Firsts

Every day of this journey brings with it “firsts” and sadly I foresee so many firsts that over the coming weeks we will be dealing with a lot of things we have just never dealt with before.  Today we are cutting with the new saw and grouting.  Both firsts.  We did cut and grout when we did the foyer years ago but a friend of ours was using his saw to cut the pieces and the grout was not premixed. 

Jym got to work setting up the saw and I started to grout. This time I was not screwing around.  I wanted to get as much done as I could.

The grout is a premixed, presealed, colored grout and I had no idea what to expect.  We chose the color BONE.  Or shall I say Jym chose it.  They have a nifty grout detector machine at the floor store where you press it onto your tile and it gives you options that will match best.  I really wasn’t sure if I wanted light or dark.  The woman at the store suggested Bone and then Jym came over and looked at the chart and also picked Bone so we went with it.  I was not certain how it would look. 

I pulled the plastic pull tab off and opened the tub.  I was told it came with 2 sponges.  It came with one and it was in a sealed bag but laying on the grout.  It also looked like a cheap sponge so I opted to go with the pro version I bought and keep that one in its bag.  The grout was covered with nothing but a plastic sheet which sort of surprised me.  There is also no mixing needed.  You just scoop it out and go. 

It smelled pretty potent when I started but the smell dissipated as I worked.  It looked like oatmeal or baby diarrhea but I tried to put that thought out of my mind.  It started to remind me more of wet beach sand.

I read the instructions twice and then reviewed them in my head but honestly sometimes you just need to figure it out and tweak for yourself.  I found that using my trowel was a lot easier to get the grout out onto the tile and then press it down into the spaces.  It is a bit of work on your arms to push the grout into the spaces but the worst part for me was the sponging.  I had 2 buckets with clean water and that lasted all of 20 seconds.  First it was hard to determine how long to let the grout sit.  The instructions said not to do more than 30 square feet at a time and 5-10 minutes til you wipe with a damp sponge.  That was laughable.  I guess that is for pros.  After much experimentation I found that I was probably trying to wait too long before wiping.  It hardens pretty quickly and when you try to get it off the tile it is gritty and hardening and you really have to scrub.  I find that doing less and wiping faster keeps you from really scrubbing. 

I also find that doing too much was a bad plan because I missed some when wiping up and when it hardens you are screwed.  With our pattern it was making it extra difficult and the tile makes it hard to see where you slopped.  This can also be a good thing in the end because if you miss a spot you are stuck. I have no clue how to get the excess off after its dried.  Luckily there are maybe 3 spots that I missed some and now I know better moving forward.

I also find that the sponge should not be too wet which is hard to do because the sponge even when rung out seems to be wetter than it needs be.  I found, about halfway through, that if I really rung out the sponge and laid it outside the bucket while I trowled the next batch it would be a nice dampness by the time I needed it to wipe. 

Also you should plan to do a lot of squeezing of the sponge and trying to get the grout out of it and you will not be terribly successful.  It is so gritty and the tiles will feel gritty too.  But I found (after trying to calm the panic by remembering the same panic when I did my foyer) that if you just get the worst up the grit will be mostly able to sweep away. 

Jym was helping me empty and refill my buckets outside so we don’t clog the drains with it.  I first tried to empty them in the bathtub and it was awful.  It is like when you go to the beach and try to shower the sand off and it gets all over the shower and won’t wash down the drain.  Yes.  Like that.  So him helping with the dumping and refilling was really a big help.

I am apparently losing quite a bit of hair in this probably over stress but I kept finding my hairs in the grout.  UGH.  I am pretty sure I will be bald by the end of this but for now I am going to try to remember to put my hair up first.  

He was prepping to use the saw for a long time and I suspect he was nervous but he watched a video on how to put it together (thanks YouTube) and followed it step by step and it worked!!  He then announced he would begin cutting tiles and that if I heard him scream I should check on him then call 911.  When it comes to this saw I allowed Jym to choose it because he was the one using it and also because he would never let me live it down if I picked a bad one. 

The one he picked was a bit more than I wanted to go but I am glad we went with it.  It came down to $220 which was in range (I told him to keep it around $200) and it got amazing reviews even from professionals.  The minute he started using it the cuts were coming out really good and the only 2 we broke were because he leaned on them and not because of the saw.  So I think I couldn’t ask for more. He also has not complained about anything with the saw so that is a good sign. 

I have to admit when he started I began considering having to take him to the hospital wearing what I was.  I have on old clothes that will end up pitched when this is all over but for now its working. I imagined sitting in an ER looking like that.  

I have to say I am not a fan of grout and how hard it gets so quickly.  I was frantically all over the place because I was unsure of so many things and along the way I rolled in it to the point it was on my arms and legs and I even sat in it.  It was a learning experience so I won’t be doing it that way again but even in the shower and after soaking my feet I could not get some of it off my skin and what I did manage to eventually get off was due to scrubbing so harshly that I think I took skin with it leaving everything raw.  I did a lot better with the mortar and getting that off my skin and the tools as well.

One thing we changed our mind on today was the baseboards.  Cutting them was a cost cutting and time saving choice but they were uneven and chopped up in places and they are 15 years old and a bit ratty and we found it difficult to grout around.  It was also hard to find the right space at the edge.  So it looks like we will be heading to lowes again to buy baseboard and then have to figure out how to cut it.  Jym thinks we can wait and do it “later” but I know how that goes.  My walls are a mess out there too and should be repainted but I think right now maybe touch up will have to do.  I am praying our baseboard experience this time is not as bad at the attempt we made years ago when we painted and tried to swap out a piece in the dining room.  Ironically that one was coming off either way I guess since Jym miscut it and it ended up in 3 pieces and has always bothered me.   

Stepping on spacers is like stepping on a lego.  Just a note. I also pissed off Jym when I accidentally stepped on the new tiles he just laid.  We had a few issues today but honestly tiling a house with someone who is bipolar is a feat in itself.  I think we did pretty well for the level of frustration we both had at points today.  Our first blow up was when I was trying to give him a varying opinion on how to measure the tiles.  I felt my way was simpler but he insisted on doing it his way so I eventually just let him do what he wanted.  We missed a piece for the corner when cutting and so we broke a piece and crammed it in there and we also made a bad cut by the doorway of the bedroom but the piece is really lovely so to make sure it aligns correctly we will need to cut a small piece and just fudge it but I think it will work.  We managed to get all the center grouted and then laid all the side cut tiles.  So now tomorrow we need only grout those tiles and we will be done in the great room and can allow it to cure the next few days when we will attempt to get the furniture back in. 

I am washing all the clothes and rags now in super hot water and then running a pure cycle to hopefully flush out the residue.  Especially with the grout mess I made on myself today. 

Being on the ground for me today was brutal.  I was sitting mostly and some time on my knees and some on my side.  I was literally wiggling around and uncomfortable all day and now my butt hurts from sitting on the tile all day.  It is daunting how much more we have to do and I just am trying to mentally take it one week at a time and not think about everything ahead.  I laid down today and the pain is just ridiculous.  I also can’t take anything for the pain with my crap stomach and so I am really suffering. I felt like Cinderella today on my hands and knees scrubbing.