93rd Place Project

I was contacted by this client to help her make her house a home. She had just purchased and moved into, a brand new custom home. The tile work was awful. The builder pushed the client into tile choices that she was very unhappy with. I was brought in to redo 2 fireplaces, a kitchen backsplash, a shower, and to add tile to the kitchen island and an accent wall in the powder room.

Both fireplaces had bad tile, and one of them even posed a hazard. As I was demoing the stone on the dining room fireplace, I found that some of the stones were not even adhered to the wall, and could have fallen off at any time. Once the demo was done, I prepped the areas using an adhesion and anti-fracture membrane. This helps the new tile adhere to the surface more effectively, and also helps the installation to move with the house as it “breathes” and “settles”.

When I started demoing the shower, I discovered that the builder had not waterproofed the area at all. If this client had not replaced this shower, it could have ended up costing her thousands of dollars in water damage down the road. I installed 1/2” Denshield backerboard, which is water and mold resistant, and then applied 3 coats of a waterproofing membrane to the walls and curb. I chose to build my shower pan out of concrete for a more solid base.

The client chose some beautiful metal accent pieces to be added, at random, in the backsplash and powder room accent wall. I was very excited when one of the accents the client chose, was a lotus flower.

This was such an incredible project to be a part of. I had so much fun helping the client pick tiles and design her projects. In the end, the homeowner was over the moon about the transformation of her house she was unhappy with, into home that she loved.

Ottawa Ave Project

This client contacted me interested in replacing the very dated tile on her fireplace, island, and kitchen backsplash.

When we started demo, it became clear very quickly, that the drywall behind the tile was going to have to come out as well. All surfaces were demoed down to the studs, and new backerboard was installed. I prefer to do this since it gives a nice, flat, and clean surface for installation.

I started with the backsplashes, a larger marble subway tile. The client and I agreed on a 50% offset pattern for the layout. I chose to do a fingerlace pattern when wrapping into the window. I usually trim out my projects with a metal profile, but I felt it just didn’t fit with this classic tile.

I then moved on to the island and fireplace. For this area the client chose a 12x24” porcelain tile that had a carerra marble pattern to it. For this portion of the project, I used the Schluter Jolly trim on the exposed edges. I chose to go with a straight lay pattern for this layout. A lot of people prefer a 50% offset pattern for this type of tile, what they may not know, is this layout is often not recommended by the manufacturer. Many manufacturers print the recommended layouts right on the tile packaging.

When I demoed the fireplace, i discovered a hodgepodge disaster. Brick, concrete, and framing held on by glue. My assistant and I started, affectionately, referring to it as the “frankenfireplace”. How this thing held up those tiles, I will never know. I added framing members in various areas using a strong adhesive and ramset drive pins. This gave me more framing to attach my backerboard to.

For the hearth, the client chose a beautiful marble mosaic. When we demoed the old hearth, we found a crumbly mortar bed a few inches thick. After removing this, it left the sub floor sitting well below the hardwood flooring. I used a self leveling concrete to raise the height of the subfloor so that the tile would sit flush with the wood flooring after installation.

There were some minor challenges that presented themselves throughout the project, but that is the nature of construction, it’s all in how you handle it, and there is always a solution. This is one of my favorite projects to date, and I could not have asked to work for a more wonderful family!