Kitchen and Bathroom Counter Tops and Tiles

The house really starts to feel like a home once the cabinets go in and, during the last week, the delivery of counter tops and tiles further added to that feeling. The granite counter top for the kitchen came from a company in Salem and Julia and I had already been up there a few times to make our selection. Here's the slab we chose which is called Bordeaux River:

And here it is shown on the central island in the kitchen. The layout design was done by Ricky (of the Marble Center) to show off the large scale patterns within the rock slab to best effect, and, although it's a bit hard to see from this photograph, we were very pleased with the result:

Richard also began to install the back-splash tiles on the kitchen wall. We have selected a lovely pastel green hand-made tile which, it turns out, is made in Exeter, England by the Winchester Tile Company and supplied by a company in Boston. Here's how it looks so far with the spacers still in place and before any of the grout is applied:

I have to say they look absolutely brilliant and, still unfinished, here's how they look from a bit further back (the space is where the cooker and microwave will go):

Meanwhile, upstairs in the laundry room, the counter top and sink and back-splash has been installed:

Brian has also begun installing the porcelain 16 x 16 floor tiles which look even better than we expected:

In the second bathroom, the floor has also been prepared to receive the tiles. The sub floor is a cement resin board (called Hardiebacker) that is very resistant to moisture because it has no paper backing and doesn't contain gypsum. Therefore it is ideal for wet environments such as bathrooms, showers, and laundries and provides a very stable platform for the tiles:

Here's the cabinet counter top in the second bathroom complete with decorative back-splash that matches the floor tiles (the same tiles as used in the laundry).

In the master bathroom, the floor also has a layer of hardiebacker:

However, in addition Julia and I decided to include the luxury of underfloor heating. The underfloor heating is in the form of a pad that rolls out like a carpet and includes a thermostat controlled electric filament running through it. Two separate pads were required:

On top of the underfloor heating, Brian will install the travertine stone tiles which should do a good job of propagating the heat:

The shower and tub area looks like a scene out of Psycho, but in fact the red colour is an additional waterproofing layer over the top of the Hardiebacker cement board over which the tiles will be mounted.

The electrician, Roger, has been installing some of the electrical fixtures and here's a selection in the following order: ceiling fan in the master bedroom, ceiling fan in the guest bedroom, lamp in the dining area, front outside light:

That's all folks...