kitchen diary: week(end) 6, tile.

Feb. 6 - the last bit of necessary tile prep - Ditra (waffle board) - is installed in the kitchen.  since it gets set with thinset, it can't be walked on until it dries overnight.

evening painting plans get postponed, and we do some much-needed laundry instead.

Feb. 7 - three Marks convene to tile the kitchen floor - husband Mark, cousin Mark, and Uncle Mark.

hilarity ensues as Mark asks Mark to hand Mark the pencil to mark the floor with a line from mark to mark. (no lie - that was practically verbatim) everyone becomes hyper-aware of the work 'mark' for the rest of the day

while husband Mark marks and trims the edges of every. single. silver tile so they match the size of the slightly smaller darker gray tiles, the other Marks prep the floor in the new dining room for hardwood by installing several layers of roofing felt paper under plywood to match the height of the old subfloor.

this is true love. 

and then its all tile, all day.  Uncle Mark lays most of the tile, husband Mark does most of the cuts, cousin Mark does everything else, and Amanda brings the Marks lunch.  by the end of the night, most of the tile is laid in the kitchen - and it is super gorgeous!

gotta love a good diagonal checkerboard

 

Feb. 8 - after church, husband Mark finishes tiling the remaining corners of the kitchen.

 

Amanda helps by keeping Mark company, being his go-fer, and also laying one tile. it is tiny and unnecessary and will ultimately be completely covered by cabinetry, but she did that one sad little tile all by herself and is inordinately proud of that.

 (my tile)

tile and cleanup run well into the evening, but the long hours are well worth it. the tile floor is set and ready for grout by the end of the weekend and things are really beginning to shape up.

 

coming soon: hardwood and cabinets! get excited!