Countertops

[ironmike86]

IMO natural stone will be around forever. It already has. A good granite fabricator will guarantee the seal for 10 yrs .

[concretegurl]

Tile is freaking awesome but the grout its horendous to clean.

I wish there was a groutless way to do tile.

It has aleays stayed in my mind the veautiful pictures of painted tiles perfectly preserved in Pompey Italy...I'd do my counter floors and half walls in tile if not for stubborn grout.

[KazzyK810]

Originally Posted by concretegurl

Tile is freaking awesome but the grout its horendous to clean.

The first house I ever bought had over 30 pieces making up each one sq. foot of tile....talk about grout lines! I couldn't replace that floor fast enough!

Originally Posted by concretegurl

I wish there was a groutless way to do tile.

It has aleays stayed in my mind the veautiful pictures of painted tiles perfectly preserved in Pompey Italy...I'd do my counter floors and half walls in tile if not for stubborn grout.

Not exactly groutless, but some tile installations, such as marble & granite are usually done with minimal grout lines. As for grout, the absolute best grout I've ever used that stays looking clean and resists staining, is Laticrete Spectralock. It's not the easiest to work with & you have to work very quickly as it doesn't have a long work time, so I wouldn't recommend it for a first-timer. But I highly recommend it for it's stay clean properties. I'll confess, I'm not much of a house-keeper and this stuff still looks great 2 years later.

[concretegurl]

Originally Posted by KazzyK810

The first house I ever bought had over 30 pieces making up each one sq. foot of tile....talk about grout lines! I couldn't replace that floor fast enough!



Not exactly groutless, but some tile installations, such as marble & granite are usually done with minimal grout lines. As for grout, the absolute best grout I've ever used that stays looking clean and resists staining, is Laticrete Spectralock. It's not the easiest to work with & you have to work very quickly as it doesn't have a long work time, so I wouldn't recommend it for a first-timer. But I highly recommend it for it's stay clean properties. I'll confess, I'm not much of a house-keeper and this stuff still looks great 2 years later.

I'm going to look into this. I have to retile the master bath...genuis tile guy tiled over the shower head seal and we have to change the head iut.

We're DIYers here but we gave a wet tile saw so we're semi prepared Derik & I both have construction experience, but have bitten off more than we should have before too and wow it was costly!


I bought that grout magic tv stuff...please a mr clean sponge or bleach pen works just as well...but prefering eco safe cleaners means a whole lot of citrus scrubbing

[shelimcallister]

Originally Posted by linz06

Do you have to do much work with your granite? Does it need to be re-sealed and stuff?

We bought the house recently so I am not sure. I can tell you that it was installed in 2008 and is in perfect condition which is a miracle considering the condition of the rest of house when we bought it. We are pretty sure the previous owner's adult children had MMA fights in the house. There were holes in every wall and a few dents in the cabinets but the counter looks perfect. Good luck!

[ironmike86]

Originally Posted by concretegurl

Tile is freaking awesome but the grout its horendous to clean.

I wish there was a groutless way to do tile.

It has aleays stayed in my mind the veautiful pictures of painted tiles perfectly preserved in Pompey Italy...I'd do my counter floors and half walls in tile if not for stubborn grout.

Many kinds of grout. Cement grout is hard to clean. Acylic is easy. Expoy is stain resistant and structural. They are both water proof and don't need sealers. Diy here's a good site. He will help you is you need it.
The Reference Library

[ironmike86]

My DIY guest shower with epoxy grout. 2 yrs old looks new.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ke86/007-1.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...ke86/001-1.jpg
Still haven't put on the door. Got side tracked into another project.

[KazzyK810]

Originally Posted by ironmike86

My DIY guest shower with epoxy grout. 2 yrs old looks new.
Still haven't put on the door. Got side tracked into another project.

I can so relate to that!

I have my kitchen remodel project going; I'm still finishing a sunroom addition that was framed last year; need to put down the flooring in a laundry closet I built, and still need to trim out the bathroom.

Tile & grout look great! I really like the adjustable height shower head....it has me thinking I might need to make some changes to mine. When I re-arranged my bathroom layout, I plumbed the shower head really high as my son is 6'4" but it isn't working for me and it's downright dangerous being on tippy toes trying to reach the thing to lift it out of the holder.

[ironmike86]

Originally Posted by KazzyK810

I can so relate to that!

I have my kitchen remodel project going; I'm still finishing a sunroom addition that was framed last year; need to put down the flooring in a laundry closet I built, and still need to trim out the bathroom.

Tile & grout look great! I really like the adjustable height shower head....it has me thinking I might need to make some changes to mine. When I re-arranged my bathroom layout, I plumbed the shower head really high as my son is 6'4" but it isn't working for me and it's downright dangerous being on tippy toes trying to reach the thing to lift it out of the holder.

Yup thats why I did the shower head that way. I was thinking of the little ppl As well as the tall.

[concretegurl]

Originally Posted by ironmike86

Many kinds of grout. Cement grout is hard to clean. Acylic is easy. Expoy is stain resistant and structural. They are both water proof and don't need sealers. Diy here's a good site. He will help you is you need it.
The Reference Library

Thanks that's aweaome.
Your shower is beautiful!

Ours is pink tike too so Derik says everytime he uses it he is a lil more demasculinated...I don't think that's even a word...

[ironmike86]

The the elf guy is awesome. The tile is pinkish, brownish, creme. Depending on the light.
Finding tile color is hella hard. I try to be neutral so it won't be so dated