Mosaic House Numbers Project!

New project! With Step by step instructions and Lessons Learned (because I think everyone can do this, but you should do it smarter than we did!)

Some history: Baltimore rowhomes typically have a window above the front door, to let light in.  Many rowhomes include stained glass and the house number. This is called a transom.

My house was rehabbed before I moved in, but they decided to close in the transom and add decorative stucco to the outside.  This looks fine, but I'm greedy and I wanted something awesome above my door.

Here's my door in two BEFORE states:

Before I moved in.

 Last week.  New door, painted blue, new mailbox, pretty flowers.

 I became obsessed with adding a mosaic tile art piece above my door.  I googled and pinned cute versions and attended a free class at the Loading Dock (a great non-profit in SE Baltimore).  I did my research and it seemed easy.  

1. Acquire tiles
2. Break them and glue them in a pattern to a board
3. Grout over them to fill the gaps
4. Install it!

This turned out to be my most time and attention and labor intensive project yet. Here's the actual steps...

0. Came up with design I liked. Photoshopped a guide.

1. Bought tiles from Loading Dock in 4 colors.
2. Never ending step:

Tools!

Clockwise from Left: 

• Non-sanded grout ("sanded" may scratch the finish on your tiles, and is used for larger gaps), 
• a grout spreader tool, float, 
• a bag of mortar/thinset (add water to create the glue), 
• spray bottle of water to moisten thinset as you work, 
• shovel/trowel to mix, 
• small container to mix, 
• A big yellow tile (showing what they looked like before we broke them up)
• big sponge for cleaning grout, 
• thinset/mortar spreader (with grooves to make lines in the thinset), 
• caulk to match your grout, a caulk gun (for this size)
• adhesive to stick board to the wall along with the screws, 
• tiles (these are chipped), 
• a tool to spread the grout around, 
• a tile chipper (a hammer was also used in my project, not pictured), 
• a toothbrush for fine cleaning of the grout,
• a file (to file off sharp tile edges)
• Not pictured, but needed for hanging: flat-headed screws, anchors, a power drill, a cement backer board (Hardibacker)

2a. My SSO, Matt, measured and created a cement backer board that would fit in the spot.

2b. I printed out the numbers and taped them to the board, then drew guidelines on the board with a sharpie (no pics of this step)
2c.My mom visited two weekends ago and we sat in the basement, broke tiles (with hammer, chipper, and file), scrapped the idea of 4 colors down to 3, and laid them out on the board (no glue).  8 hours later, the design is "set".

Seemed so easy! It's practically done!

2d. Matt brings thinset over to glue the tiles down. Matt and I stare at the laid out tiles and think: "Hmmm, how are we going to get the tiles off the board, put the thinset down, then put the tiles back in the same design?"  We failed at trying to lift the tiles with contact paper and setting them back down.  We eventually remove a section, add thinset, scrape lines into the thinset, and reset each tile.  I don't know how many hours but LOTS. (Luckily, we like each other) Let dry.

Attempt of contact paper and a layer of thinset.  The tiles did not easily peel off the contact paper.

2e. Reset the tiles that did not stick to the thinset the first time. Let dry.
2f. Reset the tiles that did not stick to the thinset the second time. Let dry.
2g. Used a nail and a file to remove any pesky thinset showing between tiles.
2h. Reset the tiles that popped out of the thinset during step 2g. Let dry.
2i. Reset a few more tiles. Let dry.


(No pic of this "completeness", but it looked the same as the previous "done")

3. Grout!  Picked a "Bone" colored grout.  We also left spaces to screw through to the wall, which we will add tiles and grout to later. We didn't use the grout float, just some spreaders and our fingers, to make sure it got down in all the cracks.  Let dry a bit. Wipe grout a few times to get the excess off. Use a toothbrush for fine cleaning, like pushing it back to make sure the tile is showing.

Grout on most of it. 

Cleaning the grout with the sponge and water

Installing!

4a. Remove old numbers

4b. Hold the board up, realize it doesn't fit.  File off a few tile corners to make it fit, after a few tries.

4c. Drill holes through the tile gaps to the stucco and brick.  Add anchors into those holes.
4d. Add adhesive to the wall space.  (Easier than putting it on the board, then getting a hand in it). Press the board into the advesive and hold for a minute.
4e.  Screw the board up into the anchors.

In place, with the screws showing.

4f. Install the last few tiles with thinset. Let dry.  Go to happy hour and eat BBQ and drink beer (me only).

