Bathroom tiles

When I first bought my house, I had a building inspection done. The building inspector pointed out a patch of tiles that were bowing away from the wall in the shower, and warned me that the wall behind the tiles could be damaged if they weren't fixed.

About six months after moving in I finally found time to remove the problem tiles. Much to my relief, there was no sign of any damage to the wall. However I was left with a large bare patch on the wall, covered only with old tile cement. In order to continue to use the shower, I hung a plastic drop sheet over the bare section. This was very effective in protecting the wall from water, but not really comfortable to shower with!

In addition to replacing the damaged section of tiles, I wanted to extend the section of tiles further along the wall, as water from the shower was wetting the paint work next to the tiles. I didn't want a strip two tiles wide of a different color, so I removed the tiles next to the new section as well. I had a lot of trouble removing the tiles from above the damaged section, next to the new section, so in the end I decided to go for a diagonal edge, so that the two different colors would meet in a zigzag.

I tried to find tiles of the same size and colour to match, and was unsuccessful. The old tiles were matt beige, and I couldn't find anything similar. In the end I decided to go with some tiles that were the same size, but white gloss. I felt that a bit more contrast would look better than tiles that were nearly, but not quite, the same color.

Another problem was that the tiles were not attached to the wall with tile adhesive, but with some sort of cement, which was about half a centimeter thick. To get the level of the new tiles even with the old ones, I needed to use the same stuff. I found out what the stuff was called (tile cement :)) when I saw a mural that a friend was creating on her front porch, using broken tiles and tile cement. It was a very cool mural, I wish I had half that much artistic talent!

After locating and purchasing the replacement tiles, I still needed to remove the old tile cement from the concrete wall. This was a very long, slow, labour intensive task, involving a cold chisel and a hammer. I discovered after a while that heating the tile cement with a heat gun would make it more brittle, and therefore easier to remove, but the cement was still not a lot softer than the concrete I was chipping it off. The dust and grit factor were also large!



After removing the tile cement, I used an electric sander to sand down the wall. I then washed the wall thoroughly to remove any dust.

I mixed up some tile cement, and using a trowel I re tiled the first section.


Once the tile cement had had time to dry, I mixed up some grout and grouted between the tiles. I used a grout squeegee to apply the grout and I found that to be invaluable.


After the grout had dried, I used a silicone caulking agent to fill in expansion joints all around the re-tiled section. This will hopefully prevent the tiles from being damaged by building expansion and contraction. I then repeated the tiling and grouting for the second, higher section of tiles. Once everything had dried, I repainted around the edge of the tiles. Finally, I coated all of the tiles in the area, old and new, with tile sealer. This is a very thin, very nasty smelling liquid that can be painted onto tiles and grout to improve dirt resistance and water proofing.

Here is the finished result!



All up it was a lot of work, but I am happy with the result.

Bush fires - aftermath

I recently joined my parents up at their block of land, north of Buxton and Marysville. The landscape is pretty bleak, after the fires went through. The trees that were not burnt all the way up (leaves still there) all have scorched brown leaves. On the drive up we passed burned out buildings at the side of the road. Not much was left.

However by the time I went up, a couple of weeks after the fires, grass had started to grow on the open ground. A few trees had tiny green sprouts on them, high on the trunks, where new growth had started. And my parents dam has tiny frogs living in it. So the ash washing into the water hasn't killed all of the life. In a few years it will be green and lush again.

My parents were very lucky, they didn't lose the shed they had up on the block, with all of their stored stuff. This is partly because they put a lot of work into ember proofing the shed, with shutters over the windows and steel wool stuffed into all the gaps, but other people had the same precautions and still lost everything. So good management was involved, but so was a lot of luck.

Almost everything outside the shed burned though. It is a bit surreal seeing coils of wire, where the insulation has burnt off. The tires on the trailer were steel belted radials. The "steel belts" are still there but the rubber has gone. Lots of stuff like that.

I spent the day helping mum and dad to pile branches from fallen trees into piles, so they can be burnt in winter. Keeping dead wood from buiding up is a constant task up there, and may be part of why the fire didn't "crown" (burn up to the tree tops) over my parents land.

It was a fairly sobering day, but the signs of new life are encouraging.

Victorian Bush Fires

It has been a strange and horrible week. The Bush Fires that ripped through Victoria have devastated large areas and killed so many people.

My family and I have been very fortunate. Although my parents have a property up near Marysville (where the destruction was at it's worst), they live in Melbourne, so they were safe from any physical harm. Even better, the friends they know best up there seem to have escaped with their lives and with their horses and dog. They have lost their home though, which is pretty devastating. So, we haven't lost anyone, and the losses are only property. So many people have lost so much more.

One frustration, for me and from what I can tell for most other people in Melbourne, is that there is so little I can do to help. I have donated money and blankets, but it doesn't seem like enough. But really, I don't have the skills or the fitness to fight fires, and if I went up there I would only be in the way. So, my thoughts and admiration go out to the CFA and all of the other experts who are up there helping.

Car cleaning

This morning I decided to clean my car, using grey water for the washing part of the job. I needed to clean my curtains, to reduce dust mite load, so I used the rince water from that.

Alas, I discovered that a large number of the dirt spots on the car bonnet were actually stone chips. So I have just spent about half an hour with a bottle of touch up paint, filling in stone chips. The bonnet now looks a little bit blotchy, but at least is now protected from rust.

New Year

So, it's a new year! And I finally finished blogging about the NT trip :) Only about seven months after the fact.

I have been on holiday last week and this week, hence the increased number of posts.

It has been a productive break. I have caught up with family and friends for Christmas and New Years Eve.

I have finished painting the eaves along the east side of the house. I still have glass to replace in two of the windows, and the wall to paint, and that side will be finished. I have replaced a window pane on the south side of the house. I have taken up four curtain drops, so they now are the right length for this house, instead of the last house I was living in. I have drilled holes in four pieces of wood that I need for installing a drawer in the kitchen, and have painted them. I have finished the tiling in the bathroom, including painting around the edges of the tiles, and coating them with tile sealer. I have made a start on installing a new awning on the north side of the house.

I did a day trip to Werribee Park Mansion, which mum tells me that I have been to before, but I was so young I don't remember. If I feel enthused then I may blog with more details over the next few days.

Either way, welcome 2009!