tiling your bathroom floor

The walls are up! The walls are done! The walls are amazing! And now, thanks to the weird order our shipments came in due to the supply chain disruptions, we have all the floor tiles. We selected heavily textured white 4 x 4 squares that came in 9-square sheets. You’d think this would have made them easier to lay, but truth be told, they weren’t perfect from the manufacturer and we needed to use a ton of tile spacers to get them to lay right. Some of the pre-arranged seams weren’t even (annoying).

The important thing with tile is the dry run. You have to use the thinset in somewhat large sections, so you have to get a lot of tile cut and fit in (perfectly) and then pick it all up using a weird and confusing labelling system. Or at least, that’s how we did it! In our case, the pattern had repeats, so it was key for us to get the direction of even the square pieces correct so that there was no side-by-sides that matched. (Well, there is one, but Hubs has sworn me to never ever mention it again.)

So, working in pieces, we got the floor measured, cut, test fit, packed up, and installed — all except the closet. It was getting late! We let it dry overnight and came back to finish and grout the next day. You can see the lines where some is grouted and some is not while we were working, but since we bought colored grout rather than dying it ourselves, it is an exact match even though it wasn’t done at the same time.

We had to trim carefully along the edge under the door because we wanted a seamless transition to the hardwood. Really pleased with how it turned out!

As I’ve said before, grouting is mostly a matter of working it into all the cracks with a sponge, then wiping it off. Here’s where the textured tile really killed us…. we couldn’t just wipe it off as we were normally used to doing. It was a LOT of elbow grease to get all the grout out of the grooves in the tiles. I do think it’s work it for the final, luscious finish!

vertical subway tile bathroom walls

Love this blue tile, and the stress-filled pattern was worth it for the end results. (I can say that since Hubs does the primary stressing.)

We had already decided that the contrast between the white interior walls and the blue shower walls would be accented by a differentiated pattern — the same tiles used two different ways.

This epic-perfection seam is now behind the shower door, which was by design but I feel like I need you to take 5 seconds and stare at the line and just be impressed.

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We started at the far wall (away from the plumbing) and then worked our way up the main wall, finishing on the front wall with the plumbing and two shelves.

Once again, the tile spacers are our friends here. We used two on each long side and one on each short side. I enjoyed watching the bright red waterproof coating give way to the cool blue of the tile, especially since the red was making the white tile feel so pink — and pink tile was one of the reasons we started this renovation!

Even though we had the new shower floor as our base, we used a level line. It’s always better to trim a few starting tiles than get to the top of a project and realize how out-of-level your walls and ceiling are. Plus, your eye is not forgiving and you notice when things aren’t just-so. This is what sets the “oh I see you DIY-ed your bathroom” off from the “oh you got your bathroom redone.”

We had put a lot of thought into the shelf spacing rather than just doing what was easy with the plumbing and wall studs — knowing we wanted the tile to look fantastic. So the end result is perfect — the tiles fit snugly into place with the edge nice and crisp. The final edge just needed a last stripe of white up to connect it back to the rest of the walls. The edging and jolly sticks really completed it with a good “we planned this” look. And we had, honestly. Lots of specific planning sets it apart so you don’t get to the end and have 50 eighth-inch pieces to cut or a giant wad of grout to finish up.

We had to drill and cut holes for the plumbing: the shower head and the water control. I absolutely LOVE the way the light grey grout looks on this, especially combined with the white. Truly, it’s nice when you have a vision and it gets executed perfectly. Go Hubs!

After the grout (which I didn’t take any pictures of this time, sorry, but you can see it here on the white tile), we began attaching the hardware to support the glass doors. That is part of our finishing steps, which you’ll see soon!

As I said before, we were working in pieces as COVID supply chain meant we got the tiles in various shipments, so you’re getting a sneak peek at the flooring… but that is coming up next!

way better DIY subway tile

The hunt for subway tile is worse than a needle in a haystack. It’s more like looking for that one black Lego with the triangular doodad on the front in a giant bin of Lego, which I can confidently say is WAY WORSE.

