Skirting

When ordering your tiles, it's important to obtain as much information as you can when obtaining quotes to avoid any unwanted surprises down the road. Here are some things to consider in your budget:

 

1.     Minimum Quantity

 

Your provider will typically ask you for the size of the rooms (e.g. in square metres), and then according to the size of your choice of tiles they'll roughly work out the amount of tiles you'd need.

 

What they’ll subsequently do – and this is a good thing – is tag on an extra percentage (usually around 10%) to the quantity to ensure you’re covered in case you somehow run out of tiles during works. This is especially important when your choice of tiles is particular, or from abroad, and can be susceptible to discontinuation.

 

I’m sure they wouldn’t forget it (as for them it’s an increase in the sale), but just make sure that they add this calculation.

 

2.     Quantity for Skirting

 

Do NOT forget to factor in skirting. We forgot, and so did our provider. We ended up having to order more of the main parquet-style tiles and garage tiles just for skirting, which were thankfully still in stock. What was a real relief though was that we had enough Hanoi tiles handy to cut a few without having to order more from abroad.

Aaand breathe.

 

3.     The Cost of Cutting for Skirting

It’s not just the product you need to think about, but the cost of actually cutting it. Obviously, since we didn’t think about skirting when we first ordered, we didn’t take this into consideration either. Your provider might offer the service themselves, BUT check other independent contractors for possible better deals. In fact, our tiler referred us to someone who managed to save us € 2.50 per metre while retaining the same quality – and believe me, the savings add up when you look at the whole picture.

Start counting.

You also need to look at the manner in which the skirting is to be cut (straight edge, round edge, etc.) as this will have an impact on your quote as well.

Timber

It's hard to believe that, after all this time, there were still some things in the house which had still been untouched. Among those were the old wooden window and door frames of the rear facade.

There's still a string of tasks to complete (plumbing, bathroom tiles, and sills) before we can move onto fitting new apertures at the back, but now that the floors are done, it was time to see what else we could get rid of. And despite the long, sturdy, and rusty nails that were holding the old frames together, a grinder and an hour was all it took to dismantle them all.

In hindsight, this is something that could have been done before. The resulting gaping imprints will need to be plastered over and aligned with the walls. Thankfully, I wouldn't consider this as lost time, since this plastering work probably wouldn't have been done until works started on the bathroom tiles anyway. 

Membrane

Two of the three bathrooms will have showers. Zero of the two showers will have shower trays. 

To make up for the lack of trays, we needed to find an alternative waterproofing solution to avoid any potentially nasty surprises in the future. Honestly, water damage is the stuff of nightmares.

The first bathroom, the ensuite, was relatively accommodating for the application of liquid membrane. Just a few sweeps to get rid of any remaining dust, and two coats in two days got the job done.

Piece of cake.

The second bathroom, i.e. the one downstairs, was a little less unforgiving. You see, when we coated the entire ground floor with cement, we failed to look into the solidity of the existing bathroom floor. And well, only two-thirds of it was solid. The other third could be easily dug up.

Not a piece of cake.

Bonus Bit: Konkos, Pt. 3

Thankfully, there were some spare bags of cement and a wheelbarrow lying around. With the help of my dad, we levelled out the floor with a fresh coat and left it to set before sweeping away the excess dust and dirt. 

It was one of those abrupt problems with an equally abrupt fix, so I didn't have to dwell on it too long. I did have to endure another mind invasion though.

I live in your head rent-free.

We did end up having to dig up even more on the other side of the room where the shower is going to be, to create enough depth for the floor drain, before everything could be sealed off. Suffice to say, it looks a lot less pretty than the ensuite.

Looks like one of those wrinkly dogs.

Time to Drain the Rain

More tiles = less dirt.

With the ground floor (sans bathrooms) and the laundry/garage done, there was the final missing link between them: the backyard. And boy did it link up nicely.

1st Half

2nd Half

There were a few logistics to consider:

• Rain gullies - Since the passage is long and narrow, we decided to have a rain gulley on either side. The flooring would then slightly slope towards the ends, avoiding too much water buildup in one end in case of heavy rain.
• Floor level - It was decided to level it out slightly lower than the inside of the main doorway and the laundry, to avoid any rainwater seeping in. 

