Grout Dilemma -- Made One Mistake, Hope to Avoid More
lauren_2022pbg
5 years ago
I didn't know choosing a grout color could be so hard. Two bathroom renovations are underway--both have grout problems.
In my hall bath, I'm using the Tile Shop's San Dona Aloe Summit basket weave tile on the floor and as a backsplash with a vanity that matches the aloe glass color. On Friday, as I requested, my contractor had the floor grouted with bright white grout. To me, it looks terrible--all the charm and interest of the San Dona marble is gone--it looks like white with square poka dots. My question is: can you darken the color of grout once installed with marble tile? It seems like it is easy to do with ceramic tile but not real stone. The San Dona is polished.
In my master bath, I think I got carried away with tile variety. As shown in the photo, I'm using Hall Blanco tile for shower wall, with (very expensive) jewel like glass mosaic accent tile. On the shower floor is Oriental White Blue and Gray marble penny tile. The main floor tile is a marble like ceramic.
It didn't look like it before it was laid, but the penny tile is really attention getting due to the very dark marble. I feel it creates a confusing, overdone look with the accent tile. So, I am wondering if you think that effect would be lessened by using white grout or by using gray grout for the shower floor? Would white or gray make the multiple colors blend together better? (Wish they would do what happened in the hall bath and just disappear!) I'm even thinking of taking out the dark gray pennies and replacing them with white or "blue" gray.
I planned to use white grout for the shower wall, including the mosaic accent tile. But the installer grouted a few of the mosaics and I hate how they look (see pix)--very sloppy. Do you guys think it is OK to use gray grout for the mosaic accent and white for the Hall Blanco sections?
In past tile work, I always went with gray or white tile and never seemed to have a problem until now.
Your help will be greatly appreciated--I'm tearing my hair out and the installer returns early tomorrow.
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Al and my friends..Mistakes I have made recently..
Comments (38)Jojo..Thank you so much..:-)Nope, no more blonde moments and Mom send you a a big hello! She tells me she may want to visit you if we head to Arizona...:-) Jodik..Thank you for your common sense in understanding it was simply a mistake in forgetting to water, and thank you for your confidence in my ability to nurse them back to health..I couldn't of done this without the mix I use, or by adding more water retentive material, or the support from all of you...The roots would of rotted by now if the dead fine roots had been allowed to take a long time to sit in a damp mix, especially this time of year. Considering it is not the first time I forgot to water, like 5 years ago when I was using bagged heavy mixes, I still forgot! We know why they came back this time and not in the past.... It is not even inconveniant for me to water in the gritty mix at all,which I can not understand why it would be for anyone. If anything much more so in the crappy heavy mixes that rot plants in a quick amount of time should be! Here is what an inconvenience was to me before I use the mixes I do now.... 1. Having to worry if I was ever going to see my plants dry out before they rotted. 2. Having to replace my plants every time I over watered after I watched the croak. 3. Having to deal with gnats everytime my roots started to rot and mix stayed wet to long and then spend money and weeks on traps trying to rid them. 4. Never being able to leave my room a lot colder like I do now so I can avoid pest issues and encourage flowering because the mix I use to use would not dry out and even develope mold issues. 5. Having to spend money on replacement plants everytime I killed the same one I loved over and over and not being able to locate some again. 6. Having to watch my clay pots turn white from salt depsoits and look ugly. 7. Having to worry about fertilizing and salt burn. 8. Having to watch a plant die, instead of come back after a an under watering mistake, because the roots were to weak to take up water before the mix could dry out causing death. 9. Having to deal with dropping yellow leaves every single winter and through out the growing season because of poor root systems.. Oh, I could keep going, but to me, it was more inconvenient to use crappy mixes, soils, or any other than what I use now.. The only thing for me that I have to worry about is this.. I can't forget to water when needed. I would much rather deal with this one inconvenience than all the other inconveniences brought on my using poor mixes.. Hugs to you too!! Thank you all for all your support and kind words... Pug...:-)))))))))))You are wonderful as always! Mike...See MoreHelp - I think we made a mistake!
