Apartment DIY progress: tiling the bathroom floor (before & after)

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Roeshel

Apartment Bathroom Floor – before and after

We’re renovating a tiny apartment on a small budget. We decided that the bathroom floor was a ‘must do’. The Atmospheres Tile Collection by Daltile offers a variety of style, color and size options, so you can create your own unique designs with tile. The possibilities are endless! Read more about

our tile shopping experience at The Home Depot

helpful tips and tricks from The Home Depot Tile Specialist

The old bathroom floor (updated by previous owners) wasn’t an ideal choice…

And a leaky valve created a HUGE mess (more about that in another post). The joys of DIY…a major freak out moment with a full out tantrum but no choice but to fix the damage and move forward. Unfortunately it happens and DIY doesn’t always go as planned. Sometimes there are setbacks!

We shut off the water, capped the supply lines, removed the toilet and vanity, removed the flexible rubber/plastic(?) baseboards

{I know…so gross!}

and got to work on removing that old floor…

We prepared the floor for tiling by screwing down Hardibacker. Russ made the cuts. We used newspaper to create a template around the shape of the bathtub. and for the hold for the toilet, using a circular saw for straight cuts and a double sided knife blade (I don’t remember the brand of the one he uses) for rounded cuts.

Using Locktite and screws, we secured the Hardibacker to the old floor to create a smooth, level surface for tiling. Make sure that screws are flush (or even countersink them a little).

We made the decision of where the tile would end in the door way. I believe the center is the perfect spot. But, we extended it a small bit after shutting the door to see the ideal spot (where wood floors from hallway would not be seen in the bathroom and tile floors would not be seen from the closed bathroom door in the hallway.

Mr. DIY used a saw called a “Fat Max” to under cut the door jamb so that tile would fit neatly underneath…

We used a masonry/tile saw (also called a wet saw) to cut tiles. For this project, we cut and laid out all of the tiles in advance, using spacers during the process to get the best fit.

We laid out our tile, deciding on the best design for the space. We do love creative patterns but given our time frame, the shape of the tub, un-square walls and the fact that not much floor space actually shows when the toilet and vanity are in place, we decided on a basic grid design. We used the same newspaper templates we created for the Hardibacker for cutting tiles to fit the shape of the bathtub and the hole for the toilet plumbing.

The Home Depot Tile Specialist suggested we center the pattern in the door way and work from there but for us, when working with odd cuts near the tub and not wanting cut tile framing one whole tile in the door way, we worked from right to left, starting in front of the tub so that smaller cut tile pieces would be behind the vanity and toilet. I liked the look of one cut tile on the left corner of the room hidden by the vanity/hinged door area better. There is no wrong way…just do what feels right for your space.

We chose a ceramic tile called “Carrara” from the Daltile Atmosphere Collection at the Home Depot. Affordable, stylish and easy to install, Daltile was the perfect choice when selecting tile. I loved the colors, white with a gray veining, the flow and movement it’d bring to the super tiny space and the durability of ceramic tile for a rental bathroom.

I labeled cut tiles using FrogTape so it didn’t feel like we were putting together a jig saw puzzle when moving on to the next step.

Now we won’t be confused when putting it back together…

For this tiling project, we used Omni-Grip as our mortar to secure tiles to the Hardiebacker and 3/16 spacers.

We used a trowel to spread the Omni-Grip and placed the tiles, working our way out of the room. We did our best to get straight lines.

We let this dry for 48 hours while we worked on other things.

We chose a sanded pre-mixed urethane grout called Quartz Lock for it’s features:

Superior stain resistance
Color consistency
Crack resistant flexibility
Mold/mildew protection

Color is “silver gray”.

Materials for grouting:

Apply grout to the float with a putty knife and smooth into the spaces between the tile. “Smoosh” it into the spaces.

Be sure to clean the tiles to remove excess grout with a clean wet sponge along the way.

We did not grout along the tub – we used caulking there. In the event something needs changed in the future, we didn’t want the mess of trying to remove grout from the cast iron tub.

I would have preferred that we created a more uniform grid. But we did our best. If I don’t look right at it, it doesn’t bother me. lol And in the big scheme of this apartment rental, an old building full of imperfections, this looks pretty darn good!

An amazing difference!

gross bathroom floor before…

bathroom floor (and a little sneak peek of the renovated apartment bathroom) now…

The Home Depot is the one-stop-shop for all tiling needs, whether you are an experienced DIYer or a first-time tiler. I’m so happy with our selection. Love the Daltile Carrara and meeting with the Home Depot tile specialist and getting some tips saved us some time and headaches! See the entire Daltile Atmospheres Collection at the Home Depot.

Almost time for the full apartment reveal! Just finishing up the hardwood floors this week then time to decorate and get her moved! I’m trying to hold off on other tutorials and info until after the big reveal…it’s so hard! I want to show you every step as I complete it!

Sharing here:

The Home Depot partnered with bloggers (like me!) to participate in its Daltile program. As a part of the program, I received compensation in the form of a Home Depot gift card to participate in promoting the new Atmospheres Tile Collection by Daltile. Opinion and experiences are my own words. The Home Depot’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social medial engagement recommendations. I am a DIY blogger and I approved this message.

This is a sponsored post brought to you by FrogTape. The opinions are completely my own based on my own experience.

Sharing here:

DIY Project Parade Highlights – showing off some awesome DIY friends.

Posted on September 8, 2012 by Roeshel

Thanks for stopping by and joining the party on a weekly basis. I can’t tell you how much it means to me with all of the amazing parties going on. I hope that the DIY Project Parade is an event which introduces you to new friends and a place to find the latest DIY inspiration from some awesome DIY talent.

