Adding the Glam
Sometimes all something needs is some finishing touches to turn average into amazing. This modern 00's style kitchen was roughly 10 years old and despite it age was in relatively good decorative order. It just needed some tlc...
The client wanted to tile from the top of the worktops to the under of the cupboards and along the window seal. They wanted a bright light tile and ended up going for a metro tile with bevelled edge and light grey grout.
As with any construction projects there are nearly always unforeseen issues that you only find when actually doing the work; and this project was no different. The main issues we had was our favourite brand of tile adhesive had been discontinued and we choose one by Evo-Stick - Sadly the product did not live up to expectation, it was watery like icing sugar and add time to the project - but lesson learnt, we will never be buying Evil-stick ever again!
The second challenge was that all 3 walls bowed outwards, meaning corner had a creep of 15mm over a distance of 400mm - this may not sound a great deal amount but it meant all corner tiles needed to be cut with angles on the vertical edge to compensate. However unless you are superior critical (like us) the way in which the tiles were cut and positioned meant the corners looked uniformed and vertical - despite the bow.
The final challenge was the worktop. By the clients own admission they were a 'splasher' when it came to the washing up. Over time the back of worktop had absorbed water and the worktop was soft and had started to lift. Knowing that the worktop would need to stabilised we applied gentle heat with the aid of hairdryer to speed up the drying process - then carefully injected stabilising wood solution between the worktop and exterior wall. It was left for 48hours to cure before we tiled over the area.
While we were undertaking the tiling, we took the time to repair and fit the integrated door for the washing machine. The door had previous fixing holes for the older machine; but new fixing points required the older ones to be filled so that a solid new fixing point could be made. A mixture of heavy duty wood glue and oak sawdust was turned into a fill paste and then coated with a white 2 part filler to smooth off.
Once the tiles had set, they were all cleaned with grey grout added and once set, given a final clean and polish. After-which clear sealant was applied to where the tiles meet the worktop and around the top of the sink.
Had the client been able to increase the budget, the only small thing we would have changed would have been the alignment of the power sockets. They were poorly fitted by the original builders which meant that the sockets / switched didn't align neatly with the tiles or grout lined. Ideally we would have wanted to make them all level - and or dead center of a tile and while only a small detail it would have add value to the overall presentation.
That said the project was a success and the client was left happy.
Addlestone, Surrey
Addlestone, Surrey