two, on the water closet wall, hung side by side but one higher than the other one.

Also, on the vanity wall (outside wall), in that same space, we need a hand towel. I like the one above. It's actually a robe hook, but I think it might do to drape a hand towel on. The design matches the towel bar.

We think we can save money on demolition, drywall repair, and cabinetry by keeping our existing linen closet on the left of the tub above. In fact, the designer was going to have to enlarge the cabinet she had originally planned for the space because it was too skinny now that we have the extra room with the round tub. Also, the round tub gets centered under the window. The shower is to the right but doesn't show up in the image because it's all glass.

Last walk of the day in Stirling Park.

We have been anxious about today, not knowing if we want to tackle another big project. We know that it won't be until later this summer, so that helps a little bit. We both know, without even talking about it, that now's the time to renovate. If we wait too long, we won't bother doing it at all. Then our house will be dated looking. Getting rid of the confined, pink kitchen was really eye opening for us. We are now beginning to see the potential of our house. And we are so lucky to have a designer and a competent company to do the work.