My DIY Week - Day 3
Yesterday was a bit of a busy day, so I didn't get the chance to update on my progress. well, nothing much happened. I attempted to level everything out by plastering the bare bits, but i just couldn't get it level, or get the trowel behind all the pipes etc. So I pulled it all off, and removed the remaining old plaster. I then coated the bare bricks in PVA bonding mixed with water to seal the bricks.
On the topic of PVA bonding... boy was I disappointed with this stuff. I thought it was some fancy building specific stuff... nope... it's just good old multipurpose glue that all kids have used. It also goes a lot further than you might think, so if anyone needs some cheap non-toxic kids, glue... I've got loads spare.
Today was a bit more productive. I started laying the tiles. I did have to remove about another 5mm of the old plaster so that the tiles will all be the same level all the way round the bathroom. Once that was done, off I went, sticking tiles to the wall.
It took a bit of time getting used to pasting the wall and then placing the tile nice and neatly and evenly. I think I started trying to be too accurate as the first 4 tiles took forever to put up. Once I was certain they weren't going to fall off anytime soon, I carried on. By lunch time I'd laid my first 10 tiles and I was quite impressed.
I then hit my first little delay... I ran out of batton. I'm using a piece of batton about 1.5m long to support the first row of tiles and ensure they are level. (I got this tip from my B&Q DIY book . :-) ) Well, due to this limitation, I had to wait for the row of tiles to set relatively firmly so they didn't need to support anymore.
By later afternoon the top two rows of tiles were set hard enough to not require any support and I then laid the bottom 6 tiles. These took forever because of the pipes. What a pain in the butt it is trying to get my big fat fingers round behind those pipes whilst holding a mini spreader's worth of tile adhesive. Anyway, I managed and ran out of batton again.
The bathroom is already looking bigger. I don't know if it's the white tiles or the 2 inches of wall I've regained. Hopefully the tiling will whizz by tomorrow. I think I'll struggle with the pipes first and then move up from there.