Well, I am happy to report that except for caulking the seams, the kitchen project is done! We finished tiling on Monday and grouted on Tuesday. I for one could not be happier! My next goal is to clean the house (especially the kitchen) top to bottom. There is literally a fine layer of dust throughout the house from cutting tile in the kitchen (not recommended by the way).
Over the course of the project we have both learned a few things about house projects in general and tiling specifically. Firstly, its much easier to lay tile that has perfectly straight, milled edges. The tile for the counter top was milled, the back splash tile was not. Huge difference! It means that the edges tend to be wavy, and therefore you have to space them further apart. This means larger grout lines. Also, it is very hard to line them up in straight rows if they have wobbly edges. Needless to say, the back splash was challenging.
Secondly, mortar sets amazingly quickly. Once you place tile down on top of it, you have just seconds to adjust that tile or it will stay out of whack permanently. We have a few, ahem, weird spots (luckily concealed in a back corner) where that happened.
Thirdly, grouting can be very easy or quite tricky, depending on the spacing of your tiles and the type of grout you use. For small spacing you have to use non-sanded grout. This type is very smooth, almost the consistency of soft serve ice cream. Our grout color was a light chocolate color and we were both salivating over our chocolate soft serve grout for hours. Anyway, because the gaps are small and the grout is smooth, it can be hard to force it between the tile and make sure it is smooth and level with the tile. With the sanded grout, as you might expect, there is sand in it and it has a coarser texture. It is easier to force into the gaps (which are larger) and the sand hides many of the spots that are not as smooth. We had all sorts of problems with the non-sanded grout but almost none with the sanded. Also the sanded does not look as edible sadly.
Fourthly, and I know this is common sense, but measure twice and cut once. There were plenty of instances where not only were measurements not taken carefully enough, but checking to see if something was level or not did not happen. The result of the former was that we could not fit our stove back in after the countertop was complete (don't worry, Michael was able to use a concrete saw to shave the tile enough to squeeze it back in. That's where all the dust came from). The result of the latter was that one side of the counter top (on either side of the stove) ended up being slightly taller than the other. This made for a not-level back splash as the counter top was used to place the tiles. Which brings me to my next point . . .
Fifthly, when you are tiling behind the stove, always start in the top corner, not at the bottom. Then, any mistakes in lining up tile will more likely show up at the bottom (behind the stove) rather than at eye level (above the stove).
Sixthly, any illusions of doing a project yourself, having it turn out perfectly and completing it quickly, should immediately be thrown out the door. I don't care how many classes you've taken, YouTube videos you've watched, or experts you've talked to. Any project like this comes built in with many random things that you didn't expect (like having to level the new counter top first, or not having the right equipment) and putting it together inevitably takes way longer than you anticipate. A good rule of thumb I've found is to take the number of hours you think it will take, and double (if not triple) it. Then, when you have made a bunch of mistakes and are WAAAAAAY behind schedule, at least you will not be disappointed. Its always good to have realistic expectations from the get go.
Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, The Kitchen (before and after):
Over the course of the project we have both learned a few things about house projects in general and tiling specifically. Firstly, its much easier to lay tile that has perfectly straight, milled edges. The tile for the counter top was milled, the back splash tile was not. Huge difference! It means that the edges tend to be wavy, and therefore you have to space them further apart. This means larger grout lines. Also, it is very hard to line them up in straight rows if they have wobbly edges. Needless to say, the back splash was challenging.
Secondly, mortar sets amazingly quickly. Once you place tile down on top of it, you have just seconds to adjust that tile or it will stay out of whack permanently. We have a few, ahem, weird spots (luckily concealed in a back corner) where that happened.
Thirdly, grouting can be very easy or quite tricky, depending on the spacing of your tiles and the type of grout you use. For small spacing you have to use non-sanded grout. This type is very smooth, almost the consistency of soft serve ice cream. Our grout color was a light chocolate color and we were both salivating over our chocolate soft serve grout for hours. Anyway, because the gaps are small and the grout is smooth, it can be hard to force it between the tile and make sure it is smooth and level with the tile. With the sanded grout, as you might expect, there is sand in it and it has a coarser texture. It is easier to force into the gaps (which are larger) and the sand hides many of the spots that are not as smooth. We had all sorts of problems with the non-sanded grout but almost none with the sanded. Also the sanded does not look as edible sadly.
Fourthly, and I know this is common sense, but measure twice and cut once. There were plenty of instances where not only were measurements not taken carefully enough, but checking to see if something was level or not did not happen. The result of the former was that we could not fit our stove back in after the countertop was complete (don't worry, Michael was able to use a concrete saw to shave the tile enough to squeeze it back in. That's where all the dust came from). The result of the latter was that one side of the counter top (on either side of the stove) ended up being slightly taller than the other. This made for a not-level back splash as the counter top was used to place the tiles. Which brings me to my next point . . .
Fifthly, when you are tiling behind the stove, always start in the top corner, not at the bottom. Then, any mistakes in lining up tile will more likely show up at the bottom (behind the stove) rather than at eye level (above the stove).
Sixthly, any illusions of doing a project yourself, having it turn out perfectly and completing it quickly, should immediately be thrown out the door. I don't care how many classes you've taken, YouTube videos you've watched, or experts you've talked to. Any project like this comes built in with many random things that you didn't expect (like having to level the new counter top first, or not having the right equipment) and putting it together inevitably takes way longer than you anticipate. A good rule of thumb I've found is to take the number of hours you think it will take, and double (if not triple) it. Then, when you have made a bunch of mistakes and are WAAAAAAY behind schedule, at least you will not be disappointed. Its always good to have realistic expectations from the get go.
Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, The Kitchen (before and after):
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