The wall just turns to a good and updated one after the installation of the marble backsplash. The wall of the laundry makeover process might be somehow hard or take a long time, but the outcome is lit and would definitely make your wall look updated.
Some weeks ago, we started the laundry makeover where we added some new appliances, cabinet shelves, and also a door on the way out of the room. The cabinet shelves we added at that time were very useful for us today.
Here is the picture of the laundry room after we concluded the first makeover, though the marble backsplash hasn’t been added at the time. So that’s how it all went through and it has been great to us always;
It is full of happiness. Now let’s dive into the present makeover on the board. The room consumes almost 15 tiles sheets and that really makes it upgraded more than even the box (blank ones) that we started with.
We firstly live the shelf/counter aside since we have worked on it much, but yet to be completed. It is half done because everything is set up, only the staining and installation process remaining, and we look into it again possible during next upper weekend.
Also Read: How We Added More Shelves And Microwave To Our Pantry
We made the shelf in such a way that it can be removed completely. The shelf will be rest/stand on the L-brackets and that will be easy for us to access the appliances near it. If maybe we needed to stop the water quickly, the triangle in-between them will be easily accessible for us while the shelves are there.
One important thing that amazes me about the new shelf is that things like socks would not be falling down at the back of the washer or the dryer. This will help us curb the falling of random socks behind the back of those appliances. Also, it would add a good-looking surface to the room.
Some people might have been asking themselves why was the shelf/counter created before we tiled the surface and the reason is that we have measured the particular point out and marked a bracket which will be used for the shelf installation. We make sure that we measure down well to know where the tile should reach and stopped from.
So after we installed the shelf/counter, the tilling become easier than ever because we don’t have to worry about the issue of space. The fact is that if the shelf is already installed, you can then tile wherever you are on the surface and have nothing to worry about.
But if you tiled the wall surface firstly, you might mistakenly tile on the exact point where the shelf would be installed and that might cause you to remove or damage the tiles. It might lead to you losing some numbers of tiles if you didn’t install the shelf first.
The wood will paint with a moderate dark color and the marble we want to use for the tiling is somehow bright. That seems perfect work for the wall. We bought the tile (Hampton Carrera) from a local store.
We aren’t so deep in terms of tiling and some things seem new to us about the present project. The type of tile we chose is new to us (we have not used it before).
We use some forms of a zigzag pattern of marble in our old concluded project and are mostly bought from local stores. But the Hampton Carrera is different and it is in form of mosaic sheets.
We have never used the mastic too before and it is so essential for tiling perfectly on the painted wall. In this case, you can use sandpaper to grittier the wall first so that the wall would be tiled well. We bought the bunch of mastics and they come in combination with spackle opportunity.
The cutting of the tile caught our attention and we were able to achieve very good cuts without breaking too much into pieces. We are so nervous and could not expect that. I could remember when used mosaic sheets last and that’s when we were doing our kitchen tile project with a ceramic penny.
During the time, we try so much to learn how to cut tiles clean and perfectly without damage or resulting in many pieces. The wet saw involves the mess of mesh and nippers worked along with the tilling.
While we are making research about the marble mosaics, we came across something so bold that makes us understand that the wet saw should be left that. It worked very well as expected.
We put some scraps tiles on the blade sides which are very useful whiling cutting mosaic sheets as it used for resting on the sites. The mosaic sheet will rest on what you put on the sides, either scrap tiles that don’t matter if damaged or precisely use a wood that is recommendable (when you are cutting).
In most of the tiles we chose and wanted to cut, we do cuts off the top side of the tiles. The corners might be pushed away out by the blade and we don’t want so, in fact, it worries us more. The calming fact is that if we are pushing slowly and not too fast, the blade cuts them perfectly especially if we are put more sufficient water into it.
It might be hard for our old wet saw (which we have been using for some years now) to cuts perfectly without encountering damage issues, but the rolling tray that comes along with our new wet saw is quite pretty trying which makes the cutting work goes smoothly. The laser line helps us in cutting straight tiles.
