Well, it’s finally done! My handmade ceramic and glass pond bathroom floor has been installed and grouted! It took several months to make, two days to install and 10 hours to grout! Our son loves it!! He said his favorite part is to lay on the dock and look up out the skylight at the sky and watch the clouds go by! ahahahhaha!!!! That makes me laugh!
The tile was handmade at the local “The Potter’s Shop” in Waukesha, WI. http://www.potteryinwaukesha.com To make the turtles, frogs, and water lilies I poured plaster into a bowl and after it hardened I carved into them in reverse 3-D with a Dremel tool. I pressed B-mix stoneware clay into the molds to get my turtles, frogs and lilies. I made the lily pads by using real lily pads to make molds, then pressed slabs of clay into them. I made the glass fish by cutting glass, grinding the pieces with a glass grinder and then fusing them in my glass kiln. If you want to read more about the process, check my other blog post! https://hydeparkhill.com/pottery-adventures/
We laid white thin set mortar on the floor with a notched trowel, cut up our mesh mounted tile into smaller sections and then brought them in on thin flexible boards and put them into place. The final step was to grout. We went to The Tile Shop https://www.tileshop.com to buy the perfect color grout! (Our large stepping stone in front of the shower was purchased at the Tile Shop too!) We chose a “country blue” grout that wasn’t too dark of a blue or too light so that the tiles and fish pop instead of disappear.
The large stepping stone is in front of the shower. We did put in a heated floor, because its an “inside bathroom” with no heat ducts and it makes the room cozier! There are also no windows, we purchased a remote control skylight and put an opening up through the ceiling all the way through the attic! We picked up the Kolher urinal from our local Habitat for Humanity Restore! It was $5.00!!! Can’t beat that! This is a “galley” bathroom. There are two doors, one at each end, one goes into the master bedroom the other goes to a little alcove across from our son’s bedroom and is also near the kitchen. The master bedroom has another door that goes to the living room and a set of French doors that go to the back deck. Yes, there are locks. 🙂 We have a second bathroom, it’s in our master bedroom and backs up to this one. When you have a small house you get creative with your space, try to make the most of you space, and you try not to waste any space! Every inch counts!
The green foam thing is where our “western toilet” goes! I promise it’s not a squatty potty! The linen closet is on the dock at the moment, as we had to pull it to put in the tile. Just a bit of clean up now and re-install the toilet, linen closet, reconnect the sink and do some touch up on the wall paint. Check the last picture for the final look! But now, of course, we are thinking, it needs some ceramic cattails on the walls. 🙂 perhaps….. later! 🙂
Enjoy the Pictures!
Thank you for reading and looking at our adventures!
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