A fireplace-tilin' weekend

On Saturday, we actually laid the tile. Like most things in life, it’s all in the prep work and planning. We managed to come up with a plan to cover the entire facade and hearth without cutting a single tile. The fact that it actually worked is equally amazing. The fact that it only took us four hours is utterly mind-blowing, since this is the first time either of us has tiled anything. We’re usually off by at least a factor of two in estimating how much time our projects will take.

Sunday evening, after the adhesive had set, we started on the grout. It turns out that mixing grout by hand is a bad idea. Join a gym instead, and then go buy a grout mixing attachment for you drill. Seriously, spend the money, and thank me later.

Applying the grout was an on-the-job-learning process for sure, but once we got the hang of it, it wasn’t too bad. When you’re laying 1 inch tiles, though, the grout to tile ratio is very high, so we learned two things. First, you need more grout. Repeat after me: “high grout to tile ratio”. Read the package. Luckily we had enough. Second, it takes a lot longer, but not where you might think.

After this project, I can say that I had two big misconceptions about tile.

1: Tiling is hard.

In fact, laying the tile was very simple. Of course, it really was all in the planning.

2: Wiping excess grout off the tile after you’re done grouting is quick and easy.

(This is the part you never see on Home Depot commercials or HGTV.)

Lies! I am here to tell you that it is neither quick nor easy. I’ll bet, to most people, the word “wipe” implies a nice, relaxed process. However, I’d say that “scrub violently” is more appropriate in this instance. It took 2 hours, lots of trips to the sink to wring sponges, and buckets of elbow grease to get that dang grout off. I’m sure that if you have nice, smooth 12 x 12 tiles it’s a piece of cake. Leave it to us to pick 1 x 1 tiles (that darn grout to tile ratio again), and 6 and 12 inch slate tiles with peaks and valleys like the Rockies. Elbow grease.

In the end, we’re very happy with how it turned out. Hop on over and check out the pics.