I digress. Subway tile is super popular. Clean lines, tons of ways to install. Hardy for floors or walls, showers and kitchens. The problem is since it’s a simple shape and a solid color, there are about a bajillion options, and buying online is difficult. Fortunately, after only 6 samples, I finally found a set I LOVE that came in a pure white and a lovely blue, with the end cap pieces I knew we’d need (La Riviera Blue Reef and La Riviera Blanc).

As always, long-suffering Hubs was willing to try creative patterns, so we ended up with a 1/3 offset — BUT since I don’t like the steps that get formed in a typical 1/3 pattern, this is a 1/3 offset vintage or some other weird names I found online.

The trickiest part for us was the transition to the shower color — and truly, it could not have turned out more perfect. Hubs has skillz.

What I love about this tile is the super-shiny finish combined with the heavy texture. It has so much depth with its hand-scraped finish.

For our first line, we measured from where the top of the tile would be down to the floor and cut the bottom tile so we knew the top line would be a complete tile. Note: when you do this math be sure you include the grout width. Meaning if your tile is 2-1/2” high and you’re grouting 1/16th”, you need to do the math on 16 tiles as 2.5625” x 16 tiles to get to 41”. Otherwise, you’ll be a full inch short and think that 16 tiles is 40”.

Make sure you’re level on the wall and NOT using the floor as your level, because unless your house was built by the Lego company, it isn’t perfectly level. This will catch up with you and ruin your tile.

We are using chair rail caps at the top so you can see we space planned for this as well.

To get the tiles perfectly spaced, we used x-shaped tile spacers. These are really handy to help on long tiles where you could easily end up cockeyed if you don’t put in several. It also reduces tile slide as gravity is always your enemy on the wall tile.

As we worked, we had plumbing to work around, so there was a good deal of trimming. The wet tile saw is still the way to go, like we did upstairs on my hexagon tiles. It makes clean cuts and doesn’t leave the edges all chipped.

The best process for tiles is to get a row going while you have the concrete wet, so if you have a lot of cutting to do, try to cut a few at a time so your grout isn’t up there setting while you run and measure.

For the small pieces, we often put in multiple grout spaces and then used painters tape to make sure they didn’t fall off. There’s just not a ton of grip when the quickset is fresh. You can see that in some of the pictures, but fortunately because he did a lot of planning, Hubs was able to avoid most tiny cuts.

Because we were working during the supply chain disruptions of 2021 , you’ll see we were getting single boxes of tile and were working on the floor at the same time. (That was not ideal.)

After all the tile was up and dried, the tile spacers come up and then you step on them for six weeks, mostly in bare feet, and it hurts like a Lego.

Then all the tiles get a good scrubbie cleaning and you can get on to grout!

Grout is a lot of pressing. Schlep it on the wall, press it in with a tile float, press it again, wipe it off with a wet sponge, press it again, keep going back, screech a little that there’s still a missing spot, press it again, wipe it again, lean back and rub the top of your head while you inspect. At least that seems to be the process Hubs follows. (Note: at the end there is a lot of grout in his hair.)

We wanted a medium contrast to the white, so we selected a medium grey. I know people are into bright and super-contrast grout right now, but royal blue or black doesn’t feel timeless to me. I never want to hate our DIY in five years because we were too trendy. Maybe I still will but at least I tried. And it’s still better than the pink cherub butts we took down.

I have a lot of “after pictures” but since you can already see some sneak peeks of the floor even though I’m TRYING to keep is hidden…. you know where we’re headed.

Stay tuned for the shower tile next time! Then the floor… and we’re finally getting back to a functional restroom! And stunningly beautiful, if I can say that about something I had like 0.4% to do with creating…

get your bathroom ready for tile

You know how you see all those pins about how you can paint furniture with no prep? Paint your walls with no prep? Concrete your counter with no prep? Well, they lie. That job will look terrible in, like, maybe a week. If you’re lucky. It will peel, chip, not adhere — and everything else.

