Still Life With Tile

Minor modifications had to take place before I could grout.



I did a final check on the slope after I got the tile in and it raised just slightly right at the drain. I must have had the drain a little higher than I thought. I had to chisel out some tile AND some cement to lower the area right around the drain just a little. My ¾ inch chisel will never be the same. It didn’t take too long, really. I got everything back in and the slope is good now.

I also had a minor flood when putting on the shut-off valves today. When tightening down a slightly leaking compression fitting, it is NOT “left lousy – right tighty” when turning the back nut. I new this and repeated to myself to turn the back nut to the left, but instinct took over. It had just a very, very minor drip on the valve for the toilet. It just needed less than a quarter turn to tighten it down. I turned the wrong way and the damn thing hit me in the face as it flew off the pipe. Water went every where. This precluded me from grouting right away.

I did get all of the shut-off valves on and the switches and switch plates. Everything seems to fit, but one of the push button switches is bad and will need to be replaced. They sure do look nice, but these switches are serious pieces of shit. I’ve had to return 4 or 5 of the 20 or 30 I’ve installed in the house. Also, the mounting screws are just the cheapest screws they could possibly buy. I don’t even attempt to use them anymore. The first thing I do when I get these switches is remove and throw away the mounting screws and replace them with new 6-32, flat head machine screws.