Our full bath needed a little updating. It’s been a slow but steady process.
First, I painted the walls. What do you think of my Mossy Gold (the green accent wall)? To 60’s/70’s? I know, odd, but I like it! The main color we use throughout our house is called Dessert Floor. They’ve got some creative people coming up with the names of all these paint colors. I love color! But you sure have to be imaginative with some of the names I’ve seen.
Next, we decided the vinyl flooring had to go. We bought slate 12×12″ tiles from Lowes. We used it in our cottage we built a couple years ago and loved it! I like the rustic feeling it gives.
To start, I pulled up the vinyl. That glue is no fun! I ended up using a drywall blade to scrap along the floor to get all the glue and vinyl up. A few times, I enlisted the kids to help by pulling on the vinyl while I scrapped and shoved the blade under it. I’m glad it was only a small space.
Now you can either put down concrete board or we like to use the Schluter-DITRA Mat. It’s suppose to be stronger and keep a better bond with the tiles because of all the little columns of mortar to hold it together. It looks like an orange waffle. We think it feels softer when you walk on it than the concrete board.
I dry fit the pieces in place using a utility knife to cut the mat. Make sure to cut out for your toilet drain! 🙂
Follow the instructions on your bag of mortar to get the right consistency for the job. The mortar should be thick enough when you trowel it on it leaves the groves, but wet enough it will adhere to the mat. I tend to make mine a little on the thinner/wetter side and Mr. Roots on the thicker/dryer side. I think it also depends on what you like to work with. We’ve done quite a bit of tiling, but it always seems like we learn something new every time. Most projects seem to be that way! There is always room for improvement.
Onto laying the mat. Press the mat into the mortar. They recommended using a weighted roller. I just grabbed a box of the slate tiles and slide it around on the mat. Nothing like 50lbs of slate to squish everything in place. Seemed to work well.
You don’t have to wait for the mat to dry before you start laying your tiles. So either dive right in and start laying mortar for the tiles or take a break and start again tomorrow.
I choose to get started right away on the tiling since I already had the mortar mixed up. Keep an Eye out for Full Bath: Part II to see how I lay the tiles.