Refreshing your tile grout

sparks wrote:That mean I'm booted outta here ... or I just get no more unsolicited advice from ???

What? Am I a mod now?

As far as unsolicited advice goes, some may benefit, some won't. Its obvious which category you fit in. Doesn't worry me in the least.

sometimes advise after the fact hurts....
what U say is 100% ... but to little to late...

with tiles it's all a visual thing...

start with the most used ( seen ) position in the room... usually the doorway... find a center line and work your way out to the corners...

not everyone is built to do tiles... hell I don't even like doin it...

betcha Scott could do circles around most of us when it comes ta Puter Stuff










u

Sorry it's not refreshing grout

Finding a straight line
http://sparksmex.blogspot.com/2011/04/finding-straight-line.html

It is indeed a visual thing and sometimes it's hard to find straight walls. Our contractor went all around the outside of a room with a full tile. Within that framework, he laid the tiles on a diagonal. It was very effective and resulted in the of hiding any imperfections created by walls not perfectly straight.
In one room, it was a combination...three walls "framed" and totally diagonal to the fourth wall which itself was on an angle. Sometimes laying the tiles out dry can give you a good "visual" of the end result. They sure are easier to pick up and change when they're not stuck down.
Balance is important to me and, unfortunately, I can see a 1/8 of an inch difference in something very clearly from 10 feet away. It's not a gift...it's a curse.
Concentrate on the things that are important to you.

ferret wrote: Our contractor went all around the outside of a room with a full tile. Within that framework, he laid the tiles on a diagonal. It was very effective and resulted in the of hiding any imperfections created by walls not perfectly straight.

You are describing what I referred to above as a tapete and it very effective way to hide out of square walls. It just takes a little time to figure out the layout but worth the effort. We snap chalk lines and spray a clear lacquer over them to prevent their erasure from foot trafic.

For bath walls or kitchens, etc we use a "tic stick" on which we mark the width of the tile to be used. Ideal cases have the tile chosen early in the project to help laying out niches in walls etc. With the field and trim tiles we can build these details to fit the tile and not the other way around.

Thank you Solovino...now I know what the pattern is called...tapete.

Not the most creative solution but may draw your eyes away from the walls ... and diminishes the hospital look a bit

ferret wrote:Thank you Solovino...now I know what the pattern is called...tapete.

The pattern doesn't matter. It can be straight laid tiles or diagonal. It can be framed in a different tile like in the pic sparks posted . Tapete means rug. I guess the word kind of applies because it has a rug type visual effect on the floor.

Just a thought..but one of the ways I make my tile jobs a little different is to lay the large pieces out to fit the room...don't worry about how big the spaces are between the tiles. Break some tiles in small pieces and "mosaic" them into the large areas between the tiles. I use grout colored to match the walls (peach in my case, with large white tiles) The end result looks like an afghan with big white squares. The peach grout lookes like crochet work... I like it...could be a personal thing of course.

That sounds interesting Kip...got a picture?
I love mosaic and it's always amazing what can be achieved with it. The Interceramic store in San Miguel had a big bin where they chucked tiles that weren't perfect. A gold mine for mosaic lovers.

Should have. The nice thing about mosaic is NO fitting! OK....here's the kitchen..this one is done with big pieces instead of whole tiles. Tedious
but I think it was worth it.


No skill involved..but you really have to be careful of sharp edges...unless you're working with marble then it's easy. [IMG]

I thought I had a photo of the laundry room floor..it's the one that looks like an afgan. Guess I'll have to take another one!

Beautiful!

Thank you!

It's easy for someone with skill to say 'it takes no skill' ... but I really like the floor. A bit busy for counter tops but thats personal. I've got lots more I can tile someday if I collect a few more colors

Absolutely fantastic! Artistic genius! I know it took some time to do that but you should be really proud of the results. Unique and one of a kind.

Thanks! I see it all of the time so it becomes no big deal...and truly...it isn't hard.

Here's a link to photobucket for some of the other things I do. The "mahogany French doors" are wood grained steel doors, the silver haired lady on crutches is the owner of the office with all of the "bare breasted fairies" She's also the silver haired, bare breasted fairy. Her Southerm Baptist hubby had a conniption...she loved it! I can take off years and pounds (or add a little somethin') quicker than a plastic surgeon! Ah the power of the magic paint brush! The redheaded scupture on the vase is my alter ego Shandalee ( one day I'll finish the book...I hope) The bookcase is actually the door to my guest bath, Things are all jumbled..I haven't taken the time to group the photos yet. It's hard to find hints on the unfiinished ones... I free hand paint so even I'm not real sure where I'm going when I start. The copper rose is my lastest effort. A copper sculptor friend of mine taught me the basics last summer.

https://s1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb333/kipissippi/Art%20work/?albumview=slideshow

I thought you all would get a kick out the "barebreasted fairy waiting room" but obvious by the overwhelming lack of response, I was wrong. If I offended anyone...sorry. I tried to remove the link but can't. Bob could you do that for me please?

I didn't even check the link yet so I sure wasn't offended.

I wasn't offended either. I've just been kind of busy with family here and planning our move to Ajijic.
Relax Kip! If anyone was offended I'm sure you would have seen it here in print. I flipped through the pics very quickly and enjoyed them all. I am more drawn toward the stained glass and mosaic work because I like doing that kind of stuff...but I really enjoyed seeing it all. Thanks for posting.

Just trying to figure out how to add my photos to my email. I thought I could copy it from here...but I lose the picture. Drats...Anyone know how to do it?

AHA!! I took it to the Preview stage on a "horsey" forum...and I can copy it from there to an email YAY! This is MAJOR for a complete techy subliterate!

(1)right click on the pic & click "save as" then navigate to "desktop" & drop it there (note the name/number of the file)
(2) Go to your desktop, right click on the file & click "copy"
(3) open your e-mail, right click in the body of the message & click "paste" This will insert the photo in the body of your message.

To attach it as a file, do step (1) above (2) open a blank e-mail and click "attach file" (3) navigate to desk top, find photo, left click it & it should attache to the e-mail...at least that's the way it works on AOL...yours should be similar.

How do you put a photo you receive in the body of an email onto photobucket?

Right click on the photo, click "save as.." then navigate to whever you keep your photos that go to photobucket...I'm guessing here as I use Picasa, so not familiar with photobucket.

Keep in mind Gail that if there's a way to screw it up....I WILL find it! I right clicked on the photo and what came up was ...COPY....COPY HYPERLINK, SELECT HYPERLINK AND OPEN HYPERLINK........ like I said...