Kitchen Floor: Slated
Still needs to be washed another 30 times and then sealed (twice? we’ll see), but otherwise it’s done. Enjoy the photo retrospective. Or not, whatever works for you.
What the in-store sample tiles looked like.
It wasn’t very gauged, either.
The dry run. Also on the floor: a hammer, wire strippers, small wonder bar, four-foot level, joint tape, and a Dremel.
Thinset.
It’s like an under-utilized veterans’ cemetery where there was in-fighting about what direction the crosses should face.
Spray away, buddy.
All done but the grouting.
The float at work. I’m not sure in what sense it “floats”.
Semi-dry grout awaiting clean-up.
Light’s green, trap’s clean.
It occurs to me that life is like a box of slate tile: (1) you never know what you’re going to get; (2) even once you see what you have, you have no idea the ramifications of it or how it’s all going to work out; (3) then you cement them to your floor because, man, you gotta do *something*; and then (4) it becomes permanent and you live with it.
Was also weird to me how different the floor looked before and after grouting. Before: wild, like there were a bunch of rocks on the floor. After: like the floor in some fairy-tale castle. Kind of liked the wild floor better. Maybe I’ll see if I can get a three-inch-deep stream of water to flow over it permanently, that might help.
bkd
PS, Next time I’ll over-order by 25-percent rather than 10.
PPS, Where you see all the dark tiles grouped together, those are the areas getting covered by cabinets and appliances.
I like it. The floor will be cool with the stainless steel appliances. Nice job arranging the tiles. I wondered about the dark tile groupings in the back corner but your explanation resolved that concern. I have slate tiles around my fireplace. They sometimes crack and a little bit of the slate chips off. But, on balance, slate rocks! Literally.
I’m just hoping less than half of them end up breaking between now and when I sell the place. I’m cool with the flaking, it’s the outright breaking that concerns me.
What color are you putting on the walls?
Light taupe. Will probably put some sort of glass tile backsplash up though. Depends on how things look with the cabinets and all.
Interesting … you should post your options and let us vote!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: democracy doesn’t work! Also, I’ll probably just get whatever’s at Home Depot that’s vaguely complementary.
Oh, that’s right. You’re a despot, or at least shop there.