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.