Enter the tile gauntlet.

So I'm finally getting around to updating about the tile we laid on Monday.

I took the day off work and we started at 8am. By the end of the day, I had pretty much learned the entire process. I'll recount it here for those who have never done this. If I sound like I know what I'm talking about, it's all a charade.

So to start off we made the mortar (obviously) and cut the first three tiles to start off in the corner and also integrate with the transition. Mixing the mortar struck me as being really similar to making cake batter: you throw the stuff in the bucket, add some water, mix it up with a drill attachment that's basically a huge whisk, and add more water and/or mortar as needed until it has the consistency of cool whip. On the first round, Jerry mixed up a bit too much and almost burned up his drill.
Spreading mortar properly is also an art that's not nearly as easy as it looks. First you scoop it out of a bucket and slap it onto the floor. We used a big rectangular trowel that has two smooth sides and two notched sides. With that, you spread it with the smooth edge as if it was butter on toast, and you go back with the notched side and make even grooves in it. The lines help make contact with the underside of the tile. It's also really important that the amount of mortar you use for each tile is homogeneous, because a tile can sit too high or too low and that's just not something you want (we had a pull up a few tiles throughout the day and add or take away mortar depending on its level.)

After my first few ham-handed attempts to spread it evenly, we fell into a fairly efficient process of Jerry spreading mortar ahead of me as I went from behind and laid each tile. The process for laying the tile itself is pretty simple; you just lay it on the mortar and wiggle it a bit, then scoot it into place. We used 1/8" spacers to make sure everything stayed even, two for each side. That way everything stays nice and straight, because you don't want to lay a whole row and then realize that it's all wrong.

It took about an hour just to get the first row laid, because this is a really big room. In total, we have at least 300-350 square feet. Since we were laying the tile in a brick pattern, we had to cut the first one of the second row in half to stagger the pattern. Jerry told me that I should cut the tile, so it was time for me to learn how to use the wet saw.

A wet saw is a special type of saw used to cut various types of tile, including porcelain. It's just a stationary saw that sprays water on its blade while cutting. They usually have various types of guards to help you cut straight, but Jerry of course did not bring them so I had to figure out how to cut straight on my own, which is basically just a matter of pushing the tile straight through and not letting it get off track. As the picture to the right shows, we just measured what we needed, and drew a line. Not exactly rocket science. But it was my first time using a wet saw, so I figured it was worth at least a little documentation. I was ok at it, my first cut was good but I ended up psyching myself out on later ones so a few subsequent ones were a little crooked near the end. Those edges went against the wall, so getting them completely exact wasn't super necessary. Towards the end of the day I was comfortable enough to do all the cutting and they all came out ok.

It was a long job. We only had about four complete rows done by lunchtime, when we took a short break for lunch after my mom was gracious enough to bring us some pizza. We stood around and ate for a bit, then got back to work.

Once we got towards the wall there was a bit of strategery involved, since it had to be done in a way that wouldn't block us into a corner or a narrow space since you can't walk on the tile for 24 hours once it's been laid. So we laid just a few tiles for the subsequent rows and began to work outwards from the wall, whereas before we were going straight out from the corner. I think this was where I started to reach my limit, because at this point we had been at it for a really long time. We thought about quitting around 5pm, but since were so close to being done we pressed on. Originally I had thought we would just tile underneath the cabinets, but eventually we decided just to cut around them, because it wouldn't have been good to let the cabinets sit there on wet mortar.

Finally around 6pm our last bucket of mortar ran out and we decided that was a good stopping point. After cleaning up, I finally left for home around 7, so it was definitely a day on which I appreciated my white collar job. Jerry's role was crucial, so I'm also incredibly grateful that he helped so much.

But words cannot express how pleased I am with how it came out. Andrea really knocked the ball out of the park by picking out this design. I think with each successive row we put down, I fell in love with this tile more and more. Once it's all finished, I think it will look really sharp with our stainless appliances, white cabinets, and dark granite countertops. I can't wait to see the final result.