…these past few days, as in his life with stick-in-the-mud ol’ Daddy he has grown to expect his routine to remain more or less dependable. Then when Crazy Daddy showed up and started doing terrible things to LB’s Lair, culminating with his actually being expected to sleep somewhere else, well. You just can’t depend on anything any more.
So early this morning we went to check on the Lair…
To finish the final corner I had to take the door right off the hinges, a decision I resisted until the last minute. But it was that or leave the corner untiled until after all the other thinset had cured and I could move back in. Trouble is, by the time I got to that part it was already getting late in the afternoon, so putting the door back on would have to wait until today. I wondered whether I’d have to fight something for ownership of my own house, but so far there are no obvious new boarders.
LB was happy! Happy! He ran inside and parked himself right where his bed is supposed to be, and at first flatly refused to move back out.
And there you have it, as close to a first official photo of the new floor as I can arrange with the crappy camera on my phone.
Technically I’m not supposed to even walk on it for 24 hours, exacerbated by the fact that the overnight temp got down into the 30’s last night – with the Lair wide open to the cold. So I’m going to play it safe and wait till this evening before we move back in. I’ll probably mop the kitchen and woodstove corner tonight – yes, I now possess an actual mop – and then start grouting those parts in the morning. The grouting part will go in sections more or less as the spirit moves me, unless it turns out to be a lot quicker and easier than my last grouting job did. In my admittedly limited experience, not even stuccoing can match grouting for sheer mind-numbery.
But yeah! I’m very pleased with myself. After sitting around feeling blah most of the summer, this past month has been a burst of activity leaving me in much better shape. I’ve got a ludicrous oversupply of photons for my batteries, a literally bulging woodshed, and a floor that doesn’t reflect the grand traditions of the Snuffy Smith school of architecture. Uncle Joel happier now. Also very sore.
Looks good! Snuffy Smith would’ve had a floor as lovely as yours, if he had had access to the materials. Hillbillies and hermits do appreciate nice things.
One caveat, you may want to do the grouting as fast as you can because getting bits of refuse out of those gaps is a pain.
Nice job, Joel! Floor looks nice.
How hard was it to tile the sliding door above the piranha tank?
Use a dark grout. Black if possible.
Light colored grouts are an ongoing chore and/or embarrassment.
A black grout lets you mop, soak with bleach, pretty much anything.
And put a grout sealer on
I’ve got brown grout, exactly the color of the local dirt. 🙂 Worked great for D&L. Also lots of grout sealer.