Kitchen Renovation Update - Tiling Edge Problem

I mentioned the tiling edge problem in my last update. Unfortunately the big box store didn't tell us there was an edging for the tile. The general consensus from the home improvement store was to use the trim that meant we would be lifting all the edging tiles, applying the edging, thin-set then re-grouting. I was seriously sickened at this thought. My husband picked up the trim, left it in the car for the day to find it had more curves than a slinky! We decided to do a small test stretch on the breaksfast island.

The problem was there were no matching bull nose trim for this tile. We had decided this was the tile we wanted so planned on doing a wood edging. However, the fridge put a kibosh to that plan. We simply did not have the play for an additional ½ inch on the fridge size if we wanted to get into the freezer compartment. If anything we wanted to gain a little space on that side of the breakfast island. The fridge is about 18 months old so the prospect of replacing it was not over appealing. So we went onto plan B that did not come about without presenting its problems resulting in raising the height of the finished counter top by ⅞ inch so the tile edge would fit over the dishwasher and the unfinished edge of the tiles showing. My husband thought the grout would cover the tile edges and it did for some but still most of the edges were dark, interfering with the visual continuity and simply just didn't look right. I immediately thought of painting them.

My husband checked at the hardware store and the lumber store. Both said the tile edges could not be painted because paint would not stick to the tile. By now we were both frustrated and irritated. He bought a heavy duty ripper and set about making a groove under the top edging tiles on the breakfast bar along the short end consisting of 6 tiles. He cut the edging so only about ⅛ inch of the bottom would go into the groove then ran a bead of silicone along the cut portion of the plastic edging and pressed it into the groove. This was plan A suggested by the lumber store. The next morning the silicone was still not set up! At the same time my husband hated the look. The trim interfered with the continuity and according to him looked cheap. He was also concerned that the edging would not standup to the wear and tear of daily use.

By the time he got home that night the silicone still had not set up so clearly that idea was not going to work. We resigned ourselves to the fact the tiles would have to be removed in order to use the trim but we still were not satisfied with the look of the trim. After dinner he set about starting to remove the edging tiles on the breakfast bar. He had the short end removed along with almost 3 feet of one long end raised when our neighbour stopped by to see our progress. He immediately said why not just paint them? We explained the problem but he said it could be done. My husband stopped raising the tiles and after a nice visit with our neighbour I went online to search. I found several references that said ceramic tile can be painted using a special primer and enamel. I printed off one so my husband could take it to the paint store the next day.

This is a long established business with about as much paint knowledge as you can get! This was duh moment number one as in why didn't we think of this first? He took a piece of the tile with him to explain the problem along with the printed recommendations. Without even reading the recommendations they immediately said, you need melamine paint. This was duh moment number two! I've worked with melamine paint before so why didn't I think of it? The nice thing is this is a very durable, scrubable enamel paint that results in a gorgeous finish. It is oil based so is not water clean-up. They tinted it to match the tile which is slightly off white.

I used this paint for the cabinets and countertops in our third house. We were visiting friends just after they had decorated their kitchen. Their countertop was a gorgeous shade of deep teal, a perfect match for their wall colour and border. I commented on it to find that they had painted the countertop! I got all the details then painted the countertop in our third home to reflect the country blue tones in the newly installed ceramic tile floor. [I'll be posting an entry on painting laminate countertops when we get to the laundry room as that is what I'm planning to do.]

The solution was not for the faint of heart. We had to re-attach the tiles then grout before proceeding. Using a small (¼ inch) sable, angle artist brush the edge of each exposed tile was tediously painted. I was careful to not get paint on the grout. Then the paint was allowed to dry for 24 hours. The results were amazing after the first coat of paint so that was quite encouraging! The process was repeated then allowed to dry for another 24 hours before putting a third and final coat of the paint on the edges. The whole process was time consuming and tedious but not overly difficult.

If you recall from the previous update, we had decided to paint the trim around the window. Even though it was the middle colour in the paint chip used for family room that shares a common wall in the kitchen, the pale sea green trim just didn't look right against tile around the window. I used the same melamine paint for this trim as well. It took three coats but I'm quite pleased with the results. This simple change makes the window trim flow into the tiles keeping the visual continuity but it also has slightly better reflective properties.

The kitchen is starting to look more like a kitchen and less like a work zone. The edging looked quite nice after one coat of paint. A small bowl of pure vanilla kept the paint odour in check. I lost the drawer under the sink and the panel where the old sink was is not quite usable because it would hit the stove. We still have to put a handle on that to keep the look of the kitchen. We had to cut the drawer (bottom right) to fit the pipes but surprisingly did not lose a lot in terms of storage. The corner cabinet is going to be maximized for storage so I will write about that when completed.