Prep work isn’t fun. It isn’t appealing. It’s drudgery. And it’s also the only thing that will make your DIY work last and look good. Put the time into the prep.

How do you get the bathroom ready for tile?

1. Plan your space.

2. Prep the mechanics: plumbing, electric, etc.

3. Use the right materials.

4. Install the materials correctly.

5. Waterproof everything.

Here’s what it looked like for us!

Rough plumbing was set up from our last step. We just had to make sure everything was in the right place before we closed up. That means measuring the shower head, standing in the shower and making sure it looked right. That also meant putting my shampoo bottles on the roughed-in shelf to make sure they were deep enough and tall enough. (If you have long hair or shop at Costco, you also know about the 6-gallon drum of shampoo.) We also determined exactly where we wanted the new light switches and electrical outlets. This is also when we installed the tub drain, which was one of those things that should have been simple and wasn’t because the floor joists were placed off just enough that there wasn’t space—but a 30-minute (slightly grumpy) sawzall detour, and Hubs got it in.

Once the “guts” were all in place, there was a lot of measuring, followed by drywall and concrete board cutting. Then there’s a lot of awkward lifting and grunting while you get them into place. Attach, then you seal and sand and seal and sand until you’re old and grey and Hubs will still say it isn’t 100% perfect so you’ll bicker that 46 coats is really the perfect number…

Once all the walls are in place, the shower pan can go in. We got lucky that the tub we removed was a standard size, so this was an easy find at Home Depot.

Once the pan was installed correctly, it was time to begin the waterproofing. Now, waterproofing (as we learned in our upstairs bathroom reno) is a smelly and very pink process. It involves cutting and shaping the waterproof edge tape (we used Kurdy tape) around corner after corner, snipping and measuring until everything’s covered and you can move on to the waterproof application. It goes on like paint, and smells way worse. Vent-i-late, my friends.

For the parts of the bathroom that weren’t in the shower, we sealed the seams and edges with more Kurdy tape and thinset. Lastly, we installed the guts of the ceiling light/fan but kept the cover off while we repainted the ceiling.

Next step…. let the tiling begin!! You’ve never seen such fantastic subway tile…

how to demo that bathroom you're about to DIY

Metallic. Naked. Baby Angels. Oh my goodness. You never know what you are going to discover with home demolition — we’re found mouse graveyards galore — but this wallpaper takes the cake. The funniest part is how this is ALMOST so hideous that it’s really cute again. In fact, I posted it on my personal FB wall and a bunch of friends said they loved it.

We did a quick mini-reno of this bathroom when we bought the house and took down metallic flowered wallpaper from the exposed walls, but behind the mirror was this glorious previous iteration:

I asked my husband (at the end of the project) if the previous homeowner was as excited about her angel butts as I am about my trendy blues and whites, ad he said yes. So future generations can think I have hilarious taste, congrats. You’ll probably knock down my blue and white subway tiles to hang up olive green hyena footprints or something.

Whatever. I hope you love it, future homeowner.

Our process was:

• Rent a dumpster

• Put down floor protection (really cannot emphasize how critical this is — tiles get stuck into your shoes and will DESTROY your flooring)

• Knock off the tiles and carry them to the dumpster

• Still knocking off tiles

• Still carrying more tiles

• How are we not done yet?

• Why are there so many tiles?

• Take down the mirror

• Peel off the remaining (hilarious) wallpaper

• Discover that the mirror was hung over large, unfilled holes in the wall from an old medicine cabinet and soap dishes/toothbrush holders

• Remove the vanity

• Remove the tub and plumbing

• Pull up the flooring

• Remove the toilet

Step One: Prep

Protect. Your. Floor. if you’re carrying demo-ed materials through your house. It’s the best $30 you’ll spend. We used sticky plastic down the steps and thick parchment paper stuck on the floor with painter’s tape. Make sure your 8yo draws a winky smiley face on it to bring you good luck. This is a critical step.