It was a painstaking process, no doubt, given all the random curvature and the gulley placements - I believe it took around 3 days just to do the relatively small area. In the end, I'm very happy with the result and it looks a lot bigger now, even if I do touch both sides when stretching out my arms. 

And to finally conclude the second phase of tiling, the front porch was similarly done:

The tiler has now gone off to start on another job while we do some preparatory work for the third and final stage of tiles, which will consist of:

• the bathrooms
• skirting everywhere
• the stairs to the roof

We don't plan to see him again for a few weeks, but we've got plenty to do to keep ourselves busy.

Vita Marengo

Even though the garage/laundry combo looked a lot better following the influx of cement, it was still far from aesthetically pleasing. After the parquet-style tiles were done, the next step was to in fact tackle that.

Enter the 60 x 60s.

These Vita Marengo tiles are the biggest tiles we'll be using for our house. They come in an even bigger size - 120 x 60 - but that wasn't suitable for us given the square metres we had to cover. My favourite part of this was how cleanly the laundry room came together after the bricks were chiseled down. It is now ready for the next step: the gypsum wall.

As for the garage, unfortunately there's still quite a bit to tie everything up. First, we need to connect the drain to the sewer system in the street, and then build the ramp to the street. Following that, there's the last bit of tile to lay near the garage door. And only THEN can we install the new garage door. Still a long way away from that, so just trying to focus on the small stepping stones.

Bonus bit: The Vita Marengo tiles were an impulse buy just like the outdoor ones for the first floor. In fact, we bought them together. Originally, the garage was just going to be smooth cement, and we had forgotten that that's what we had decided way back last year. When the delivery of the first batch of tiles came and we realised we hadn't ordered anything for the garage, we went to the store then and then, picked something out and placed the order. A dent in the budget, but the end result was worth it.

"Parquet", Pt. 2

A common saying among people with experience in home renovations is that things finally begin to come together when the tiles are laid, since you start seeing some aesthetics and you're able to actually do a bit of cleaning. 

We haven't been able to completely get rid of the dust yet, but the parquet-style tiles of the ground floor are now done as well. Seeing them ready really does help visualise the proposed layouts of each room more and give you a better idea of their size. Additionally, it paves the way (pun intended) for the next batch of tasks, such as gypsum and furniture measurements. 

I was also satisfied with the way they lined up with the Hanoi tiles of the dining room, which helps further the illusion of a separate room in a semi-open space.

I've got to hand it to our tiler, he works long hours and pays a lot of attention to detail. We try visit everyday, not just to monitor the works but also to give him some refreshments and snacks. The heat is unforgiving and he most certainly deserves some respect and appreciation.

Feature No. 1

Maltese tiles. I was never a real big fan of them. The yellows, greens and reds just seem like a carnival of distraction that doesn’t allow you to focus on any other features in the room. And I couldn’t really see past the colours to properly notice the actual patterns on them.

 

Way back when we were still chucking out ideas for the first house, the designer at the time showed me something I had never seen before, and it was love at first sight – various Maltese-style patterns, randomised, in greyscale. There were various reasons I was so infatuated by them. The lack of colour allows you to build a room around them without potential clashes, and you can appreciate the patterns more. Also, if it were up to me, everything would be black and Halloween-themed all year round except for December, so I’ll settle for this little compromise.

 

And so, this design was adopted for the dining room, and will be one of the standout features in our new home.

I absolutely love how it turned out. Imported from Spain, these Hanoi tiles measure 33cm by 33cm and have a vast array of different patterns on them. And as satisfying as it was to see the parquet tiles upstairs done, this is the first genuine “fun” instalment of the project.

Communications Centre for a Day

Yesterday evening I amused myself when I realized just how many contractors and suppliers we had spoken to, just on that specific day, for various reasons. We spoke to our:

• Architect
• Contractor for membrane 
• Contractor for gypsum 
• Electrician/plumber
• Carpenter for apertures 
• Contractor for travertine
• Bathroom supplier
• Furniture supplier

Probably a record for us, but I think I'll actively be counting everyday to see if we can beat that tally.

Although I wish I could just throw them all into one big boardroom and tell them to sort everything out among them.