We have applied the mastic and we are sorry as it might look like skipping some points. The thinset is slow in terms of setting up not like the mastic that is so faster (though that is based on what we realized due to our experience) and makes us only uses two sheets to spread what it can afford with a time.
I spread the mastic on the flat side of the trowel and uses the v-notched to scrape, my dear wife will then be applying a particular tile sheet and at the same time positioning it well to avoid seams and also ensure that it nested in well. I could recall what of the instruction says “twilling of tile a little” and that would help to obtain a good bound.
The penny tile’s sheet laying point; you must be a careful sight at this stage or else get someone whose eyes are intact and deeply sees clear to ensure that pattern is lining up perfectly between sheets.
If you move back to check some of the sheets, you will be able to see that they were a flaw and easily discover a beam, which means you had to follow some maneuvers so as to make it better to fit in.
Though it depends on the base of how your sheet is, there must be some little space gaps around them. For you to overcome that, you will need to slow and steadily smooshed or pushed the entire sheet together. It will help you to match the gaps in space together.
You can cut off a little mesh at the back which will help you to nestle up. When attaching up the tiles, make sure that the edge is positioned well (it would be easy for you to cut it off smoothly).
One thing we did again was taken aback the sheets to disguise the straight-looking seams. The actual measurement of the sheet we need is 1.5 (it is the surface above the appliances and it is a vertical one).
The two verticals above the counter are 2.5 and that makes it easy for us to use a complete sheet to come up with a vertical row for the top and the bottom consume half-sheet.
There might be an obvious seam in the back of the wall if the horizontal ones can line up at the back of the splash and we don’t want such to happen, most especially if the pieces located at the top are full tile sheets.
We were able to hang it during the weekend, after spending some time with dear wife and children. The Thinset doesn’t dry early, while the mastic has already dried in the late house of Saturday and was even capable of grouting it on the same day.
But we couldn’t actually on that very night day and then decide to make it happen the next day Sunday morning. If we attempt to grout it on the day-night, we might encounter an unwanted error because “it is done not a long time ago.
On the next day, we discover that the space in-between the tiles are somehow big (almost nine-inch measurement), so we see the sanded grout as the best fit for the work and we use the type (a standard white one).
The spaces between the tiles would make it consume much grout although the surface is small (in fact it small than a floor that doesn’t require grout).
The wall surface is not like the floor in terms of grouting, it is more than harder. I set up some quantity of the grout and use it for half of the wall. I filled more cracks. I make sure each place is done smoothly, not just filling it.
I use a non-usable wood to laid the beneath of the shelf place so as to catches drips more and if you can recall, we didn’t fill half of the spaces of the floor (where the washer and dryer are kept). After I completely used up the bucket of the grout, the wall surface look somehow rough and I use a lightly damp sponge to remove over grout places and make it smooth.
After some moments, the grout has started drying and haze has started appearing obviously. The haze might make you think that the grout is not done properly, absolutely it is done well and you have nothing to worry about the tiling spaces It is just part of the grout, the little part that stays off and can be classified as residue. If such happens, there are different ways you can that off.
If you use polished marble, haze remover it is a chemical, but not recommendable for use. I always decide to use a microfiber cloth to wipe the dried haze away from the tile. It takes me a lot of time while doing that, but it remains the best way to wipe away the haze from the tile.
Here is it after taking some hours wiping away the haze, my dear wife wants to do more so that the place will look shiny and bright. Polished marble will still look roughly and unattractive if you don’t buff the haze well.
Also Read: How We Removed Our Linen Closet Door To Make It More Opened
That means the only thing is for you to ensure the haze is cleaned from every crack found in the tiles. The shelf and counter look beautiful even before we started the stain and seal stage.
We have started testing different types of stain, seal products, and styles, and our next action will be it. Before then, some people are asking if in the future we want to change the dryer/washer, that won’t be a problem because you can remove the old ones and slip the new ones from the right side.
The only thing that may be a problem is just the height of those appliances and the shelf at the top place, that’s why we chose the remove the shelf. It should just be moved up by adjustment.
Here we come to the laundry room backsplash, what can you say over this? Can you do it yourself? Drop your comment below.
