Tiling work was put on hold as there was an issue on the countertop height.
There was 3 week break in between as
1st week:
Contractor was having difficulty finding a subcontractor to hack the floor and they were rushing through their projects before Hari Raya.
Last minute cancellation as the contractor had emergency plumbing works
2nd week:
Festival week- Subcontractors were off for a week and some had ‘balik kampung’
2 days- Public holiday (Renovation not allowed in housing area).
3rd week:
2 days- Hacking work done
2 days- Tiler had other job to complete
3 days- Tiler pulled his back and rested
Hacking Works & Laying cement screed
Duration: 2 days
Workers: 2 people
They also had to hack and relocate the inlet and outlet pipes in the wet kitchen and backyard.
Height of countertop now is 87cm (without floor tiles) at hob and 86cm (without floor tiles) at sink area. The tile and thinset/ mortar will take up about 2-2.5cm.
Ready for the tilers….
The contractor dropped off a rectangle stainless steel cover the night before tiling work continued.
Tiling Work (Continued) Day 5
9.30am-5pm
Floor Tiles Variation V2
The wood tiles we bought had a slight variation. Piglet had requested that the tile had a high variation when laid so I had to make sure that a certain shade would not be side by side. I explained it to the tiler. Oddly, he claimed that the tile shades look similar and would be fine even if he took it from the same stack.
I then suggested that I choose and pass him tile by tile as he installed them as long as he did not mind that I was there throughout the installation. He was agreeable.
I opened all the boxes and put the tiles in 6 different stacks. The numbers in each stack were not equal. The 6 patterns could be rotated 180 degrees to make it 12 different patterns. I choose the direction and also which part to cut at the corners.
The main tiler did the last three rows. He wanted me to choose it straight away. Initially he had stacked it up but I requested that he dry lay it for me first so I can compare the pattern.
Dry Kitchen Floor Tiles
The tiles provided by the developer were no longer in production so we chose a similar one to match the tone. I am hoping that the kitchen cabinet will cover it so that it would not look so obvious
Wet Kitchen Countertop height
The tilers have tried their best to adjust the countertop height, flow gradient and match the current height of the wall tiles.
If look at pic above, there is a larger gap between the floor tiles and wall tiles on the left compared to the right due to the slope gradient and adjustments made to the countertop height.
Insufficient Floor Tiles
We were 2 tiles short and the last part was at the backdoor. The tiler, Nicky (tile shop owner) and I had calculated the tiles and we had thought it was enough with 3 tiles as wastage. It might have just been the shape of the floor we were tiling.
It is really important to have the floor tiles done to carry on to the next stage.
(Whatsapp group chat)
Me: Hi. Can I order 1 box of wood floor tiles?
Nicky: Omg. Got to wait…
Hmmm… Another 2-3 week wait?
Me: What about tile samples from the tile company?
Nicky: You try contacting them direct.
We were sorting it out at 4.30pm and it was a rush. Tile shop and tile co closes at 5pm.