Bathroom Progress

We bought a surround for the bathtub/shower.  We didn't get the cheapest one, we got the next one up.  It looked nice in the store.  5 pieces, so we didn't have to struggle to get it in the house, up the stairs, and into the bathroom.  8 shelves, 3 in each corner, a long one along the bottom and top. 

Walt Kowalski opened the box, read the directions, and started to put it together.

Then he almost threw it out the window of the second floor bathroom. 

Not only was it broken on the corners due to bad packaging, but it was cheap and flimsy.  We didn't even buy the cheapest one!  He was not pleased. 

For almost the same price, we could install tile. 

Tile it is.  

 
The first row is the hardest.  You have to get a straight, square start. 
I only removed the first row once.  J

I always forget that tile is labeled a specific size, but is a different size when you measure the tile.  The tile in the kitchen was slightly smaller than the size on the box.  The bathroom tile were slightly larger than the size on the box.  They are 6" by 6" squares, but measure 6 1/16" by 6 1/16" square. 

That 1/16 of an inch doesn't seem like much until you align 5 tile together.  Now I've gained over a 1/4 of an inch, which means if I start in the left corner of the tub, I missed my center line.  I needed to start at the center line and work out from both sides.  The end tiles will need a little trimming, but my handy dandy wet saw solves that problem. 
 

 
Once I get rolling, the tile go up pretty quickly.  We went with the subway pattern, but used square tile. 

This isn't the first bathroom I've tiled.  Here's the bathroom at the Cat Ranch.  This was my first home improvement ever.  I jumped in with both feet.  Yikes! 

Looking back, I can see "mistakes" I made.  Maybe mistakes is too harsh of a word.  I know more about remodeling now.  I'll fix them on the next upgrade.  But the bathroom still looks good.   I can also tell you that in only 7 years, the building products have improved.