This picture is of the tile floor of the
air-lock entry way. The north entrance and living room at that entrance
was always cold in the winter time when icy blasts came in the front door
with whoever was visiting. This air lock Rod, my husband, built has given
us a wonderfully warm living room. The glass on the walls of this
airlocked runway provides us still, with a view and this is nice. The only
thing unhappy with it was the bare cement floor.
We knew very little about
laying tile so everything we did was a first time experience. There was a
bathroom we had paid to have tiled so we did know just a little about it,
at least that it was costly. This is the way we did this which is in no
way the tile people worked.
The first thing to do is
seal the tile with Saltillo Tile Sealer, Satin Finish. The instructions
say it lasts up to three years. It drys fast, in about thirty minutes.
After it is dry we used one of those super glues in a chalk gun. There are
a number of different ones that will withstand weather, even. If you use a
small slated board to set down between the tiles it will keep them in a
uniform place in an exact way. Because you have coated the tile with the
sealer you can now push the grout down between these tiles. Let the grout
dry 48 hours. You then can simply take a big sponge with water and wipe it
off the tile.
Since we were not going to
rent a special saw for tile and because we wanted a little more decoration
we simply applied the grout along the edges beside the tile and the wall.
We then broke tile in pieces and pressed them into the grout in a random
design at these edges. Be sure these broken pieces have been sealed as
well. The seal keeps the grout from sticking to the tile.
In 48 hours wipe that off
with a wet sponge like you did the other tile You now have a tile floor
without paying someone big bucks to do it for you or having to rent a saw
to cut the tile. I love the floor with the little decorative edge around
it.
It still is work and if
you aren't willing to experiment on a large area like this start with an
old inn table top or something smaller. After the work is finished the
Sealer product recommends several coats. I said "we" but actually Rod did
most of the work. My part was mostly the wiping of the grout off the tile
and the initial glueing of it to the floor. |
