Last week I detailed why I chose a stacked pattern for the floor tile in the bathroom. When I was looking for a suitable tile option for that pattern, I came across the most perfect 4″ x 12″ matte black tiles from Tile Club and knew they were the one! They shipped fast and there was ZERO breakage. I am thrilled to partner with Tile Club for this post and show you the finished floor:
The grout wasn’t yet dry and I didn’t do a final cleaning of the surface of the tiles before I snapped this photo, but I just couldn’t wait to share!
If you’ll remember, on Easter, we tiled for a short period of time and almost finished the water closet area. Then we tiled for a few more hours during the week and stopped at the first row in the vanity area. Last Saturday, we wanted to finish laying all the tile, so we laid tile for 13 hours….but we finished! We used a combination of corner spacers and a tile leveling system to keep everything perfectly straight and it worked like a charm even though the amount of spacers we used definitely took extra time to install. Then I used Mapei Flexcolor CQ grout in black for a tone on tone look. Here is a master list of supplies I used for the tile installation, which is hopefully helpful because I did a lot of research about specific products to use:
Corner spacers– essential for keeping the the tiles perfectly aligned horizontally and vertically. I love these because you can flip them over and use them as regular spacers as well. I used them in the corners and in between tiles in addition to the leveling system below and it worked great. Also- you can reuse them! They came up easily after the fact and I’m saving them for our next tile project.
Mapei Grout– did you know it’s actually hard to find black grout? This grout came highly recommended by our friend Erin Zubot, who used it in her bathroom for last spring’s One Room Challenge, and it also came in black. My only beef with this grout is that it’s more of a dark charcoal than a black, but it’s mostly me being super picky.
Mapei Tile Adhesive– we are weekend DIY-ers that pack a lot into a a little time, so I use pre-mixed items. This is affordable and smooth as butter and easy to apply in my opinion.
Bosch Laser Level– we actually used two of these. One at floor level for a horizontal line and one on a tripod pointing down ward for a vertical line. I’m happy that this project forced me to buy a second one because they are indispensable for most projects!
Tile Leveling System– This one had rave reviews on Amazon, and it was more affordable that buying at any store. It was fantastic and easy to use. I saved the yellow levelers to re-use in the future.
Another product that I loved for this project was the iQ Power Tools waterless, (mostly) dustless tile saw that I rented from Hartville Hardware! If you’ve ever used a traditional tile saw, you know that wet saws make a mess. Not this one! We set up the iQ saw in the guest bedroom so we could cut tiles right across from the bathroom and it was so nice not to have to run down to the garage or outside every time we needed to make a cut!
The tile turned out exactly how I wanted and I can’t wait to see it paired with the toilet, vanities, and all the finishes! As I mentioned above, Tile Club has amazing customer service, shipping, and selection. You can browse their tile here. I’m glad this project caused me to think outside the box with the pattern and tile selection, and hopefully it inspires you to do the same!
Check out all of the other One Room Challenge participants here.
