I Can’t Stay Away! Tile and Laminate Flooring!

This is getting so exciting I’m having a terrible time getting anything non-house/non-quadomated done these days. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about how to make everything perfect, and by the time I’m in my wheelchair at 7 AM seems like everything except for my body is up the hill. Good thing the van is already running outside and driving me up the street just a few minutes later. Then it’s 8+ hours a day for the past few enjoying the project, contractors, and just being in our almost finished new home.

Lots has gotten accomplished over the last few days and it is so amazing to really see things take form one room at a time. Over the past 2 days the electricians have been busy wiring the outlets and installing the recessed lights/trim, Mike has laid the laminate flooring for two of the bedrooms and is well on his way to trimming them out, and Jerry has laid the Ditra and began tiling the kitchen. I apologize that my camera is acting up (some crummy white haze and spackles) because it hardly does the work justice, but look at what’s been happening!

Kitchen Ditra is Laid and the Tile Laid out to get an Idea of the Spacing

The Porch Gets It Too

I think this bright orange flooring membrane might make many of you think… What the heck is that? I saw it first on an HGTV show “Holmes on Homes”, and was very happy to know that it’s standard issue for when Jerry is laying tile. So what does it do? Uncoupling, waterproofing, vapor management, and support/load distribution. What’s all that? Basically if you think about installing tile on a concrete slab there are a couple issues you need to address. First, what happens when the concrete cracks (and it will crack) and moves? If the tile is bonded directly to the concrete with an equally rigid-like mixture thinset it will crack. There’s nothing else it can do. What the Ditra does underneath is provide a layer/mechanism that uncouples the tile from the very rigid surface underneath. With Ditra when the concrete underneath cracks the waffle pattern in the Ditra will move to accommodate this change and not pass the crack onto the tile above. Additionally, concrete is not a hydrophobic/water impervious substance so when moisture migrates from the wet ground underneath, into the concrete, and tries to get into the house the plastic Ditra will keep it from going further. Definitely an added expense, but if you’re going through all the effort and expense of laying tile you might as well do it right.

We carried some of this philosophy forward with the laminated floors by laying a 6 mm poly vapor barrier underneath. Some people might think this is unnecessary or and added expense/effort, but it’s cheap insurance to protect the somewhat water susceptible laminated flooring from water damage underneath.

Mike made quick work of laying the laminated flooring in the spare bedroom and trimming out the window on Monday. And then made my parent’s bedroom look equally beautiful today!

Spare Bedroom Flooring

Look at the Window Trim

Parent’s Bedroom Floor and Trim

A day later and you can see the kitchen tile actually taking form in its hopscotch pattern. I’ve never watched anyone lay tile before, but was extremely surprised by the amount of labor and precision necessary to make it look right. Looks like there’s plenty of that here!

Kitchen Tile Going down on Top of the Ditra

A Closer View of the Hopscotch Pattern

I also worked with Barb today to figure out the colors and design of my big family room. I think many of you might be surprised when you see how colorful and bold I’m planning on making this space. I’m hoping for lots of energy!

I had meant to take a bunch of pictures of the recessed lighting in the porch and my family room, but didn’t remember to until the lighting was way too dark. The electricians chose a super sleek, almost flush white recessed can trim for the majority of the house, and I went was something different in my family room. I’ll show pictures of that probably on Thursday, the next time I make it up to the house.

Gosh… It’s going to be impossible for me to sit at home and not be up there tomorrow, but life calls and I’ve got so much of it to catch up on!

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Almost All Done: We Moved In! Time for More Detail: Bathroom Tile Drywall Finished and all Poly’d for Paint This Morning