We recently finished up a master bathroom remodel in Fort Collins.
We began the shower construction with Durock cement board on the walls and a custom shower pan with the kerdi drain. The waterproofing was completed on the walls and floor with Schluter kerdi waterproofing membrane (the orange stuff). Building a shower in this manner creates a large waterproof box. Before a box of tile is even opened your shower is completely waterproof.
The shower included a large bench across the entire back wall and two corner shelves for rubber duckies! The ceiling of the shower was tiled as well. This helps tremendously with managing steam and water vapor which will rise when the shower is in use. The same stuff that ends up on your mirror constantly penetrates the ceiling of your shower as well. Tiling the ceiling stops most of this vapor from entering your ceiling substrate.
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We recently finished a master bathroom in Windsor, Colorado with porcelain and glass tile.
We began by removing the existing tub, tile and shower. We then removed a wall between the shower and tub to open up the bathroom and bring more natural light into the shower area. Doing this opened up the entire back half of the bathroom and made it feel like it wasn’t so cramped. One little wall can really close in a fairly large area and make it seem much smaller than it actually is.
We enlarged the shower a bit and waterproofed everything with Schluter Kerdi waterproofing membrane and used Schluter Ditra on the bathroom floor. The tile in the shower is Florida Tile’s Legend ‘Olympic’ in 12 x 24 with a double row of ‘Air Stripp’ bronze glass mosaic inserted between each tile. This design was carried along the tub deck and splash to tie the shower and tub together with a single design element. The shower floor has the same line of porcelain in a 2 x 2 mosaic. We also installed two shelves in the corner and ran the glass pencil rail across the face of them to continue the flow of the design.
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Tile Art had a great 2011 and we would like to give a great big THANK YOU to all our clients. We hope you are all enjoying your new tile installations.
I thought we could show off some of the projects from last year and put up a real quick post with some pictures of bathroom and kitchen tile installations from 2011. These are not all the installations we did last year, but most of the larger projects. Many of these tile installations began with removing nearly everything down to the wall studs and beginning fresh. We think the results are incredible and appreciate being able to turn our clients’ visions into reality.
Thank you for choosing Tile Art for your project! Without great clients like you we would not have the opportunity to do what we love to do. Have a great 2012 and give us a call when you are ready to begin your next project.
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Tile Art recently finished a kitchen, dining room, hall, bathroom and entry floor remodel with 18 x 18 inch rainforest green marble. The homeowner wanted to replace the builder’scera grade ceramic entry and bathroom floors, it was difficult
tiling an uneven floor – atlas ceramics were used as well as the wood floor in the remainder of the main floor. After some time of decision making over what type of covering she wanted, she saw the rainforest green marble and fell in love with it.
Although called a marble, rainforest green is technically a serpentinite, commonly referred to as a serpentine stone. This is a rock consisting of one or more serpentine minerals. These serpentine minerals are what form the ribbons and streaks of color through the rock. When quarried and polished they lend a very unique look and flow to the individual tiles. For this reason I find that most people will either love it or hate it – rarely is there a middle-ground. There is also a stone called rainforest brown marble – the only difference being that the main background color is brown rather than green.
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We recently finished a complete master bathroom remodel with a complete custom shower, soaking tub surround and 12 x 12 inch marble tile in Fort Collins, Colorado.
The existing bathroom consisted of carpet (who ever thought THAT was a good idea?!?!?), a tub surround with a huge, ugly step up to it, and an acrylic shower base (which never stay white) and 6 x 9 inch basic wall tile.
We began by removing all the outdated wall tile (as well as the walls with it), the carpet, acrylic shower base and that huge, ugly step in front of the tub.
We then reinforced the floor with an additional layer of plywood and Schluter Ditra tile underlayment membrane. After removing the acrylic shower base and walls we extended the half-wall by about nine inches to create more room inside the shower and fabricated a custom shower deck. The shower was then waterproofed with Schluter kerdi waterproof membrane (that’s the orange stuff in the photo). [continue reading…]
We recently completed a master bathroom travertine stone installation in Windsor, Colorado. The bathroom was converted from regular builder’s grade tiled shower and square bathtub with carpeted flooring to a complete custom travertine bathroom with stone and glass inserts and an oval soaking tub.
