Natural Slate & Glass Tile Bathroom Installation

Natural Slate & Glass Tile Bathroom Installation

Natural stone slate tile is a very beautiful multi-color material that is not really a contemporary look but an all natural look. So it wouldn't seem that it would mix well with a modern contemporary glass tile look. But surprisingly, the slate tile installation job shown below turned out to be a very wonderful look.

Natural Slate Tile for Flooring can be installed over wood or cement if the floor is dry and stable.

With 6 x 6 slate outside and a glass centerpiece on the walls and 12 x 12 slate on the floor, it became a amazing look in this bathroom. It became a one of a kind look with the flair of the glass and the natural look of the slate I actually loved the look. I hope this may give you some unique ideas for your own bathroom. Thanks for reading.

6 x 6  natural slate border with glass field

6 x 6 slate corner meeting glass tile

front of tub with glass tile

back wall close up of glass tile

12 x 12 slate bathroom floor

Top 10 Most Useful Websites for Homeowners

Top 10 Most Useful Websites for Homeowners 

By Sandra Belakoni

Top 10 Most Useful Websites for Homeowners

Tile Excellence offers DIY hints and how-to's. We thought sharing some other professional home makers and designers would be a nice addition. Here the author has collected what she felt was the TOP TEN useful websites for homeowners, much like the links we have on our LINKS page to help consumers with the tough stuff, like how to clean cat urine out of grout lines! Hey, it's life. Hope you enjoy. Let us know! Diana Smith, AskTileExcellence 

1. Home Fair -www.homefair.com

Home Fair provides city reports, school reports, salary calculator, cost of living standards, and a multitude of other useful tools and information for a new homeowner, or any person looking for more information tailored to a specific location.

2.How to Clean Anything Clean Anything www.howtocleanaything.com

The name says it all. When you own a house, you have multiple rooms, and possibly a yard, to keep clean and up to sanitary code. This site gives great, specific tips on all kinds of cleaning tasks.

3,. Etsy.com, an Independent Marketplace - www.etsy.com

Sure, there are countless other stores to find home goods and appliances, but if you're looking to add a handmade or vintage touch to your home, check out Etsy.com, an online marketplace where you can shop for all things vintage and handmade, from artwork, pottery, clothing, furniture, gifts, and more,

4. FreeCycle - www.freecycle.com

Freecycle is a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns. Search for where you can donate those clothes you don't need and those old pieces of furniture you don't have room for, to someone else who can use them.

5. AC Doctor's Energy Calculator -http://www.acdoctor.com/cooling_calculator.php

Ever wonder exactly how much energy you are using (and paying for)? AC Doctor's online Energy Calculators help you determine what effects high-efficiency cooling and heating solutions can have on your finances and your environmental footprint.

6. Heating Oil Shopper - www.heatingoilshopper.com

If you're like a vast majority of homeowners, you're probably not only looking for ways to save money on home energy spending but also how to do so with the least harmful impact on the earth. Home heating oil is both a cost-effective and eco-friendly home energy option, and Heating Oil Shopper makes it easy to find how to upgrade your home to heating oil.

7. Insurance Finder - www.insurancefinder.com

Owning a home is a large, and expensive, undertaking so it would be crazy not to ensure your home and any other valuable items that you own. www.Insurancefinder.com makes finding and comparing insurance options as easy as pie.

8. Epicurious - www.epicurious.com

One great perk of owning a home, rather than perhaps a small apartment, is having a full kitchen where you can cook up a storm. Epicurious is one of the best resources for delicious meals you can make in your new kitchen.

9. Stepcase Lifehack - www.lifehack.org

Stepcase Lifehack is a great website covering technology, workplace productivity, home productivity, habit-forming, and other tips for a more efficient lifestyle. This is a must-see for new homeowners embarking on the new and exciting (and daunting) world of home-ownership.

10. House Directory - www.thehousedirectory.com

If an empty house could talk, what would it say? "Decorate me!": that's what we think. House Directory searches more than 3500 sources for home furnishings for your home, and it is conveniently categorized into appropriate and easy-to-navigate topics, such as Kitchen's & Tableware, Bathrooms, Artwork, Lighting, Fabrics, and more.

Tile Materials Estimator App for Ceramic Tile Floor & Wall Installation

Cool Tile Design and Tile Materials Estimator App

It's a tile floor design tool. There are six simple steps to designing your ceramic tile floor, and when you are done, you get a report estimating your materials needed. For accuracy they suggest you carefully measure the area you want tiled first and make sure you account for any "non-tile" areas within the flooring design. It's really easy, and you can play with different sized tile, different patterns and even borders! 

I also wanted to let you folks know that Tile Excellence is actually running a special on summer back splashes for the next two weeks. You can email Chris @ tile_excellence@yahoo.com or call him directly at  [978 471-9127] to book your backsplash!  Last time I ran this special he booked within a few days, so be quick! Oh-and he's still running a summer long special on pool tile repair.

If you read his testimonials page on Tile Excellence you'll see he's posted some of the actual backsplash prices with the finished pictures. He's also written a couple of posts here with costs of the backsplash included. He's very reasonable, and starting next week, he's even more reasonable (for a limited time only)! 

