pt, A cereal bowl size mold will cure fast. If you make this first thing in the morning, you'll be able to CAREFULLY unmold in about 4 to 6 hours. In your temps maybe sooner. Don't forget: Wear rubber/nylon/nitrile gloves whenever you work with cement. Even when placing and removing pieces from the water bath. Wear a dust mask when working with the dry ingredients. Use a mold release (PAM baking spray works), just a thin coating. Have an extra mold ready in case you mix too much. I make pot feet or test tiles for leaves or anything you want to imprint with any leftovers Thoroughly mix dry ingredients then add water. After the mold is filled, place in a plastic bag, spritz inside the bag with a little water, knot the top of the bag to seal and place in a shady, cool location. If you use a garage or a laundry room in the house make sure you put something (old cookie sheet or plastic tub) under the bag in case it leaks. If you are going to wire brush or carve the outside walls unmold as soon as possible. I unmold cereal size bowls in 4 hours. The walls have to be thick enough to carve. You'll have to experiment because of the temps that you have. Once this gets past a certain stage you can't easily wire brush or carve. You don't have to wire brush or carve, some people like the smooth sides. As soon as you unmold place your mold in a bucket of water. Makes clean up easier. If an cement cures in the mold you can't use it for future projects. After you're done wire brushing or carving rinse off with water and place in a bucket/tub of water. The next day change the water, it will be full of lime so wear your gloves. Rinse the piece off and add fresh water then do the same thing the next day. You should be able to remove from the water in about 2 to 3 days. Remember when wire brushing or carving to be gentle the piece is fresh and can break easily. Go back and clean your mold that's been sitting in a water bucket. Wear rubber gloves. That slimy feeling on you fingers is your skin dissolving. Some people are sensitive to burning from the lime in the cement. Wear a dust mask when working with the dry ingredients. Full bags of cement weigh 92-94 pounds! Have fun! Billie p.s. wear rubber gloves!

I hope everyone in that path is okay,Karen glad you are okay, it seems as if those storms just showed up,not really a lot of warning,but this weather is so strange it feels more like late March than early Feb.It has been in the 70's here for the last few days,really scary weather.I sure hope everyone checks in,they know we are all a bunch of mother hens,and of coarse,daddy roosters. Bonnie

I'm finding lighting to be quite a challenge. It's actually one of the lower allowances in my project, but we have 14' ceilings in the kitchen. To light that space, I am worried it will either look like swiss cheese (and I really don't want to do recessed!) or a pendant farm. Or I'll end up with some gigantic fixtures that are $$$ and reflect in the darn TV that is across from the sink (where I really will need light). We had a very modern styled kitchen in our Garden District house with maple shaker cabs and polished black granite (done in 1995 by previous owner) and I will admit that with the 14' ceiling there the recessed lights were adequate - but there was also a complete wall (counter to ceiling) of windows overlooking the cocktail pool. I have some natural light in the new house, but not that much. I am definitely finding lighting the most challenging aspect of our project. Everything else, no problem. Whipped through the tile and plumbing fixtures, appliances, flooring, wall and trim colors...but lights. I hate working in shadows so I'm really stressed about making my selections. I'm going to need more light, too, since I'm sure I'm not doing my eyes any favors staring into a computer monitor looking at lights all day.

You don't "need" a wet tile cutter but it certainly makes the process go much faster. With those mitered cuts, where they'll be butting up to each other, and out in the field of the tile, wet saw will be the ONLY way to cut that tile. Otherwise you WILL end up with rough cuts. As for whether you're crazy for trying this or not, think about this-- there's a younbg lady who alot of the "old timers" in here know as Pirula (Ivette). She and her husband put their own master bathroom together, including a Kerdi steam shower. it comes down to one of my favorite cliches-- "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're probably right." It's mainly a matter of confidence. I can help you through it, and so can the other pros over at John's forum. It's up to you. From what I've seen so far, it looks like you've got a pretty good jump on it, though!