Master Bath Tile (Day 498)

Finished up laying the floor tile in the master bath yesterday. Relatively simple pattern (12" x 12"), but we cut the corners off some tiles to inset 4 pieces of 2" x 2" tiles (4" x 4" overall). In order to get the cutoffs just right you have to make a jig (plywood), then overlie it on the intersection of 4 large tiles. Once you have your cut offs marked, you set up the tile saw with the 45° guide and a stop and cut away. Cut the first four a little small, check the overall dimension and then recut if needed. Once you get the saw setup, then cut all the corners off at once. We had 15 inset diamonds, so that was 60 tiles, or roughly 1/2 of the 125 we laid on the floor. The only tricky part to this job was fitting the tile under the jambs for the toilet room door. I had the tile cut and fitted, but forgot to put the left piece in before the adjacent tile. Then the tile wouldn't fit because the outside edge was elevated (resting on the adjacent tile). Luckily, I managed to pop the already laid tile up. Problem solved, but I might have cracked it in the process. I'd ordered 125 floor tiles and used 124, so there wasn't a lot of room for error. Next step is grouting. Nancy went over to Sequim yesterday to order the floor grout, as well as the shower tile and grout. So, within a week we should have everything here to finish the first (of 3) bathrooms in the house. Not looking forward to doing the upstairs one since it has both a shower and tub. That can wait until the summer.