ListWise

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Sanding Tile

No, wait, that can't be right. 'Sanding tile' doesn't make any sense. What that should be is, 'I got sick of sanding, so I started playing with tile'.

The plan was to sand all of the windows and get them ready for primer. If I can get the replacement head blocks installed I can measure for, make and install picture rail. That was the thought, but that doesn't make any sense either. I need to paint before the picture rail goes up.

I started working on the double windows in the back parlor and it turned out to really be a lot of work. Not only did I need to sand, but I also had to remove old rusty hardware, which was installed in 1895 and then had a zillion coats of paint put over it. It did not come off with out a fight. There are also holes to fill from old window treatments. The parts that didn't get stripped of paint didn't need to be sanded, but they did need to be washed. It just went on and on.

While I was working on the windows it also dawned on me that before I can put the head blocks on or measure, make and install the picture rail, I need to deal with the pocket doors. They need to be removed, cleaned, and I need to install the new hardware, which I haven't even bought yet!

Needless to say, after about an hour and a half working on the windows, the job was not only tedious, but it also seemed sort of pointless. I mean, it will need to get done, but it is hardly a pressing issue. Since the last of the salvage tile came in from Urban Remains in Chicago, I decided to play with that instead.

The tile is sitting on a cardboard template, which matches exactly the concrete area of the hearth where the tile will be set. I have a finite amount of tile, and all but the blue tile with the frogs and dragon flies is salvage antique. What that means is, if I run short or break something, I'm screwed. 

The tolerances are very tight. Of the vintage tile, the only extra I have is one peice of the 1X4 dimpled green tile, and I have a half dozen of the half peices of the 1X6 mottled blue tile. That is it! The three outside boarder tiles will have mitered corners. One wrong cut and there is no extra on one of them, and I have one extra piece on another. It is going to be a nail biter.

On the plus side, it fills the space very nicely.

2 comments:

Karen Anne said...

I'm not sure what you mean by the "three outside border tiles," but if you run short, could you modify the design a tiny bit and use a different tile in those presumably smallish areas, as though the design was supposed to be like that all the time?

Greg said...

There are three different styles of tile which make up a boarder on the outside of the design. When I install the tile, those tiles will be installed last. Those are also the tiles I will cut on a saw to make metered corners. I won't know for sure if I'm going to run out until I am almost finished, and at that point everything will be set in mortar.

Greg