Now one last precautionary word before you start using this tool. I only tested it a few times, and I kept it simple so it seems easy. Your ceramic tile floor installation project may be more complicated, so take the design and the amount of materials you'll need with a grain of salt-this app only approximates the design and materials list.  This little app does come right from the NTCA, which is the National Tile Contractors Association, so it should be reliable. For another opinion, use the formulas Chris posted yesterday below. They're for flooring and wall tile installation. It's a step by step formula for figuring out how much tile you'll need for your project. He's pretty accurate-he does it every single day! 

So the first link below takes you to the app and it's instructions. The second link is to a cool site which also estimates tile installation costs, but it also shows you estimated prices on tons of other things aside from flooring, so check it out if you ever wondered how much a .........fill in the blank. Enjoy! Diana

http://www.ceramic-tile-floor.info/te/ntca/tileEstimatorNTCA.html

http://home.costhelper.com/tile-flooring.html

Tile Installation Formulas for Floors and Walls

Tile Installation Formulas

[for installing tile flooring and tile walls)

1. How to Figure Out Square Footage
2. How to Know How Much Tile to Purchase (once you have sq. ft.)
3. How to Figure Out How Much Thin-set and Grout [setting materials] You'll Need
4. How to Know How Much Hardi Board or Durock to order

Unknowingly experienced tile installers use formulas every day.Through experience  we just automatically figure in our thinking of jobs using unnoticed formulas every day.It just dawned on me the other day on the job   that I could share-some of these formulas to readers and it would help them understand more about what it takes to install tile and how to understand more about how to find a reasonable installer for their job.

1 .the first and foremost formula  is the figuring of  square footage 

• the ft of the length multiplied by the ft of the width determines the total sq ft.
•  for instance  a 5 ft room length  by 5 foot width = 25 total sq ft
• a 10 ft wide room by 20 ft long = 200 total sq ft room

2. After you know you sq ft of tile to be installed .you need to know  how much tile to order.Generally you need 10%more tile than the actual area to be tiled to account for cuts and waste when installing straight line tile .If you are going to lay tile in a diagonal pattern you will need to add 15% more tile than actual area to be tiled because with a diagonal installation there will be more cuts and waste

3.The formula to figure setting materials grout and thin setis pretty straight forward. For every 100 sq ft of tile you will need 50 lbs of thin set mortar  and 25 lbs of grout

4 .Hardi Board and Durock is generally sold in 3ft by 5 ft sheets= 15 sq ft per board. So you need 1 board of Hardi Board or Durock for every 15 sq ft of tile to be laid.It takes one half pound of nails to nail each board. So 1 lb of 2 inch roof nails for each 2 boards of 3 ft by 5 ft Hardi Board or Durock boards to be installed.

These are some  formulas needed to understand basic tileinstallation . All tile installers even if unknowingly use these formulas every day when pricing and preparing for tile installation. Tile jobs are priced upon the sq ft of tile to be installed the sq ft of the Hardi board or Durock and the shape of the area to be installed in.

Other factors include:

• the materials to be installed , mosaic tile , marble or slate
• tiles are more labor intensive and cost more per sq ft to install than ceramic or porcelain tiles. Every tile installer has a different cost base according to their expertise,
• overhead,and how busy they are. Shop around, get references
• be comfortable with whomever you hire to install tile in your home.
• But most important remember tile in your home when installed correctly will be there for many many years so make sure from the beginning it is exactly the look you want!

Hope this info has been helpful and as always If you have specific questions we are always here at Tile Excellence  to answerany questions you may have about your tile installation project
thanks again

Chris & Diana

Basement Tiled Camouflage Floor I New Bathroom Tile Remodeling-

Bathroom Tiled Floor

Shower Curb

Custom Shower Bench

Mosaic Tile Shower Soap Box

Mosaic Tile Shower Soap Dish

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pic#7

pic#8

pic #9

Tile Pattern Walls

pic #11

Shower Wall

Shower Bench

Shower Floor

Last week in Georgetown Ma. I completed 450 sq ft of tile in a basement and 120sq ft of tile in a adjoining new bathroom.Was a pretty simple job for me and the labor cost to the customer was $1350 for the 450 sq ft of floor tile and  $1000. for the bathroom. These customers were younger hard working first home owners.They used 18 by 18 porcelain tile on their basement floor and 2 ft by 6 inch tiles on the wall.The 18 by 18 floor tiles were what I would call a "real tree"pattern after the "real tree" line of clothing I love it !!I thought it to be the most natural soothing tile I EVER installed .The 2ft by 6 inch tiles on the shower wall looked just like wooden walls.The whole job screamed Chris Lawson!

This job was really enjoyable to me and I hope you enjoyed me sharing it with you.I give examples of my work and what I charge for such work as a reference for you the home owner and the consumer to know what costs for such work should be and how to know when you've met a reasonable tile man and when your being taken for a ride. I appreciate every reader and hard worker out there hope this benefits you and makes your tile choices and contractor shopping easier :) chris