November 2008 Entries
There you have it: The left and right side of the tub freshly grouted. And of course, the toilet needs to be installed. In this case, we chose an American Standard Cadet 3 model with elongated bowl. This is a very nice toilet, even if all we do is treat it like crap :) And next came the shower curtain rod. For this we chose a curved rod that offers more "room" inside the shower. When standing in the shower, there really does seem to be more room, much more than...
My next task was to tile the bathroom floor. For this, I wanted to use the uncoupling membrane called Ditra by Schluter. I started by doing a thorough cleaning in the room, then rolling out the membrane and cutting it to length. The second length of the sheet needed some fancy shaping around the tub and plumbing-wall, however that was relatively easy to tackle with a fresh blade in the utility knife. Just remember to install the product mesh-side down :) The directions ask for a modified mortar under the membrane and the normal mortar on top of...
Since my troubles with the glass tiles the first day, I wanted to postpone my pain as long as I could, and simply installed support bars to help me with all the upper rows, leaving a gap for my glass tiles to be installed later. But now I had to tackle it. So I applied mortar to the band on the wall, back-buttered the glass tiles with a thin layer, laid the tiles on the wall, and used green tape to hold the tiles at the correct level. A trick I used is to use a thin wedge on the...
I will preface my entry by stating very clearly that this was my first attempt at tiling. Therefore take all my tiling wisdom with a grain of salt. To mangle an overused quote: Damn-it, Jim! I'm a woodworker, not a bricklayer! I setup my wet tile saw on the bathroom floor and surrounded it by a dark-coloured towel. Cutting bisque/clay tiles leaves them covered with red dust and small tile chips, and if you do not wipe the tile off after cutting the dust may affect adhesion. Of course, keep a close eye...
For a long time now, I have wanted to add images to my catalogue of woodworking joints on the site. Though I do have some basic drafting and artistic skills, I thought it would be clearer and more consistent if I used a drawing tool. Google's SketchUp is a great tool for woodworkers that I have dabbled with in the past, but this is my first real attempt to produce something for viewing by anyone other than myself. Mortise and tenon joints, along with end miter joints, are the first to receive the treatment. I will be adding...