That Time I Cheated
“How long do you you think it will take you to finish the bathroom?” asked SCM near the end of his portion of the job. “Um, I think three or four weeks,” I replied optimistically (delusionally?). Maybe two days to tile the shower and tub deck -” “Two days?! It would take J and me a week. But maybe you’re faster than we are,” he interjected dubiously. One week and several freak outs later, his doubts were substantiated.
If you look very closely at that corner, you’ll see that the grout lines don’t line up from wall to wall. I managed to get the grout lines to match at the other three corners but I just wasn’t paying attention when I transitioned surfaces in that corner. Yikes. The Bear called SCM in to consult after hearing me lament that I had destroyed the value of our house because of my inability to install tile correctly (I might have over reacted a touch). SCM talked me down from the metaphorical ledge saying, “I’ve seen badly done showers – this is not a badly done shower. When you get your grout in there, no one is going to notice.” Whew. Then I moved on to the ceiling.
SCM did mention that the wall on the left was 1/2 an inch longer than the wall on the right. I had forgotten that by the time I got to tiling the ceiling. I started by installing the two tiles around the light. No joke, it took me 4 hours and a full sheet of poster board to get those exactly right. Tip: poster board is an excellent material to make a template of the tile you need to cut. Then I installed the tile that matched up with the wall on the right. Success! They matched up perfectly and there was much dancing. But then I installed the tile that was supposed to match up with the wall on the left – I never knew 1/2 an inch could be so devastating. After wallowing in defeat over night, I came up with a solution that didn’t involve starting over on the ceiling. I put one row of mosaic tile up on opposite sides, hoping that those extra lines would throw the eye off enough to hide the difference. The result doesn’t completely hide the problem, but it does provide some good camouflage.
The bench is totally my favorite part.
Or maybe the drain. Who knew a shower drain could make you so happy?
Tiling the tub deck wasn’t nearly so traumatizing. Until I got to the piece under the faucet. After a day of trial and error, as well as burning out the motor on my corded drill, I discovered a jig that enabled me to drill all three holes exactly where they needed to go.
With the styrofoam template in place, I used a spray bottle to keep the tile wet while drilling. Seriously, use this method the first time you drill holes for your plumbing fixtures. It will save your drill. And your sanity.
Speaking of sanity, since I do value mine, I have decided I will only get in line for this particular emotional roller coaster one more time to redo the tub/shower surround in the hall bathroom. I have to say, those one piece vinyl shower surrounds are looking more attractive every day. . . .