Step Two: Kill the Old Tile

Demolition begins with knocking down tiles one at a time with a hammer and chisel, then moves on to the removal of furniture and appliances, then the ripping up of the floor. Do it slowly so you don’t damage anything (especially plumbing). If the wall is in good shape, avoid making holes that you’ll have to repair later.

Step Three: Remove the Large Items

Disconnect the plumbing and pull out the vanity. Discover more tiles. Cry briefly.

Step Four: Remove the Tub

After disconnecting the plumbing, we solicited neighbor help and lifted out this behemoth. The house has three full baths with a tub upstairs, so we didn’t need a tub here. We are converting to a shower stall. Unfortunately, the tub was chipping so it wasn’t really salvageable.

Step Five: Remove the Toilet

Again, disconnect the plumbing and remove the toilet. PLUG THE HOLE, PLUG THE HOLE, PLUG THE HOLE. That smell. Stick a towel in that the moment you pull it. I did not take a picture of this. (You’re welcome.)

Mini Step

Our ceiling was ok, so we added the guts for an awesome light and vent fan (done at this stage because it would help clear out smells from our work). We also removed the wall heater at this point. More on the heater later.

Step Six: Scrape the gunk off the wall until your fingers cramp into giant clams forever

Ok, maybe not forever, but we did include the kids in this process since it was so labor-intensive. Surface prep is critical. You want the tiles to adhere effectively and you want the paint to look smooth. Our oldest is 11 years old and a really dedicated worker and likes spending time with Hubs. Notice the ear protection, and of course his eyes are covered by his glasses. Hubs’ are on his head. (D’oh.)

Step Seven: Pull up the Flooring

We’re almost to a blank canvas! We knew this floor was lightly glued linoleum, because we’d laid it ourselves in a stopgap mini-renovation a few years before. But the top layer of subfloor had to come out, too, to ensure it was a flat and non-squeaky surface to tile.

This was a HUGE part of the process. It took a really long time, but this is one of the boring, unsexy steps that can take your bathroom from ‘oh you upgraded your bathroom’ to ‘I’m sorry, you did this yoUrSelVEs?’ Surface prep, can’t stress it enough. You can’t just put lipstick on a pig. All the tutorials that say ‘paint your XYZ with zero prep’ are just fast ways to hate what you’ve done a month later. Do it right or pay the price.

Demo done!

One the floor is out, we’re officially at the end of demolition in my book, because things (mostly) stopped LEAVING the room and started coming INTO the room.

Next step — see where we started with the actual construction.

how to renovate that bathroom yourself and not hate it afterwards

You might already know we documented the step-by-step renovation of our upstairs bathroom last year. This spring, we tackled the downstairs bathroom. The pink bathroom. Oye. Very glad to see this gone!

When we bought the house, it had wall-to-wall fuscia carpet in the entire first floor, which included this bathroom. That came out right away, and we replaced it with very cheap, quick linoleum which has remained for about 8 years. We also peeled down patterned wallpaper above chair-rail level to add some solid grey and replaced the light fixture. The dark shower curtain also helped tone down the color. A bit.

Here’s a good overview of the before issues:

• Pink.

• Vanity was too big and didn’t match the shelf (different shades of wood).

• Heater was old and difficult to clean.

• We have three full bathrooms, including a tub upstairs, so we didn’t need a second bathtub.

• The kids had pulled off the built-in towel rack so we were using a suction cup one.

• The toilet was too long and your knees bumped the shower when you sat down, even though it was a smaller, round toilet bowl.

• Did I mention it was pink?

The first hands-on step (after careful planning) in any construction project, DIY or otherwise, is demolition. Keep reading to see if we can demo a project (the right way) with two elementary schoolers, a toddler, and a dog in the house — plus a flight of stairs to the dumpster.