Porcelain Tile Foyer

Below is a simple, yet tasteful tile design for a relatively small foyer. Not too busy but still catches your attention. Every piece, except for the feature "dots" were custom cut for this installation. The tile colors and grout match the wooden stairs perfectly.

Travertine Outdoor Decks & Stairs

Below are some pictures of a huge tile job I worked on with another company. I specifically worked on the stairs, which have lights embedded under each lip, the rails that hug the sides of the stairs, the edging on the balconies, and the block walkway through the gravel. Most of the field tile was done by co-workers.

In this shot, you can see the miter cuts that were needed allow the rail tile to meet the floor. Also, here you can see the tedious triangle shaped tiles that were custom cut to fit each space after the stairs were installed.

In this shot, I hope you can see more of the miter cuts for the rail tiles to reach the floor. These rail tile were odd shaped. They were square on one corner and about a 30 degree slant on the opposite corner. So trying to marry these pieces together was a great lesson for me in tile installation!

There were large pieces of travertine that were set on cement beds. I framed in each bed and packed in Portland cement and sand mix just like I would do in a custom shower floor. After the bed is cured, I remove the wood frames, waterproof the mud bed, and set the travertine tile on top.

Travertine Shower & Back Splash with Glass Feature Band

This is a custom shower tiled in Travertine, a natural soap stone. This shower is in the same house as the Travertine kitchen back splash posted below. This is a masterpiece as far as design goes, in my opinion. And I'm not bragging, because I didn't design it. But, like the kitchen back splash below, the feature tile works perfectly with the field tile. The feature band includes natural stone and glass. As you can see, the feature band works as a back splash for the sink area and bleeds seamlessly into the shower. As you follow the band around to the front of the shower, it opens up to cover a wide open area on the wall. I also used the "pencil" tiles to outline the feature band and border the field tile. Below you can see how the insert box, or niche, is strategically places on the inside of the half wall. Not that it looks bad, it actually looks amazing, but in this spot is doesn't interrupt the flow of the feature band and it also doesn't clutter up the overall design of the shower.

Travertine Kitchen Back Splash

This is a great example of a natural stone kitchen back splash. The design is tasteful. All the tile selections work great together. And the Travertine "pencil" bullnose is a great way to finish it off.

In this shot you can see the detail of how I had to address the angle of the cabinet coming out from the wall. So that top bullnose piece had to be mitered on both sides.

Luckily for me, the feature band fit perfectly below the window so no gnarly cuts had to be made.

Stone Shower with Glass Blocks & Insert Boxes

This is one of my favorite bathrooms that I've done so far. Design wise it is about perfect. Everything is balanced. All the tiles are all made of the same material and are the same size. I just adjusted the shapes and angles to create texture and pattern variances. And I also got to use a lot of features that have practical applications and work great in the design.

This is the first time I've worked with glass blocks. Because I didn't have to stack them, I can't say that I got the real experience using them. But these came out great for what we needed them for. They provide light and a sense of openness.

Here you can see two corner shelves made out of the 12" floor tile. I cut a 6" triangle, slightly smaller than a half of a 12" tile from corner to corner. Then I use the bullnose to cap the front of the shelf. Because these are easy to make and they are made from the actual field tile, they are guaranteed to match better than any factory made shelf you can buy.

Glass Tile Back Splash

Below is a 1"x 2" glass tile back splash. The home owner just had new counter tops installed and wanted something simple and modern for the kitchen. I used mastic to install the tile and a bright white grout & caulk to finish it off. Check out the detailed cuts around the window frame. This job was started in May or June but not enough tile was ordered. And what the home owner bought was the last of the supply! So about 80% through the job, it had to be put on hold for the rest of the tile to be ordered. Now, when using tile from two different dye lots, there are always variations in color. This time I think the new tile blended pretty well with the old. The glass has so many reflective properties because it is clear and slightly rounded. So each piece has a different look to it depending on how the light is hitting it. Try to figure out the new from the old. I bet you can't!

Stainless Steel Back Splash & 2 Slate Foyers Part 1

The following two posts were a lot of fun to do and are great features to enhance an already beautiful home in NE Washington DC.

Front door entrance: Black slate tiles with Sterling Silver grout and an L-shaped Schluter strip to cap it off. Because I tiled directly on the hardwood, I painted two layers of RedGard waterproofing/anti-fracture membrane on the wood before tiling. So as the wood expands and contracts with the seasons, the RedGard will isolate the tile from the wood.

Here we have the same slate and grout, but this time I used a T-molding Schluter strip because the tile is level with the hardwood. Whereas the front door tile is higher than the hardwood.

Stainless Steel Back Splash & 2 Slate Foyers Part 2

Below are five pictures of the stainless steel tile that was used on the back splash to match the appliances yet avoiding any clashes with the counter top. I used a Delorean Gray grout and capped off the ends with an L-shaped Schluter transition piece for a finished look.

Limestone Tile Part 1 of 5

Welcome back to my tile blog. It's been a while, but I'm been a little busy. This job started on January 10th 2010. I started out having to remove the 900 sq. ft. of existing tile. The demo took about a week. I had three helpers with me and three jack-hammers to chip the old tile off of the concrete floor. Lots of dust, sweat and tears. That was hell week. After the tile was removed, I went through and fine tuned the floor. This is where I cleaned and smoothed out the high and low points. Filling holes and repairing cracks. Then I had to mix up some floor mud to repair some of the steps. After the mud dried and the floor was level and clean, I could paint on the RedGard anti-fracture membrane. I should get sponsored by these guys for publishing their name. This stuff works great in showers for waterproofing too. After a day of putting two coats of the RedGard on, I could start the layout plans. As you can see this is a pretty complex design. The good thing is that the way the pieces fit together, it won't allow you to drift too much. If you do start to drift the pieces won't fit properly anymore. So that kind of helps you stay straight. The though provoking work was going around corners and into other rooms. That always hard but even more confusing trying to follow a crazy pattern like this. Well don't worry to much about me, I did it all by my self and survived. So enjoy the pics.

Front of house from driveway. Refer to this pic from time to time as you brows these posts. The layout can get confusing. The brown door is the "front door" and there is a walkway that connects the house to the garage.

This pic was taken from the ledge of the fish pond looking into the dining room and kitchen. Walkway to garage is right of dining room.

This pic was taken from the entry to the garage walkway.

Limestone Tile Part 2

The following are picture of the kitchen and a back bar that runs between the back of the kitchen and the living room.
This pic shows how the back bar runs behind the double refrigerators.

This is the back bar. You can see wine holders on the left and a wine cooler in the back.