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Tile Work Complete in Master Bath

Not perfect, but good enough.  Other than a need to complete the inspections, my motivation on this project is low as the Fifth Third Equity Line rejection due to “Value or type of collateral not sufficient” is still resonating with me.  I worked 6 straight evenings (6p – 2 or 3a) to get that tile work done and for what if my efforts bring no value.  My entire savings is wrapped up in a house that a major Cincinnati bank sees no value in.

I thought the angled wall and ceiling was going to be a nightmare, but I went to Floor and Decor and they recommended their Mapei Ultraflex LFT.  That thin set was awesome.  It performed exactly as stated in the video.  When Tom was helping me I didn’t have great spacers for him to work with, so I also bought their Professional “T” Spacers, which are meant to be left in, you grout right over them.  Great find, will definitely use again if the tile shape allows for it.

I still need to install shower fixtures and tub, but I’ve got a two week respite as it will take that long to have the shower glass made and installed; week of October 14.  Unfortunately my vision of a solid piece of glass from ledge to ceiling will not happen because a piece of glass that size will not go up the steps nor fit through a window.  The top of the glass will be equal to the top of the door, but there will be a gap.  That will be the first item, I envisioned that won’t come to pass.  To give Ryan’s Glass as much working room as possible I’m not going to connect the tub until after the glass is installed, so more delay in getting the final plumbing and occupancy inspections.

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That Section Looks Good

It’s going to look awesome when complete.  The wall tiles are 4×16 and I purchased them from the Tile Shop, Imperial Bone Gloss Ceramic.  The skirting around the tub also came from Tile Shop.  The grout is Superior Pro-Grout Excel in Dessert Sand.

The floor tile is the mosaic tile that matches the hexagon tile I put in the tub area.  I fell in love with the Isla King Wood tile when I stumbled across it on Pinterest.  It’s an Italian tile and it was a splurge that I justified because I put in the labor.  I was fortunate to find the tub floor tile online at Mission Stone and Tile.  With shipping it was several hundred dollars cheaper than JP Flooring, a local vendor.  I had selected a 2×2 hexagon tile from the Tile Shop that would compliment the tub area, but Mike Tanner’s installer suggested that I go with a square shape tile, less waste and time to install.  The Tile Shop had a 2×2 square mosaic, but it was only a couple of dollars less than the King Wood mosaic, which is what I really wanted.  I only needed 23 sf.  Even though I had to pay for installation, it was less than $100 in material cost increase, so I went for it.  Unfortunately Mission Stone and Tile did not carry the mosaic, so I ordered it from JP Flooring.

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F%*k Fifth Third Bank

When I purchased this house it was 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom with no electric, plumbing, HVAC, kitchen, and boarded up windows and doors.  Completely inhabitable.  Fifth Third Bank told me then it had no value.  Two years later I have 3 bedrooms, 1 completed bathroom, 1 partially finished bathroom (only tile in the shower stops it from being complete), 200 amp electric service, a plumbing system that amazes everyone that sees the manifold system in the basement, HVAC, a kitchen, and all new windows and doors.  I now live in it and they list this reason for turning down my equity loan:  “Your application was reviewed by a Fifth Third Bank Specialist……Property is currently undergoing repairs/construction, Value or type of collateral not sufficient”.  Isn’t an equity line of credit for home repairs.

Unbelievable and yet very believable given Fifth Third Bank in 2015 had to pay out $18 million to settle allegations it discriminated against Black and Hispanic consumers.  An investigation by the Department of Justice showed Fifth Third’s qualified minority borrowers paid more than white borrowers due to discriminatory practices, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  I guess instead of charging more they’ve gone to not working with at all.

This journey has been a roller coaster ride, but this is a new low of lows.  Phase 2, the garage and exterior painting is contingent upon getting access to the equity I thought I had created.  I’ve got a plumbing inspector breathing down my back, so I’ve been loosing sleep trying to get the master bath shower complete not realizing that an unfinished shower would be viewed so negatively by Fifth Third.

My main man Tom Milfeld agreed to work with me on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I was so tied up with client work that I couldn’t lend a hand other than moving the wet saw up from the basement and setting it up in master bath to save him (and me) from two flights of stairs.  He got the cove base tile in around the tub area.  I should not have wasted his talent on that simple task, but he was also able to get all the intricate cuts around all but two of the shower heads (7 total – no value in that).  

This evening I finished that wall.  Not to shabby.  Progress is slower than I expected given the larger sized tile (4×16).  Goal is to have it finished by end of weekend; at least the tile, but hopefully the grout too.  I actually may grout this section tomorrow to break up the grouting into smaller bites.  Love laying tile, grouting, not so much.

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Ready for Tile

I did a lot of labor over the Labor Day weekend.  With floor and bench in place I needed to finish prepping the walls and install the trim around the windows, so that the tile work could commence.  I started by putting corner angle at the entrance of the shower.  That should have been done by the drywall crew.  John, floor installer, pointed out to me what was needed.  Fortunately I had strips leftover in the basement.

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Not sure if it was needed, but I decided to apply a strip of the Kerdi material on top of it.  I also applied a large swatch of it above and on the side of the window that will be inside the shower (see feature image).  To waterproof the cement board on the 1st floor, I used RedGard and I had about 1/3 of the container left, so after applying mesh tape and thin set  to the seams, I applied two coats of the product.  With the shower walls protected I turned my sites on the window trim.

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Master Bath (Future walk-in shower/free standing tub)
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The goal was to replicate the original trim, but with the left window being located inside the shower I knew I couldn’t use the original trim.  I turned to a product called Azek.  It’s plastic and was available in 1×4 and 1×6, but they also made the decorative edge moulding that was a close match to the original.  The left side of the large window is a piece of quartz, so I only had to trim out the other areas.

The shower window was a piece of cake; two pieces of 1×4 capped with the trim and cut at a 45 degree angle at the corner.  The window seal is also a piece of quartz.

The other two windows were the challenge.  The smaller windows in the bathroom are frameless, unlike in the bedroom.  That made them larger and the method of install was different.  There was a 5 1/2″ gap between the large and small windows.  The 1×6 was perfect for covering it, but the top of the large window in the original trim was 1×4.  That meant I could not do a simple 45 degree cut.  I wasn’t sure how to do it, but noodled around until I figured it out.

Two cuts took three hours.  1×4 is really only 3.5″ wide and to get the correct angle I needed 3.75″.  I didn’t have another 1×6 nor time to run to Lowes to buy another piece before the shop closed, so I returned home and grabbed the piece I had already marked up for the window seal.  It was a 1×6 I had ripped down to 4″, the same width as the piece of quartz.  The angle for the 1×6 I was able to cut on the miter saw, but the other I got to cut on the band saw, the first time I used it.  With the cuts complete I returned home for the install.

The window seal had to be set first.  I will NEVER pay a person to create window seals for me again.  This is the only one I did and it was the most complicated due to two different depths of the two windows.  It’s darn near perfect.  Smooth sailing from this point forward.  Two coats of paint and I now consider myself a finish carpenter.