Floors and Walls

SO, SO much has happened to the house since our last update!  I keep thinking of the few faithful readers I have on here and feeling guilty that I haven't updated you, but honestly I just haven't had the time or energy.  Anywhooo - now you're going to get a rush of posts as I try to catch up while I'm on break from school.

This last week flooring was the goal of our lives.  We bought almost an entire pallet of slate shipped straight from India to our local flooring store and made available to us on sale for $0.99/ sq foot.  A steal of a deal. Hence the reason we bought so much.  It was hellish to carry all of that from the truck, up one flight of stairs, and into the house.  My arms and legs were shaking after only half of it was in the house and we were both sore the next couple days.  I will be happy if I never ever have to carry that much slate in my life again.

We found some great tile guys on Craigslist and they laid it last week.  We now have slate in the back hallway, our pantry, our master bathroom, the other back bathroom, and our laundry room.  About 360 sq ft of slate.

Our slate.  

Half-empty pallet in the back of the truck:

First few pieces laid in the back hallway.  It was such a dusty ordeal!

All the slate laid and looking dirty from the thin set.  

(I spent about two hours squatting/hands and knees cleaning off the tiles so I could seal the slate before grouting it)

My husband, the stone mason.  Chipping away some high edges so we can open and close our back door

Two coats of semi-gloss sealer for all the slate:

Finished product:

We picked a different porcelain tile for the front bathroom.  I love it.  The shower surround is matching porcelain with a travertine tile design border.  We found the tile at a great price and it ended up being only slightly more expensive than using a fiberglass shower surround.  We're pretty happy because we love this look so much more than the fiberglass we're used to and were expecting to use.

Shower and floor laid: filling in with grout.

I forgot to go back and get another picture that evening with it all done.  I'll show you next week once we get some paint on the walls and a toilet in (we're so close to having a working bathroom over there!)

The big decision this week is what tile to use in our master shower.  We're trying to figure out how to use a different type of tile (we think slate would get gross in a shower - it's so rough and porous - even after sealing it) to use that will tie in well with the slate on the floor.  Hoping we can come to a decision by Tuesday so that tile work can get finished and we can start hooking all the plumbing up!