Pictures of Entry Tiling Project

Here are the promised pictures of the entry project. Enjoy.

The area was not very large; I even had to trim the carpet back a bit to fit a 3' x 5' backer-board.

The backer-board did fit perfectly when I laid it. I was also lucky the front door has a good amount of extra clearance so I didn't have to cut out the hardwood under the peel-and-stick tile.

Laying the tile out and grinding down the diagonal edges to fit the mosaic tile in the center while maintaining the grout line width took the most time.


Placing the tiles went smoothly and quickly, with the exception of running out of the thin set and having to run to two stores to find more. Other than that, and having a little squeeze up through the center mosaic section, setting the tile was quite easy.

I was able to lay the outer mosaic border before dinner that night...

With the final outer layer of tiles being laid later that night.

After grouting on Monday night, the finished product looks pretty nice.

Some of the grout lines aren't perfect regarding consistent width...

...but Carolyn and I think the center mosaic feature turned out especially nice!

Thanks for taking the time to look. The relative ease of this project has made Carolyn more confident of my ability to tile larger rooms in the future. This will probably not occur for some time, but tiling rooms of a house is a relatively easy way to boost the appeal of a house, and you definitely can save some money by doing it yourself.

Tile project finished!

Well the tile is set and grouted, and will be ready to walk on tomorrow. Carolyn and I think it turned out well. There are a few spots where the grout lines are not quite as thick as in other places, but overall the grout lines all line up, the spacing is consistent over most of the area and it looks good (Pictures will be posted later.)

I needed to grind down a few edges, especially on the 4 tiles surrounding the center mosaic-tile section. That made the initial cutting, fitting and setting take longer than I planned, so I was setting the last of the tiles later Saturday night. The only other little mishap is when I was cleaning the mortar out of the grout lines in preparation for grouting a couple of the center mosaic tiles came loose, so I had to pull them out, cut the morter and fiberglass backing the strips were glued to out, and re-set the two tiles. I let them dry until Monday evening and gouted then, which went well. I will post some pictures of the project later today (hopefully).

A few 'before' pictures.

This is the disgusting paneling and "retro" style carpet.
Our house is a very very very fine house =)

Entry Tiling Project Introduction

So the first project is one we have had in mind for almost as long as we have owned the house. The current entry area of our home consists of an area approximately 3' x 5' of bad peal-and-stick vinyl (pictures will be posted eventually). We wanted to tile the area, figuring it would be an easy, relatively cheap way to improve the looks of the living room. At first I wanted granite or marble tile, but after looking at the available selection and considering the size of the area, that did not seem the best choice. Carolyn wanted slate, but after reviewing our options we decided the natural stone was simply too expensive.

We found some nice slate-look ceramic tile and matching mosaic-style tiles at The Home Depot, and decided to go with that. Our plan is to have the entire project done by the end of Memorial Day. We have already begun, cutting the carpet to a uniform edge and cutting a few tiles for the center of the design. More updates will follow, with pictures of the layout and the current vinyl.

Purpose of this Blog

Welcome to our blog. Carolyn and I purchased our house last year, taking advantage of low home prices, low interest and the tax credit for first-time home buyers. We finished a number of projects before moving in, even though the home was in excellent condition. We painted the bedrooms and living room, removing the horrible plastic-coated fake-wood paneling and 1970's era carpet in one bedroom. We also installed a mailbox, a new sink faucet, a new bathtub faucet and had a new furnace and air conditioner installed (thanks to my parents for the loan for that).

Over the winter little was done, but now that it is warming up we have a number of projects we would like to work on this year, despite our upcoming wedding in July, and many more ideas for the years to come. Neither Carolyn nor myself are overly experienced with major remodeling or other do-it-yourself projects, but we believe everything we want to tackle is completely doable for two intellegent adults.

This blog is intended to record our successes, challenges and maybe even provide ideas and/or a little insight to others planning similar projects for their own homes. Though I cannot promise regular updates to the blog, I will try to detail our progress and plan to post pictures of our projects, before, during and after completion. Thank you for stopping by.