Comments (4)It's not always necessary to trim or loosen the roots of pot grown shrubs but if the roots are entwined and looping around the sides of the root ball, then it's best to cut or gently loosen them to allow them to expand outside the shape they've taken. It's more likely that you've got some other problem that caused the quick demise of the plants. Lack of water or over watering are the two most common causes of rapid plant death. Newly planted material requires about 1" of water a week and it must soak down to the root zone to be effective. Too much water can kill just as quickly as too little. It prevents air circulation from the roots which essentially drowns the plant. So if the plants were healthy when you put them out, look to the soil moisture content first. Did you dig large holes for them or just the size of the root ball? What's your native soil like? Sandy, hard packed clay, rocky, decent loam? Did you amend the soil with anything or add any fertilizer? Since some of your plants are already stressed, I wouldn't dig them up unless you remember them being badly root bound. Where did you buy them? A "big-box" hardware store or a reputable nursery? Wherever you got them, check to see if they have a warranty on their plants. Some places will replace the plants if they die within a year. Some won't. If you think the water situation was ok, take samples of the stressed plants to your local cooperative extension office to see if they can diagnose the problems. If there's some disease or insect infestation, they will probably be able to help you and their services are free. Lastly, did you have that nice mild winter and then a nasty cold snap? That can stress the plants and kill new growth that hasn't had time to harden off. Are the branches totally dead or is there still some green if you scratch off a little bark? If there's still a green layer under the bark, they probably will survive. Good luck with your landscape problems. I know how frustrating it can be to have beautiful plantings that die. Been there and done that myself....See MoreMistakes made with decisions, and beating myself up over it!
Comments (10)Thank you all, it's so nice to have you to understand and be reassuring! I really appreciate the support! When I reread my OP I see it doesn't really express what I'm feeling, and it sounds petty. I really am overwhelmed with it all. I have to take it one step at a time. Today's step is deciding which boards to cut into which pieces for the face frames. It'll take longer than one day for me to figure out, because --- I don't know why, I'm just slow. I really think hormones are playing a role. I'm 52 and some days I just can't think clearly. I'm sure some of you have experienced that! Rhome, thanks for the hug and kind words! You picked right up on my tendency to see things in terms of details, and not the big picture. I have to remember it's the forest, not the trees! Kelleg, boxer, and cotehele, somehow there's comfort in knowing other people have done the same thing. Thanks for telling me about your "perfect" island and Shaw's sink that will not end up in your kitchen, cotehele. There are probably a lot of us who bought, then rejected, perfectly good things because somehow they just weren't right. Imagine the garage sale we could have if we put all our stuff together! Bmorepanic, I love ideas like that. I might try the panel approach, tho the problem is that the doors are curved on the hinge side. I visualize the edges showing on the side of the panels. I'll have to give it more thought. Malhgold, it's funny you asked that about the SS sink. Other than the commercial look, my issue with the sink involved the placement of the DW. The sink has an integral drainboard on both sides, each 15" long. The whole length of the sink has an integral counter, i.e., it's not an undermount or topmount. So the DW (which could be installed on either side) would have had 15" of the SS counter on top of it, and the other 9" of it would be covered by the marble counter. In other words, the DW wouldn't all be under one counter material. It's hard to explain, I hope that makes sense! That bothered me for some reason, it looked wrong. I never installed it, so I can't say whether I liked working with it or not. I will eventually try CL, I'm just procrastinating on that too! Thank you all again. Hope you have a nice weekend!...See MoreI made a mistake and.....
Comments (40)This message is for LoPay... I received your email inquiry about my hood, but your GW settings are such that I cannot reply to your email. There is another thread in this forum about how to change that, if you're interested. If you change it, email me again, and I'll reply with photos to illustrate. I can't post the photos here in this forum at this time due to a connection issue with my phone (which I just haven't had time to research). You asked what about my former 36-inch hood didn't work with my 36-inch range. I have a chimney hood, and there are no upper cabinets on either side of it. Based on research here (in the appliances forum) and other Web sites, I learned it's preferable to choose a hood about 6 inches wider than a 36-inch cooktop if: 1. You have no upper cabinets on either side of the hood (like, in my case) 2. If your cooktop is located on an island (and so, like #1, no uppers) 3. If you can move your uppers to allow for a wider hood. Obviously, you cannot go with a wider hood if your uppers are already fixed in place and don't allow for it. Here is a link that explains this, because I'm not even touching on the CFM issue, which you'll need someone much more knowledgeable than me to explain! I have a Thermador 42-inch chimney hood, and the CFM is 600, which is sufficient for my application. Some would argue that. http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/range-hoods/buying-guide.htm I didn't look at the CR recommendations for hoods, but I found its explanation about my lack of upper cabinets most helpful: "Wall chimney hoods can work where there are no cabinets and mount with exposed vent stacks on the wall. Island hoods, which also work above a peninsula, are mounted to and vented through ductwork in the ceiling. These lack a wall of cabinets alongside them to help funnel fumes, so consider one that is at least six inches wider than the cooktop. "Don't size down. This is one time when bigger often is better. Any hood you consider should be at least as wide as the cooking surface it will be installed above. And avoid downdraft hoods, which have been unimpressive in our tests. "CFM isn't everything. Manufacturer airflow claims tout cubic feet per minute (CFM) of air exhausted. More airflow does mean faster venting but doesn't guarantee better smoke capture and removal." All of this is null and void if you have fixed uppers on either side that don't allow for a wider hood. But if that's not the case, you'll want to consider a hood that's wider than your cooktop. Good luck!...See More
lauren_2022pbg
5 years agolauren_2022pbg
5 years ago
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