The Bathroom Floor

My other floor project was in the bathroom. Here again I wanted something unusual. In fact, this was one of my "art" projects. After checking with the contractor, I decided to create a stone or tile mosaic, and lay it myself. To that end I started checking regularly at The Rebuilding Center, garage sales, and Tile for Less in Portland, which sets aside damaged or otherwise unsalable materials for gleaners.

Although I collected a little of everything, I eventually settled on stone and ended up with a fair sized stack. I figured that I would need around half again extra for wastage, which means enough to cover 36 sq. ft. for a 24 sq. ft. floor. The pieces were irregularly sized, shaped and colored, but I did no winnowing at this point except based on thickness. I expect that the end result will be somewhat irregular and artistic rather than professional. But that is what I'm going for after all.

When I had the amount I wanted I made arrangements at nearby Kennedy Rentals, where I have gotten much of my equipment on this venture, to use a wet saw. They let me set it up in the back of their shop, which saved me having to cart it back and forth or set it up. I spent several hours cutting all the stone I had into approximately 1" strips. I also had one rust colored granite tile which I cut into squares and triangles. I will use these pieces to make leaf patterns. Once that was done I stored everything away for later.

Much later in the project, after the bathroom walls were painted it was time to get out my stone pieces and design the actual floor. The only way to do this was to lay out a pattern on the floor. That turned out to be a lot of fun, and big wasted of time, especially since I did it in the bathroom and needed to put down the backer board for the mosaic in the exact place where the floor was laid out.

I was able to work out the color gradation across the floor, but I also decided that the sandstone wasn't going to work well with the marble and granite that predominated, which meant removing a fair number of tiles from the design. In the end I had to get more granite pieces to fill in, and cut some specialty angles for the leaves, which meant going back to Kennedy for an afternoon. I am still working out where to inset the leaves. In the end, after trying several different layouts, I picked everything up without making any firm decisions and relaid it in the hall, where I should have laid it out in the first place.

After the backer board for the floor was down, and the layout in the hall was to my liking(probably the 6th or 7th time I'd laid it out), I began adhering the tiles to the actual floor. I worked in strips and it took several days because I had to adjust the pattern as I proceeded.

Then I grouted the whole thing with a medium grey color. The last step was putting down a sealer. My deadline became the plumber since I needed the floor to be done before the cabinet and toilet went in. Luckily, while the plumber was doing the pipes in the basement, I asked him about the bathroom final, he said he could do it the next day, or wait. I told him Friday, which gave me time to get the sealer on the floor before he returned.

I also made a tile counter top for the cabinet that is a continuation of the floor design and color gradation. It was interesting trying to come up with an arrangement which would fit the restricted space and also work with the plumbing fixtures.

Once it was laid, I put wood trim around the edges. The sealer won't go on this piece until I'm sure about the fixtures and the sink. Indeed, there was a problem with the sink I choose (see cabinet) so I removed the whole top. I will be reinstalled at a later time, when the sink issue gets worked out.