The Bathroom is Done*

Andrew finished tiling and grouting the bathroom counter.




I helped him at key moments of extreme need, which in the parlance of one of Andrew's tilesetting mentors, Ray Bobby, is also known as tweaking.

Tweaking is a state of mind in which the tilesetter is encountering any or all of the following crises: mud is sticking to tool handles, mud is sticking to his hands (gloves having been jerked off in frustration), tools are dirty, mud is going off and needs attention, he is becoming overheated and adjustments are needed to the lighting or possibly a fan plugged in, a piece is not fitting or other pieces are falling off, the color is wrong (this happens more with mosaic guys), it's lunchtime or past 3 pm. To bring a tilesetter back to a normal state of mind once tweaking occurs is possible, but requires determination and swift action.

* “Done” is a metaphor for “done”, a time when the grout will be the same color on all the walls and floor. If you look at the picture carefully you can see that we started out with a sandy color, but it was very light once it dried. We should have done a mock-up. Luckily Andrew said it's okay, and that we can add more grout in a new color and it won't hurt anything. To go from a light color to darker is easy, but the other way around is more problematic. He is adding a layer of Sedona Red over it. Then we must seal it before it can actually be used with carefree abandon.