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OUR HOMEOWNER OF THE MONTH
Recently Installer Josh completed another kitchen backsplash for one of our homeowners who wanted to be creative by using a background color blending with the counter while using a beach themed accent. Our first picture shows Josh getting started with the backwall at the stove top. Josh installed the accents with a random look, scattering them throughout the wall area.
Our second shot shows the backsplash completed. This marble is a 4" x 4" tumbled piece called Nero. The accents pull out the white veining in the background color. Joey (our homeowner) chose the inset of the accents to be black to once again coordinate with the Nero color of the natural stone.
Our next picture shows a small detail in regard to handling the outside edges of the marble that are exposed. Though this marble can be cut and polished, we used a "pencil liner" to finish off this outside edge as well as the other areas.
And finally, here is our happy homeowner Joey Stabers (not pictured is hubby John!). Thanks Joey & John for allowing us to be a part of your kitchen project. We think it came out great!
Today we poured yet another floor with a Self Leveling Compound in order to make it nice and flat. This is needed anytime that we install a large format tile. In this case we are installing a 16" x 24" polished marble in a foyer, hallway, & laundry room.
When first measuring the job we checked the floor with a 6' straight edge only to find out there that were 3 considerable "humps" in the floor. These "raised" up areas were addressed by Jason with an electric planer as seen in this first photo. The area that looks lighter or new shows where jason removed a few layers of the actual plywood subfloor in order to flatten some of this obtrusion.
Jason did this at each of the three high spots in the floor while Tommy (our college boy) began to prep the mixing station by getting the water and bags of Self Leveling Compound ready.
Jason gives Tommy a hand bringing up the "rake" and "smoother" to the job while they both check on the mixing barrels making sure that everything is ready to go. Once we start mixing this product everything has to move very smoothly in order to assure ourselves of having a successful pour.
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Jason brings in one barrel of leveler and begins to pour it on the floor while Tommy is outside mixing the next batch, making sure that we keep the outside "wet edge" fresh and ready to receive the next pour.
Tomorrow Installer Shane will take the job from here by applying Ditra Matting Underlayment over top of this leveler pour. He then will begin to install the beautiful polished marble. More to come as this job progresses!
Our last two pictures are of our fnished product; flat, level, & we think beautiful!
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This past week Jason got busy installing another glass backsplash at a kitchen area. This one was a little different in that the cabinet area was not the usual wall cabinet line above a countertop. This kitchen wall shows a window to the right and left of the cooktop area. The designer had picked out a 4" x 8" glass tile and specified it to be installed on a staggered or "subway" pattern.
The detail work came in when the designer asked to have the window jambs wrapped in the same glass. We then took one piece of glass to see if we could polish the cut edges to form the outside corners at the edges of the windows. Bottom line is that it takes about 10 to 12 minutes for each cut. These picture actually represent a total of almost 20 man hours to simply get this far on this backsplash.
The detail work came in when the designer asked to have the window jambs wrapped in the same glass. We then took one piece of glass to see if we could polish the cut edges to form the outside corners at the edges of the windows. Bottom line is that it takes about 10 to 12 minutes for each cut. These picture actually represent a total of almost 20 man hours to simply get this far on this backsplash.
Jason does not look too happy because this type of tedious work would drive anyone a bit crazy. Jason however, is staying true to the test and doing a beautiful job making each exposed edge of glass look like it has a factory finish!
These last two shots are the final product. We think they came out very well!
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Recently our installer Shane completed a renovation project at a local Fitness Center. We remodeled 3 showers in the Ladies Locker Room. Our first picture shows Jason in the action assisting in the arduous task of removing the old tiles, backer board, and shower floor. Upon doing so we discovered that the old showers had been leaking and we encountered a bit of a mold problem We removed all the framing lumber and any other areas that were contaminated and replaced with new lumber.
After treating the infected areas Shane was ready to start covering up the framing with our tile backer.
Part of this project required removing some of the existing floor tiles around the new showers and replacing them. This picture features Shane's "better half" Janet who is not afraid to roll her sleeves up and get in there with her hubby to get the job completed. Though Shane is giving us the thumbs up Janet knows that her payment for services rendered is going to cost him on this one!
Another great job with the project finishing on schedule thanks to our husband and wife team, Shane & Janet!
Yesterday Josh Jr. completed a porch floor that he had installed back in the fall. Shortly after Josh installed the tiles at this porch floor the weather turned too cold to install the grout. This grout was SpectraLOCK Grout by Laticrete International which acts like an epoxy grout. The floor temperature has to be at least 50 degrees or above. Our problem was that the substrate beneath the tiles is concrete which stays cold and takes warmer temperatures to get this mass to warm up enough to apply the grout. Fortunately the weather does warm up eventually and yesterday was one beautiful spring day. Below are two pictures. One of the floor and one of Josh, who was as happy as I was to have finally brought this project to completion.
Today I wanted to write about a simple job that we completed recently. We have been doing a large job up on the beach and near the end of our workload, our homeowner Lori W wanted to have a countertop covered in a 3" x 6" glass subway tile. Our first task was to design the countertop to accomodate the size of the glass so the front would be covered with a single row of 3" tiles. We quickly went to work creating a drawing to give to the builder so the framing of the counter would work for our installation. The drawing below shows shows a 1-1/2" frame covered in 3/4" plywood. From there we covered it in an appropriate tile backer (substrate).
click here to view vanity top drawing:
Next, I went to the job and fitted the actual bowl on the top. Once we confirmed that the sizing and rough in for the plumbing fixture and bowl were correct, our installer Jason was ready to go.
These next two shots show the glass tiles installed with Jason applying the grout. Once again we used Laticrete's SpectraLOCK (stain-proof) Grout for a solid and uniform color that will hold up for years to come. Jason is smiling because he is so happy to be working for McAllister & Son!
This last shot was taken a few weeks later when I stopped back in on the job to see that the plumbing contractor had been back to install the sink bowl and faucet.
Today I wanted to feature a master bathroom floor that we recently completed at a home we are doing up on the ocean in Bethany Beach, DE. Not unlike many of the custom homes we project in, this master bathroom will certainly be a showcase when it is completed. Like the rest of the house, the floor design was drawn by Bruce Palmer Design Studios.
The basic plan was to use a 6" border around the perimeter of the room comprised of a Brushed and Chiseled Travertine while the inset is done in a Cobblestone Mosaic with a repeating pattern. The hours Josh took to lay this room out were long and arduous. As seen in the pictures below, Josh installed the field tile (the mosaics) first. He then fabricated the borders from an actual 16" x 24" tile, ripping it down to the proper width. Many of the cut edges of the border became exposed. This posed a problem since the edges all have a "chiseled and hammered" look. To handle this Josh painstakingly recreated the "chiseled and hammered" look to have evereything blend.
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These two shots below show the hallway leading to the toilet room. Notice the centering of this hallway with the circle pattern aligning in the middle of the layout.
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Our last shot shows Josh looking over the finished floor, prior to his assistant (Beers) coming in to seal the stone and apply the grout.
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