Photos of our Tile Projects

Our first tile project was a surround for our wood stove. You can see it in the 2nd photo on this linked page. It was a good choice, because it's small and unimportant. Our mistakes don't show that much. I didn't do a good job of sponging down the grout, but nobody notices there, like they would have on our second project--the kitchen countertops.

On this project, we used "unsanded" grout. That takes a higher skill level, which I did not have. Three years later, the grout is cracked and chipped. This gives me a great opportunity for another article--Repairing Grout. That probably won't happen until next January. In the meantime, the kitchen looks great from a distance and it's all part of the learning process.

Our 3rd project was a Saltillo tile floor in the "inside/outside dining porch." This was our most challenging and unique DIY project. Working with this tile is not easy. The tiles are big, thick, heavy, and they don't match, so you have to lay out the whole project or take your chances. The result is very informal, since the grout lines don't match. We love ours so much we extended the project outside on 2 entryways.

Now we're working on the bathrooms. I messed up by not getting a photo of Bob building out the tub, but it's too late, now. This is our best tile job to date. We lined up the floor tiles in straight line, then went up the wall to the same height as the new tub step. Then we switched to the wall tile in an offset pattern (like a brick wall). It's coming out better than any other project we've tried. (This photo makes it look like 3 tile colors, but it's only 2--the first course up the wall is the same as the floor.)