An end is in sight as far as the tiling goes. However, there is still a lot of finishing touches. I'm really a detail person so tend to be very nit picky about the finishing touches. At the same time I'm the one who tends to do these extras. My husband will say something to the effect of "How should we finish this?" I come up with the how to and unless it involves lifting or heavy work, I make it happen myself. So there are still things like caulking, painting, grout sealing and cabinet trim, all in progress at various stages. Once all that is completed, I will do a final cleaning of all surfaces, put the cartridges back into the stove, put things away and the kitchen will be finally finished.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Onto Grouting

Unless you are a DIYer you can't possibly relate to home renovations where life gets in the way. In fairness if I have to choose between family or getting a project finished, family will win hands down every time! On the flip side that means living with chaos for some renovations. It also means some frazzled nerves!

Supplies

We bought the tiling supplies the first week of March. They have been sitting in that same spot harbouring spiders and the occasional centipede since then. This is the common wall that goes from family room into the kitchen opposite of the breakfast bar. Now I really didn't mind the supplies sitting there because that's where they were going to be used within a week or two. Alrighty then life got in the way so we didn't get to the tiling until August. It seriously wasn't a problem with the exception of stubbing toes on the boxes if you went around the breakfast bar at the wrong angle. The stack became a conversation piece (very upscale so I'm told) and then a dreaded hot zone. Things got stacked on top of the stack! It really wasn't a good situation!

Tiled

I was very excited to see the tile going onto the walls and countertop. It was a lot and I do mean a lot of work. Just out of range to the left of this picture my husband made a tiling error using length of part tiles where they should have been full tiles. The problem was and still is we do not work well together on DIY projects. It's because I have the ideas and do the research while he does the manual things I can't. That means he doesn't listen to me and I get frustrated because he isn't listening meaning I don't listen to him. The funny thing is despite the bickering and frustration we do good work together although neither of us see it until the project is nearing completion. Anyway, this little error meant me doing a ribbit (knitting term for ripping out) the next morning from under one cabinet to behind the fridge and the counter between the fridge and stove. I was not a happy camper! We did have a not so quite family discussion regarding this issue. Unfortunately my mood worsened when it took 2 days to get the thin set off the tiles but being frugal I persisted. Anyway, this is what the tile looked like Wednesday night. Despite the setback thinks still looked pretty good. Oh, the window trim (1) is a bit debatable right now.

Grouted

Thursday was grout day and you would think it would go smoothly. We figured it would take an hour to grout then let it sit the 2 hours before wiping down. Wrong! We mixed half the grout and that was a chore itself because that stuff doesn't mix nicely and I wasn't about to use my stick blender. So after much stirring it was ready to use. The premise is you put the grout on at a 90º angle then remove at a 45º angle while pushing the grout into the seams. Fine and dandy except no one told the grout this is what was supposed to happen! It was just a bit more work than anticipated and took longer than the hour. We definitely are going to be painting the window trim (4) white to match the tiles. Despite careful clean-up of the grout after 2 hours there were still spots (3) to deal with the following day including spots on the wood cabinets (2). The grout really changed the look!

Stove

This is a picture of the tiling behind the slide-in stove. This is a JennAir® down draft stove so we are doing a bit of modifications to make life easier in the future. Any DIY project should do this. Anyway, the back of the kitchen goes into the stairwell off the walk-in pantry. The pantry is about 8 foot by 10 foot and so far is not over spilling into the stairwell. We want to seal the stove lip to prevent anything from spilling down the sides of the stove but we still need access to the back for the downdraft and electrical. What we did was bump a large test hole out of that wall. We liked what we saw so what we are going to do is install a door almost the width and height of the stove (more on this later). That will allow us to get to the back of the stove without disturbing the downdraft system or pulling the stove out.

Ok, tomorrow I will be blogging about the kitchen sink install mixed with a healthy dose of humour aka we haven't killed each other yet!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Starting Kitchen Remodel - Sealing Ceramic Tile Floor Grout

At one time ceramic tile was viewed as being expensive finishing for flooring and counters. It's popularity and durability continues today and while not as expensive as some materials it is still perceived as being expensive. Ceramic tile has a lot of benefits over other flooring materials. It is low maintenance and carefree. We installed ceramic tile flooring in the kitchen of our third house. We were told to use only vinegar and water to wash the floor with. Sure enough the ceramic tile kept its beautiful shine.

