Tile for Durability and to Beat the Heat

I hope I am not repeating a post, but I don't think I have blogged about the tile job. 

We put full confidence in this fellow, our in-house Tile Guy. He educated himself on all the intricacies of this task, and went to it with fervor.  After our Tile Guy practiced on some small spaces with large tile, he took on a large space with small tile. Each kind has its own challenges, and each one a challenge to keep level. 

Once the downstairs bathroom had the floor heat installed our Tile Guy started on the tile floor, which was the same "concrete" look large format tile that he had successfully installed in the laundry room. It saved time and money to use the tile we already had on hand. Also I could say "the search for tile is over" for at least one more room! Many more weeks of my life could have been spent trying to find the "right" tile for this floor, a task that takes up more time and brainpower than you would think. 

Once the tiles were set, it was the perfect place for a late summer afternoon nap to beat the heat. Our tile guy must have been glad for one cool spot in the house, it was much better than the porch for napping when it is 100F out. (The laundry room floor had been another napping option that summer, but there was a risk you would get stepped on in there.)

Here it is grouted. It wasn't quite "the look" we would have planned, but saving money becomes a big priority after a while so using what we had was the best way to go at the time. At least it coordinated with the laundry room next door. And, this particular tile has proven to be really durable. To tell the truth, after all the construction that has gone on in this house it was the best choice to have really tough floors, not fancy pretty ones. Once the fixtures were in and we started using the room, I doubt anyone noticed the "concrete" floors!