ListWise

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Funky See, Funky Do

These tiles started out life as “Seconds” and it’s easy to see now why they were designated as such. They are Funky with a capital “F”.



At this point I really must laugh at the fact that over a 100 years ago they were deemed second quality. They were either going to be dumped or sold at a discount someplace. Then 100 years later I chisel them off the floor and reinstall them. Many of the first quality tiles are probably still not around, and here these poor little tiles are starting a new life.

Some things I’ve learned about these tiles are a) they are not all 2-inches wide, and b) they are not all a half inch thick. These are the reasons they were deemed “Seconds”, I’m sure. Ninety nine percent of them are 2-inches wide, but many of them are not a half inch thick. I’ve been able to spot the few narrow ones (we’re talking an eighth of an inch or less off) and I use them when the grout lines start to get tight. It actually works out well



I was meticulous with the first few rows past the tub area. I laid out all of the tiles ahead of time and made sure they were good. I had to put in a half row on either side of the divider, and that took a lot of time. I used a sliver of half inch cement board to raise the quarter round a little. I’m not thrilled with contrast between the super white, glazed quarter round and the, shall we say, less than white unglazed tiles. I almost ran down to the home center to see if I could find a substitute, but decided against it. I really won’t find a match, so why bother.



Once I got past the first few rows the pace picked up, but it is still slow, meticulous work. Laying them free-hand, without the spacers is definitely the way to go. I’ve had far fewer problems than I had in the tub area. Below is a close up for John. I think it looks good. I really, really like them.

11 comments:

merideth said...

you have more patience than anyone! that is some impressive, and i'm guessing tedious work...it'll look great though!

Northland Stories said...

Nice work, Greg. Glad to see all your hard tile cleaning work paying off with a beautiful floor.

Anonymous said...

For some reason I want to walk barefooted on your tiles. They look very warm and inviting.

You're doing a great job, Greg. It's really beautiful.

Tarr said...

This is looking wonderful! Though I might have a seizure if I spent several hours staring at those hexagons.

Anonymous said...

Greg, that is awesome. It's turning out SO beautiful :)

Bones said...

Y'know, the slight imprecision of tiles set without spacers has its own appeal. It's just such a nice effect.

It's really looking great; congratulations!

Anonymous said...

Greg, it is looking AWESOME! Your energy level is pretty inspiring--you just never get tired or decide to take a weekend off, do you?

K said...

Very pretty! If only we could all be so dedicated ...

Anonymous said...

That looks fantastic. The variations make it very visually interesting!

Katherine said...

My first impression entailed too many uses of the f-word to print.

John said...

Thanks for the close up. Awesome floor, love the old tiles.