Half Bath Renovation: The Decision

Sometimes, talking to a professional helps. It is especially helpful if the ruling is in your favor.

After breakfast, my partner and I went down to Coco’s Fine Tile & Marble to talk to Vanessa and possibly an installer who would be able to point us in the right direction as far as installing underlayment securely before tiling. The installers were all out, but one would be back that afternoon, so instead we talked about our tile choice, natural multicolored slate, and were looking around the store talking about future remodel stuffs… like granite countertops.

About twenty minutes after we got there, an installer was back, and my partner immediately began asking him questions. We informed him of our plans to put down slate tile, told him about our decking subfloor, and about the one area that sags a little when you walk on it. His solution? Mark the ½” concrete backer board where the joists are, trowel thinset onto the decking and attach the backer board over that, screwing it into the joists to secure it all. Apparently applying the thinset between the decking and the backer board will not only help level the floor to eliminate the small saggy area, but also act as a barrier between the wood, which expands and contracts, and the backer board, which does not. This means my idea will, in theory and according to the professional, work.

So we bought the thinset he recommended along with a trowel and some fiberglass tape to connect the adjoining pieces of concrete backer board. We also decided to pick out a paint color, as the current Loony Tunes characters that adorn the walls will not be staying. It seemed like we looked at color after color and didn’t like anything we say, mostly because they all seemed too dark or way too contrasting. Finally my partner asks the people at the paint counter their opinion. And the color I picked out that I thought went well, but was rather dark, is the one the lady said went really well. My partner didn’t see it until the lady showed him to look at it from a forty-five degree angle, and sure enough, all the green tones in the tile shone through. But, I really like the gold color he chose, so maybe we can use that in the laundry room, kitchen, or both when those get redone. Damn it… now I wish we had chosen that color instead, or gotten both. Oh well, we made the decision, and if we like it, will probably use it for the full bath too since the plan is for all the fixtures, sinks and toilets to be the same. If we don’t, well, then, uh-oh.