Onto our current house, our fifth and likely final house. The kitchen had been remodeled including the floor that is shiny ceramic tile. From our previous house we quickly realized a shiny tile surface is not the best for a kitchen as it becomes slippery when wet. The kitchen here opens onto a brick patio leading to the waterfront. The kitchen has to be high functioning because of the amount of cooking and canning I do so safety is always a concern.

Kitchen Floor

The first photo is looking into the kitchen from the family room while the second picture shows the breakfast bar on the family room side. We discovered a few problems with the kitchen floor as gorgeous as it looks. The real problem is the floor is shiny so therefore slippery when wet. There are three broken tiles (2) but only one is noticeable. The previous owner left five tiles and we have not been able to find any matching tiles. We suspected the grout had not been sealed either. The final problem is the floor is cold as it is below grade. We are considering replacing this floor during the upcoming remodel with a heated ceramic tile floor. However, we are waiting to see about the cabinets.

The kitchen cabinets are quite nice with the exception of signs of wear (1, 3) on some of the doors while others look brand new. The upper cabinets were installed from what we can see over the wood ceiling then trimmed around the tops of the cabinets for a very finished built in look, replacing would be a royal pain. That would likely mean refinishing the kitchen ceiling but because it opens into the family room that also has a wood ceiling with beams it would end up being a huge project. We thought the doors were solid wood doors given their weight but upon closer inspection they are very thick particle core with thick vaneer in a recessed centre panel style. From what I can see our only two options are to either refinish or replace the doors. It seems like an unnecessary expense to replace when less than half of the doors are in excellent condition. However, I found a product called Restore-A-Finish that hopefully will work. I will report back on how well this product works.

At the same time we finally decided on the ceramic tile for the countertop so will be installing that within the next couple of weeks. Finally the green swirl laminate will be history. The countertop and walls are going to be my DIYproject so I'll be reporting on that as things progress. In the meantime, I had to make a decision to protect the existing floor in case we decide not to replace it right now. The primary concern was the possibility that the grout was not sealed. Grout is porous so will allow liquid to get to the sub floor as well as letting liquids stain it. The remedy for this it to apply a penetrating grout sealer.

Materials

You will need:
1:1 vinegar/water solution
wash cloths/rags (a lot)
scrub brush
grout sealer brush bottle
TILELab SurfaceGard Penetrating sealer

TILELab SurfaceGard Penetrating sealer offers maximum protection with a 20 year guarantee so that's my kind of product! I use a 1:1 water to vinegar solution for cleaning my ceramic tile flooring. A spray bottle makes for easy application. A Swiffer wand loaded with white wash cloths makes quick work of washing the floor. Once a month I use a steam mop (not shown) to get the floor squeaky clean. For this purpose the Swiffer wand is sufficient. Sweep or vacuum the floor to remove any large particles. Attach a cloth to the Swiffer wand. Spray the floor then clean in sections changing the cloth as needed. Allow to dry. You are now ready to move onto cleaning the grout.

Cleaning Grout

This is a sitting or kneeling job. Sorry but I couldn't figure out a better way to get the grout clean. I found it easier to work from the far corner to the family room side. If the grout was previously sealed, the grout should clean up nicely. If it was not previously sealed you may see small bits, more of a discolouration in solution when cleaning the grout. The important thing is you want to get the grout clean without damaging it. Spray the vinegar solution along the grout line. Turn the brush on an angle so the the bristles go into the grout line. Scrub with light pressure along the grout line. Wipe the grout line with a dry cloth . Continue in this manner for all grout lines. Allow the floor to dry for about 2 hours before applying the sealer.

Application

There are two styles of grout sealer applicators. I used a 4 oz bottle with brush. After filling the bottle and opening the nozzle it was as simple as following along the grout line with the sealer. The sealer does darker the grout until dried which makes it easier to see when you have applied it. Any excess sealer that gets onto the tiles or pools in grout lines should be wiped up after 5 to 10 minutes. I found the application quite easy with the only real problem being excess sealer coming out when I tilted the bottle down to start a new section. The sealer takes 2 to 3 hours to fully dry but the floor is still walkable if avoiding grout lines. A second coat is required if the first coat is absorbed as per bottle instructions. The salesman said to wait 3 days then apply a second coat.

Our remodeling plans call for: ceramic tile counter tops (kitchen); ceramic tile floor, walls, shower stall (sm. bath); ceramic tile floor (entrance) and ceramic tile floor (lg. bath) as well as the possible replacement of the kitchen floor. So protecting our investment is important. Sealing the grout is the primary maintenance for ceramic tile aside of regular cleaning. As preventative maintenance goes, sealing grout has to be one of the easiest DIY jobs there is.

Garden Gnome
© 2007