I Suck At Tiling

This is my second week of vacation. With Karen also taking today off from work, I decided to do a little home improvement. Karen and I had started a bathroom renovation on our first floor quite some time ago.

Some of our friends (Marc, Kelley, Andrea, Kerry, Carlos, Garv and Leeann) had helped with the renovation as well. They helped install the drywall, helped install the insulation, and painted the entire room. We could never thank our friends enough for their help with the bathroom, especially since they were pitching in while Karen and I were spending the majority of our time at the hospital because our daughter (Briana) was born prematurely.

Needless to say, ever since Briana was born, Karen and I have not really tackled finishing the bathroom renovation. There just hasn't been a block of several hours that we can dedicate to working on the bathroom while taking care of a baby. Sure, I may have installed the cement board for the floor, but that is it. Our bathroom has pretty much remained unchanged since my friends helped with the renovation.

That of course, changed today. While Karen is home, I try to let her spend as much time with Briana as she can. It's not that I am neglecting my parental responsibilities or anything like that. I just want Karen to have some quality time with our daughter. After all, Karen has recently returned to work. I imagine that it must be difficult to leave your child after spending a few straight months taking care of her. Karen does not have the luxury like I do to work from home, where I can see Briana at a moment's notice. So, Karen pretty much has the weekends to spend some quality time with Briana... and even that is tough because the weekends are usually when activities and whatnot are planned.

As it is, Karen was a little disheartened today because Briana started crying uncontrollably. She could not get Briana to stop crying. Ever see your baby daughter cry? It's very gut-wrenching when the tears come out. Naturally, I took a stab at holding our daughter... and lo and behold, Briana stopped fussing. So, you can imagine how sad Karen must have felt. Hence, that is why I try to let Karen spend as much alone time with Briana that she can.

Anyway, while Karen was taking care of Briana, I decided to tackle our first floor bathroom renovation project. The next major hurdle for the project: tiling the floor. Unfortunately, I suck at tiling.

I probably would not have actually worked on the bathroom were it not the fact that Briana's christening was right around the corner. Were it solely up to me, Briana would not be christened. "Religion is the opiate of the masses!" (Karl Marx) Of course, things are usually not up to me and Briana is being christened next month. Consequently, Karen wanted to finish the bathroom in time so that we could have people over after the christening. And by "people", she means those who cannot use the stairs to walk up to the second floor bathroom... or go outside in the woods.

Thus, I have been tasked with making the first floor bathroom at least functional by the time Briana's christening comes around. As a side note, in case anyone is curious as to what the difference is between a baptism and a christening (because the two words are seemingly used interchangeably), a christening is a dedication of the child to God by the parents whereas a baptism is a dedication of themselves to God. (And I'm not even religious...)

Regardless, I spent the entire day cutting porcelain tile to fit our bathroom. Cutting tile is not fun... especially when the walls of your old house are not square. Luckily, things were a little easier thanks to the wet tile saw that I purchased yesterday. It was a little easier, but not much. The only problem of course is that cutting tile is very dirty. The part of the tile that you cut away becomes gunk when mixed with the water and that can clump up and clog your saw or the water basin, etc. Needless to say, it does take awhile to clean the wet saw afterwards.

I practically spent half the day cutting tiles in the humid weather outside. When all the tiles were cut and laid out in the bathroom, I then moved onto part 2: installing the tiles. Again, not fun... unless like a pornographic movie you enjoy being on your hands and knees. Just kidding.

Installing tiles is likewise a dirty job, although not as dirty as cutting tiles. The dirty part of the installation deals with mixing the mortar and spreading it on the cement board. I must have gotten mortar everywhere.

Truth be told, I really do suck at tiling the floor because some of the tile lines appear off to me... despite using spacers between the tiles. As well, I seem to have developed some allergic reaction or something. I currently have red dots all over my arms and chest. Perhaps this is why I don't like to tile.

Anyway, another three hours later... and finally, the bathroom floor has been tiled. The mortar still has to dry overnight, to which I will then need to work on grouting the floor... which is also not a fun job. (Again, think being on your hands and knees like a pornographic movie.)

Yeah, I'm not such a big fan of tiling. Sadly, I think there may be at least one other home improvement project that I can think of that requires tiling. But, I'll worry about that another time. For now, I am one step closer to finishing the first floor bathroom renovation. Yay!