from the Mixed-Up Files of Crystal

Chisel, smear, buff, vacuum, seal, REPEAT.

The last three weeks have been rather dusty ones at our house. Mike has been bothered ever since we moved into our house (10.29.06) by the badly-laid tile. (Keep in mind almost our entire downstairs is tile--about 2000 sq feet!)

Being the perfectionist he is, Mike finally undertook the project of all projects: (insert drum roll) (or maybe funeral dirge)... ripping up ugly and/or tiles which were not flush and re-tiling approximately half the floor. Sadly, I do not have photos of Mike jackhammering out the 37 tiles OR the cement underneath OR re-laying new ones. He sent me & the kids to my mom's house.

Once the new tile was all in place, we had to chisel the old grout of the ENTIRE floor.

Then we (Mike) re-grouted and wiped the excess away. BIG pain. And big pain for me, since this is all being done in my kitchen & main living area!

Max got to use the buffer which, being male, triggered his innate love of any power tool.

After the grout dries, Mike slopped on the sealant. I'm not a big fan of tile because the grout ends up stained, so I've been searching for a solution for years. We decided to take the plunge and seal it with commercial-grade concrete sealant. (I'll get back to ya on that one. Cross your fingers.)

Keep in mind that during this entire process we have to stay OFF any area we're working on. We're doing it in patches so that there's a pathway to walk through the house. No biggie, except for the DUST. Oh, the grout dust! It's everywhere, in a thick layer: on the walls, on my counters, up my nose...you get the picture. (achoo!)

Also, the sealant smells like fingernail polish remover. Like about 10,000 GALLONS of polish remover has been spilled everywhere. We actually had to evacuate for a few nights and sleep at Mike's parents'. (Poor Mike stayed in the smelly house. I'm concerned for his brain cell-count.)

Here he is, slopping on sealant:

Here's the finished product in the mud room. I think it'll be worth it; can I bribe anyone to come help me dust my house from top to bottom?!And here is the current construction zone. Can you see the difference in the tile at the upper left of the photo (sealed) and the lower right corner, by the shop-vac (unsealed)??? Oh, for the love of all that's good and right, PUH-LEEZE say you can see a difference.