Bathroom Remodel Part 4: Tiling the Floor

In my last bathroom remodel post, we tackled tiling the shower with white subway tile. This week we tiled the shower floor with the Vermont slate tile we picked up at the quarry last month, then continued the tile onto the shower curb and floor.

First we cut our 9"x 12" tiles into smaller 3" x 3" squares, then put down mortar and began placing them.

When the base was covered we moved to the inside walls of the shower curb.

The floor came next, and we used 9" x 12" tiles.

Next we tiled the shower curb.

And here's the view of the other side of the room, as seen from the shower. We also added a tile baseboard instead of using wood, and I really like the way it turned out.

The next step is to grout all of the tile. We'll use white grout for the subway tile and a grey for the Vermont slate. When the grout is dry, we'll use a solution to clean the tile, then add a sealer to protect them from water and wear. The sealer will also bring out the color and texture of the slate, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

Our radiator in the bathroom was also a mess, with chipping paint and rusty patches. We used a wire brush bit on a drill to scrape/sand the old chipping paint, then gave the radiator a coat of new glossy grey. Here's what it looked like before:

And here's what it looks like today.

There's still a long way to go in the bathroom, but after this week I have to admit we are pretty proud of ourselves :) No, it's not perfect, but it's a huge improvement over what we had before. The tiling is a huge step, and once the grout and seal are in place we can have the shower glass installed (the one step we are hiring out), then bring the toilet, sink, light fixture, and wall cabinets in. It feels like we are so close, and yet there's still so much to do!