Sunday, April 20, 2008

Paint Up, Travertine Tile Down

The plan for today was to paint the kitchen walls and get the tile down that would be below the appliances and lower cabinets. The paint was as uneventful as painting can be, so I'll just post the obligatory picture and be done with it. I didn't paint everywhere, as the cabinets would hide a lot of the wall, so why bother?




To keep the grout lines straight and in-line with the lines already done in the kitchen I could have used a chalk-line, but I'm not a fan of tracking the chalk dust around the kitchen. My method was to use my Ryobi laser level. I lined one end up with the current grout lines and the other end of the laser line with a mark on the far end of the kitchen.




Mounted on a tripod it was easy to keep it in place throughout the tiling.



About 2/3 of the tile I'm putting down today will be hidden under the appliances and lower cabinets. For those tiles in the first two rows I picked the ugliest and plainest tiles I had. Better looking tiles are reserved for areas that will be visible.




Here is the finished work for the day. The third row was done with the good looking tiles.




How'd the laser line work? Everything lined up pretty damn well, so I'll keep repeating this method as I continue with the floor in the future. Putting a mark at the far end of the floor I'm able to make sure that the width of the lines are consistent across the full length. The tile-spacers make nice little targets for the laser.



In a few days I'll grout the floor and will then be able to install the appliances. As of now we're without a stove until I finish this up and run the gas line. Oh, and speaking of the gas line, I guess I should have drilled the hole for it before putting down the cement board and tile..... Oh well.

5 comments:

Jennifer said...

Well, that's a nifty way of keeping a straight line! I'd never thought of that. It it looks great.

Muskego Jeff said...

That Ryobi laser level is pretty slick. It can be tri-pod mounted (obviously) or hung from the wall by using nail holes in the base. It's also got a built-in suction device that allows it to stick to a smooth wall surface, like tile or glass. It can also stick to smooth drywall. The line rotates 90 degrees and the top rotates so you can get the line just about anywhere you need it. Well worth the money, especially since it was a Christmas gift a couple years ago.

none said...

Heck, now I want a laser!

Unknown said...

Thanks guys, for sharing this conductive accumulation.
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Frances said...

I've seen people use chalks and rulers for a straight line but never did I think that the Ryobi laser level could also be used when placing travertine tiles in a line! I should try this out once I get my very own laser and tiles for my upcoming renovation project.