4g. Grout remaining sections.  Clean.  Go to Home Depot for something unrelated.  Get back by dark.

4h. Caulk the mosaic edges in the dark, by flashlight. I didn't think about the caulk in the original plan, but Matt did.  As you can see in the above pic, there is a gap between the stucco that could be filled in with caulk.

Look at it sparkle at night!

Check out that cat in the window.

 Sparkly, at night.

AFTER!

I'm happy with it, but wish I planned for the bazillion steps and three weekends of time.  I've already gotten a few positive comments from neighbors.

Lesson Learned: 

• Either Glue the tiles down the first time, or glue to a mesh than can later be lifted in one piece and dropped in the thinset.  
• Thinset dries quickly, and the longer it is down, the less likely that tile you smush into it will actually stay.  Near the end we were just dipping tiles in the thinset and laying them down.  This worked for staying power, but caused excess thinset to seep up between the tiles, which later has to be removed if you don't want to see it.
• Matt suggests wetting the backer board, which we didn't do, which would have apparently kept the concrete from stealing all the moisture from the thinset, giving it longer sticking power.  (He came up with this as I am writing this, not during the process!)
• Match your thinset to your grout, and you won't have to worry about the seepage between tiles.  
• Everything takes more time than you would think!

I hope you find this helpful and there are cute mosiac house numbers all over Baltimore (and the world!)

Random pics

So I guess I suck at blogging even when I have boatloads of time.

Update on the job situation:

Things moved amazingly fast on that front, then slow.  I actually got a call about an interview from the first job application I submitted (for a different position) and had an interview and an offer within a week.  Yay me.  Except due to processes at the employer, I don't start til May 9.  My summer vacation comes early.  I'm planning a trip down to South Florida for the end of April.

Here's a few pics I've taken recently to summarize what I've been doing:

Shopping!  I got this new welcome mat today.  I walked by it and did a double take.  At only $9.99 I couldn't walk away without it.

I wish my front flowers were doing better.  I planted a few red tulips that were looking good to the left of the door that have mysteriously disappeared (bulbs and all) before I got to snap a pics. The biggest pot has perennial orange lilies that are not back yet.

I'm jealous of the red tulips in front of the Hopkins Bayview campus:

On gardening, My indoor window boxes in the kitchen:

 Spearmint, a small pot of Armada Roses, an orchid.

And waiting to go outside:

 Tomato, Cukes, basil, rosemary, chives, lettuces (spring mix seed packet).

Here's the current sorry state of last year's lovely patio:

         aka a trash pile from a project of replacing the upstairs windows.  Ideally the lettuces will go in the shoe holder on the fence.  The rest will live in the raised bed that is currently covered in windows to keep the rats out (ick).

 Also I recently got back in to Acting! I was in the Vagina Monologues and most recently The Good Body, both by Eve Ensler.  For the latter I made a collage for the set:

              The idea is it is the messages from "the media" women get about what is beautiful (GOOD) and the products that will make us that way.  All in the shape of an "ideal" feminine figure.

Since I had the cast party at my place, it's actually clean enough to share pics.

 (Action shot of Sushi the cat.  Cats are always getting up in my pics)

              The chairs were a refurb I did with my Mom last summer.  A before and after post will follow, but I think they need something else, like cute pillows.

Cooking/making messes. Because I'm sitting around/surfing the net a lot I get random urges to try out a new recipe I find.  Cue Strawberry Scones at 3:30 to use some ugly berries in my fridge.

Here's the mess I made of the kitchen:

I used this recipe because I had everything on hand (uses yogurt instead of cream, I used a lowfat vanilla instead of the recommended orange flavor).  I gotta say my batter was way runny and they came out more like muffin tops.  The OJ-powdered sugar icing is delish.

Mostly, I've been running errands.  Trips to Home Depot, getting my car its maintenance (two trips to an auto shop), shopping, giving my friends rides at hours most people are working, etc.

Here's a kinda artsy shot driving over the Key Bridge.

Ok, maybe I'll remember to blog more. I still have to show off the projects in my bedroom!

My $13 Kitchen facelift

Yay!  The snowing ceased (I'm ignoring the little recurrence today) and I made it out of the city over the weekend to purchase supplies for my dream kitchen backsplash (well, until I can replace it with some hot mini-mosaic tile).

Almost 2 rolls of Scotch mounting tape (which I actually found at a dollar store), and about 11 Ikea placemats later, a new look!

But first I want to give props to my inspiration, from this post on Curbly, transforming a rental kitchen with dollar store placemats.