I welcome every single guest and I’m so glad you take the time to show up, link your projects or visit our friends sharing their creativity! Here are a few highlights you may have missed…

FAVORITE ROOM REVEALS

Cassie from Primitive & Proper shares a couple of sweet updates. One on a special little girl, Cora, who could use our continued thoughts and prayers and another on her beautiful living room updates.

Laura from Top This Top That shares her super fun media room filled with so many sweet DIY accents! Imagine having a movie theater in your home?! (Maybe you do, but I don’t … yet and Laura’s is such great inspiration!)

Bridgette from Osie Moats shares a sneak peak of her beautiful cottage dining room. Dreamy!

Missy from Lookie What I Did has one gorgeous laundry room reveal! I’d share every image but I think it’s best if you visit her for more pictures, storage ideas and links to several awesome DIY details. Wow!

FAVORITE DIY HOME DECOR

I love when creative, easy DIY makes a HUGE statement, especially when it turns out to look like something from a gallery. That’s what you’ll find this past week from Jessica at Stay at Home-ista: linen and paper DIY art! Wow!

Have a box of photos NOT in an album? Or need a fun creative inexpensive way to create beautiful personalized wall art? Love wall galleries but don’t know where to start? Did you see this super cute snapshot wall gallery over at It’s Two A.M.? Loooove the fun colors and mix of pretty frames…

FAVORITE FAB DIY FURNITURE

Jen from The House of Wood is soooo good at building furniture. I love her most recent: how to build the perfect end table. Love the shape!

I’m including this under “furniture” because that’s what I consider a headboard, don’t you? How fabulous is this picture frame headboard from Remodelando la Casa? Cristina shares how to make a this unique picture frame headboard.

FAVORITE CRAFTS

Kelly at Live.Laugh.Rowe always has the cutest projects and this past week was no exception when Kelly shared her painted drop cloth soap wraps. Counting down the days to filling stockings? This is a sweet idea!

So, big round of applause for these talented ladies! Better than applause, they’d love for you to stop by and leave a comment on original posts and pin from there! And I’d feature every link if I could but since that would be the longest blog post in history, visit last week’s DIY Project Parade to see so much more inspiring creative DIY. And if you were featured, don’t forget to grab your button. 🙂

<div align="center"><a href="https://diyshowoff.com" title="DIY Show Off"><img src="https://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac195/Roeshel/DIYprojectparadeFEATUREDMEBUTTON.png" alt="DIY Show Off" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Have I told you lately how much I love it when you stop by? With traveling to the apartment for renovating, I feel like I miss so much…not being able to sit in front of the computer. I can’t wait to be done and take a few days to get caught up. Thanks for showing up today and showing off your DIY. I hope to see you again at the DIY Project Parade!

Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations {apartment progress}

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Roeshel

I am no stranger to painting cabinets (painted kitchen cabinets). I get a lot of questions about Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations and I love that I had the opportunity to test the product for myself. My honest opinion? I seriously LOVED the kit. Reason #1 – no sanding! That step is my least favorite (and most time consuming and messy) part of re-doing kitchen cabinets.

The apartment kitchen before was looking outdated and sad…(and super dirty!)

and after some clean up and the Rustoleum Countertop Transformations {review} definitely made even the cabinets look better…

but with such a small space, I really wanted to lighten things up.

I chose “pure white”. This kitchen is super tiny but I used Rustoleum’s how to measure guide to confirm that one kit would cover our space. It turned out to be more than enough.

I removed the doors and hardware. I used FrogTape to label my doors

and to prepare my space for painting (where cabinets met the wall and floor in certain areas).

Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations

The first step in the kit is ‘deglossing’. Simply generously apply the declosser to the wood (or laminate or even metal!) with the provided green scrubby. Rinse with a wet rag and let dry. This removed a lot of the dirt, grease and the “shine”.

The next step is applying the bonding coat (or … white paint provided by the kit). I started with the front side of the doors and while they were drying, moved to the cabinet frames.

Elevating doors made them easier to paint.

When painting doors, I find that after painting the edges, that running my finger along the underside helps prevent ‘drips’. This means painted fingers and old paint pants come in handy but if you skip this, you will definitely have drips/extra paint on the other side!

I gave everything 2 coats. I decided not to use the glaze which was provided in the kit since I wanted a clean white look. I think that if you’re not doing the glaze, that two coats is enough (because it will help achieve an awesome glazed look) but if going for the pure white, I recommend using a primer first (not provided) or giving everything 3 coats of paint if you have enough (which I did). I gave the outside of the doors (the most viewed area) 3 coats. The sides of cabinets, which are not seen, got two coats.

I removed my FrogTape as soon as I applied the last round of the bonding coat. I felt confident applying the clear protective coat without the FrogTape using an angled brush and didn’t want to pull off any of the bonding coat which can easily happen once paint dries.

Once the last bonding coat was dry, it was time to apply the protective coat. Only ONE coat is recommended. I brushed it on in the direction of the wood grain (do the same with the paint). It goes on shiny (wet) but has a beautiful, durable matte finish.

Once the protective coat is dry, re-attach doors and hardware.

I was going to just re-use the old hardware but I found an awesome deal at a yard sale with a bit of a prettier look. So new knobs for $2.00!

I think the result is beautiful. Painting cabinets is always time consuming but I found that the Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations kit is a great easy way to give old cabinets a new durable look!

This is not recommended by Rustoleum but using the same steps, I even gave the dingy scratched fridge the same treatment. Time will tell if it will hold up but since it works on laminate and metal…I felt it was a safe option. I gave it a ‘light’ brushing of the bonding coat and a layer of protective coat. The fridge looked extra yellow and dirty next to the new cabinets. Who wants that? Now it looks brand new!

Once again, before: {I know – I keep sharing this before but with each new project, I want you to see the progress and what we started with.}