Sunny & 75 . . . not inside. My screed.

We got all the tile up off the floor. Did you know that if you aren't working around other tiles, trying to save them, and that if you go at longitudinal tiles from the side, you can save way more and break almost none? Now you do.

After researching substrates, we decided not to use the plywood we bought because it was too thin (not exterior-grade) and porous, which would affect the tile set. Since I don't want to do this a third time, I want to make sure we do this right.

I set about researching suitable super-thin substrates for tile, when you have unequal heights of tile. It took a while to find some reliable answers, especially after I got a computer virus that hijacked my Google searches. Each time I went into Google and looked for something, each link it gave me took me somewhere else undesirable. That's a BIT annoying to say the least. So the search took way longer than it needed to.

We finally decided on portland cement, a ribbon of it, all the way around the field tile, at a height of 1/8". I set about making a screed to level the 1/8" height. For those of you who don't know, you can't "scree" something (improperly used on DIY and HGTV all the time . . . scree is never a verb -- it's the pebbles and junk at the bottom of the hill, and that's it). Screed is not a verb either, and the first definition of it is not what I knew at all. You level with a screed. That's it. No wonder English is so hard to learn!

 screed noun \ˈskrēd\ Definition of SCREED

1a: a lengthy discourse , b: an informal piece of writing (as a personal letter) , c: a ranting piece of writing

2: a strip (as of a plaster of the thickness planned for the coat) laid on as a guide

3: a leveling device drawn over freshly poured concrete

 

So I made a screed to level the cement. It was cute; a tiny piece of wood (less than 3" wide), with tiny legs at the bottom and a horizontal hollow area connecting the legs that was just 1/8" high. Adorable.

 

 The dark areas are the new cement, at 1/8" higher than it was before. The bright yellow in the picture is actually old cut-up measuring tape. HW said I was so smart :o) The tape was already in the trash, and I knew it was thin, and wouldn't stick to cement as it hardens. So I cut it up with regular scissors to the lengths I needed and taped them to something more sturdy. Removing was way easier than trying to build little wooden molds and tapping them with a hammer to get them out. Brilliant, huh?



Had to delete another view of the hallway area, avec measuring tape because apparently I have limits on what I can post in pictures.

So far, I've finished the addition of all the extra cement, and let it cure overnight.

 

Today, with this incredible weather outside, I'm sitting cross-legged, hunched over the tile, re-creating the border, this time, at the right height. Unfortunately, I have to come up with it by scratch, since most of the tiles weren't salvageable.

 

This weekend, between social events and seeing our friends, we're gonna finally start on the vanity!

 

 

 

This is what I'd rather be doing.