Before:

 

I hate the pinkish tile that clashes with the beige-toned marble.

 

But the thought of ripping that all off (all the way up around the window too) and losing my kitchen for days stressed me out.

Here's a couple of hours over 2 days, no mess...

After:

 

TaDa!!!

I know it's not for everyone, but I love it.  My kitchen pops!  Has personality!  

Here's in progress:

 

 Measure the area, mark off cuts in dry-erase (which wipes off when you need it to), chop with kitchen shears, stickies on back and place it on the wall! Shiny side on the back will provide extra uses for the extra placemats I bought in case of failure.

 

And the outlet plates help to hold them on.

Magically, the green dots match the mat and towel I bought ages ago.

Also part of the kitchen upgrade was a wine glass rack:

And a storage shelf, which needs some upgrading before pictures.

Productive weekend!

Basement projects

I guess I've been too busy to blog.  I had my first successful work trip: a few days spent in the hospital (an ICU, no less) and I didn't come back sick!  (Adding to my figures of healthy days spent in hospital: 700 or so?; sick/broken days spent in hospital: 0  Good karma?)  I've also been working on wrapping up the year in terms of doctor/dentist/eye check-ups and planning for next year (LASIK!).  Also, due to the impending Ashley-hosts-first-Thanksgiving, I'm really pushing myself on getting the house where I want it decoration-wise.  Yesterday's beautiful 72 degree Sunday was spent at IKEA and Walmart buying (among other crap) winter-y scented candles and pictures and frames to fill out the last blank spaces on the first floor.  (I finally have a plan for a handsome Owl trivet I picked up from Goodwill and painted blue!)

Since I lost energy last night to actually hang things, the pics of the main floor will have to wait.  First up, the basement:

Project: Free coffee table I grabbed while buying a futon 2 doors down.

Before:

I saw potential.

After pics and the rest of my basement after the jump!

Bad and Good things in Baltimore

So I've had an eventful week. Last Sunday I took a trip up to NJ to get some final furniture out of storage, got home, unloaded, checked my email in my room, then hung out downstairs. From about 6pm-12am I stayed on the ground floor setting up the basement, had a long dinner with the temporary housemates, returned the truck to the airport, then watched Sunday night TV. In this time period someone broke into my upstairs bathroom window, took my computer, charger, and hard-drive off my bed, defecated in my toilet, and left. In this time period there were between 1-5 people in the house. Because of the 22 shootings in Baltimore that night, the police took 3.5 hours to arrive. Fun night. (On top of this, the officer I dealt with was actually quite rude, suggesting that I should have bars on ALL my windows if I have the audacity to live in the city with nice things. She asked many questions hinting that perhaps someone I let into the house had broken in, [ummm, no. my friends flush!] and ran out for another call in a hurry, not saying goodbye or anything reassuring.) I didn't get to sleep until 6am that night, but my coworkers/management were very understanding that I didn't come in until lunch.

Long story short, (because I've told this what seems like a million times) I was finally relaxing into the idea of getting robbed, but that I was alive and fine and learned lessons about security when I was robbed again. Tuesday night they (same guys?) came in through the downstairs window and stole my purse and XBOX system whilst we were sleeping. My purse was recovered in a nearby alley (and they missed the fact that my wallet was sitting pretty on the coffee table!) but the 360 is a lost cause. Boo hoo, it sucks, but its only stuff. Security has been beefed up since then.

Bright side of things: Talked to a bunch of neighbors (in the PPNA and others) and I have a lot more eyes looking out now. Exchanged phone numbers with some. While I never saw the guy, helped the police collect a description from neighbors and when they caught a guy breaking into rowhouses down the street, the police believe he is the same thief. No problems since.

Happier things: Finally hung some art and curtains in the living room. Had a little get-together for Justine's birthday where lovely people brought Tapas and helped clean up afterwards. (The house is perfect for parties, and even has room for a dance floor!) Pictures to come of the main floor, but I still have big dreams for my room and the basement that have not come to fruition.

Headed to WTMD's free Concert in the Mt. Vernon park with friends and future housemate, then over to the Movie on Federal Hill. Let's hope for sunshine! Or at least not rain, as I'm not too keen on sunshine either.

As promised from the last post, here's a pic of my Arizona Iced Tea-themed bathroom. I'm very happy with it, considering I did it completely free-hand and haven't had an art class since middle school. I think the flowers should be a bit bigger, so I might have another painting session and make them bloom a bit more.

There's a tree growing out of my toilet! Yes, I'm crazy enough that this makes me smile more than I should.