Our back hallway is the hardest working area of the house. It leads to our back door, which is our primary route in and out of the house. That door also leads to the back deck. The hall provides access to the basement, bathroom, and master bedroom. The washer and dryer will also live in the hall. There is also a closet. This hall is a busy place.
Unlike other areas of the house, material selection for this project was easy. Because this hall is a high-traffic area, we decided to tile the floor. We like natural materials, so we choose 16-inch by 6-inch slate tile. While this material is softer than ceramic, we are hoping the dark color and uneven surface will hide wear and tear. Maggie bought the tile more than a year ago on clearance at Menards, so it has been patiently waiting in our basement. I drew up a floor plan, which immediately proved beneficial. By shifting the centerline of my layout by 3 inches, I would avoid skinny cuts along the edges and produce a better look.
After updating the washer water valves and dryer vent, I put down quarter-inch cement backer board with thinset and screws. This will provide a stable substrate for the tile. As I installed the backer board, I hoped that I would never have to remove it.
When I stopped at the Tile Shop to purchase thinset and grout, I asked what size trowel I should use, expecting to be able to use a 3/8-inch square-notched trowel. I was told that the best size to use was a 1/2-inch notched trowel, to provide enough thinset depth to adjust the tile height due to its uneven surface. This information threw a new variable into the project. The tile floor will meet with our 3/4-inch pine plank floor; with a 1/4- inch backer board, 1/4-inch tile, and two 1/8-inch layers of thinset, I was expecting the two floors to match up pretty closely. With an extra 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch of thinset and the tile actually measuring about 3/8-inches in thickness, I worried about the floors meeting up at different heights. This is not an unusual problem with mating floor materials and there are various transition pieces available, so I decided to install the tile and worry about how to make the transition later.
The hall is only about 60 square feet, so there was not a lot of area to tile. However, slate cannot be cut with a scoring tool. Every cut needs to be made using a wet saw. I set my wet saw up on the back deck, but every row of tile would require a cut on each end. I would also have to kneel and stand up many times for the installation. Because the basement door is off the hall, I needed to walk around the entire house to enter the basement from the walk-out door for tools and for mixing the thinset. In short, it was a long day of walking.
I set the first tile at around 9 AM and the last tile around 4PM. By then I was covered with grey slate mud and thinset from cutting and laying the dark tile. We have a basement bathroom, but the shower is not functional. I washed up as best I could with a hose and spent an hour cleaning my tools and buckets and wringing the silt from my clothing. My reward was a trip for carry-out pizza, followed by a cold beer under the living room ceiling fan.
The next day I was very stiff, but spent an hour giving the tile a quick wash to remove cutting residue and stray thinset. We installed the tile in a running bond pattern across the width of the hall. With the exception of one or two spots, It came together pretty well. We will let the tile set up for a few days, and then it will be time to put the kneepads back on for grouting. At least it is set up enough to allow access to the bathroom.
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