We began by building a custom deck for the new tub and fabricating a larger base for a tiled shower floor. The shower was waterproofed with Schluter Kerdi and ditra was used for all the horizontal tile on the top of the tub deck and the floor.
The shower has 2×2 marble mosaics on the floor with 12×12 travertine tile on the walls and small stone and glass inserts throughout. The bathroom floor is 16 x 16 tile with the same stone and glass inserts.
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I recently finished up a kitchen remodel in Fort Collins. We replaced the outdated (1960’s!) laminate countertops with granite tile, added a glass backsplash, new sink and fixtures, stove, hood and dishwasher.
We began by completely removing the old countertops and rebuilding with new solid plywood substrates. Over the plywood we added Schluter Ditra and waterproofed the edges with Schluter Kerdi. 12×12 granite tiles were installed and finished by bullnosing (rounding over) and polishing all the edges. The result is a nice, thick, solid countertop which will serve this kitchen well for the next fifty years.
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I recently completed a porcelain kitchen floor in Fort Collins. The tile is 12 x 24 inch ‘bronze wood’ porcelain tile in a running bond, or ‘brick’ pattern. The homeowner chose this particular tile to match the dark cabinets they had installed in their home.
Large format tiles such as these are becoming a very popular flooring choice for many homes. A large format tile simply means that a given tile is at least 15″ long on one side. If it is larger than that it is considered large format. These tiles require much more exacting installation methods to achieve a lasting floor. The substrate needs to be very, very flat in order to get the entire floor level.
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I recently finished up a large porcelain floor with a ‘basketweave’ pattern. The tile is Mannington Serengeti ‘Midnight Mist’ slate porcelain tile. The porcelain is incredible! It looks and feels almost exactly like real slate tile – without the maintenance headaches. Mannington’s Serengeti line has several different colors of porcelain that look and feel like slate.
Porcelain is normally a much better choice in living areas, as well as bathrooms. It has a much lower absorption rate than slate so it won’t stain as easily or retain water. Natural slate is normally very porous and must be sealed and maintained on a regular basis to keep it looking good. Porcelain is easily cleaned and does not need to be sealed, although it never hurts to seal your tile and grout.
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A short time ago we completed a slate master bathroom in Erie, Colorado. The bathroom consisted of a new deck for a jacuzzi tub, slate floor, slate wainscot and shower.
The slate consisted of gauged and honed material in a darker mixed earth colors with green overtones. Gauged stone means that it is cut to a consistent thickness and honed indicates that the face of the slate is finished with a flat surface rather than an unfinished, rough surface.
The floor contains in-floor heating that also runs into the shower floor and up onto the bench in the shower itself. Yes, you can have in-floor heating in your shower! Over the heating element on the bathroom floor we installed Schluter Ditra underlayment membrane, then the slate.
The shower is a full kerdi shower installation with the tile continuing up to the vaulted ceiling on one side and a mountain silhouette or relief cut on the other. The homeowner actually drew the shape of the silhouette on cardboard and I cut it out of the slate above the shower head.
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Corner Shelves
When Building a custom shower there are many options available as upgrades that you may want to consider. We can fabricate and/or install all of the things listed here. If you have ever thought about getting any of them just go ahead and put it on the list. Create the shower you will be comfortable in for the next several years!
Built-in Corner Shelves
Rather than having one of those dangling shelves hanging off your shower head consider built-in corner shelves. We can custom fabricate these out of the tile we are installing on the wall to ensure a perfect match every time. We can put as many shelves in the corner(s) of your shower as you wish. You’ll need plenty of storage for your rubber duckies!
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We recently finished up a master bathroom remodel in Fort Collins.
