Granite Tile Installed!!

This past weekend Emma and I installed the granite tile on the counter top. We had planned on doing both the counter and the floor but that of course didn't happen. We started our day with a wonderful breakfast!! Ok it wasn't a huge meal but it was a "cooked" meal. We got the camping stove out and Emma cooked some egg sandwiches! Man they were yummy. Eating cereal and oatmeal everyday can get to you!


We started with getting the counter ready on Saturday by putting a layer of mortar down and then the Hardiboard. The front of it was a bit tricky with cutting thin pieces and attaching them to the plywood. It turned out that we had to wait a day for the mortar underneath and the joints to dry as well. So that meant we didn't get to install the tile until Sunday morning. We started out by heading back to Lowes to get a special sized hole saw to cut the hole for the faucet. Once that was done we jumped in to tiling.

I was the cut man and Emma was the installer. It was a bit tricky cutting the tiles and keeping them from chipping. Didn't act like the ceramic tiles we used in the bathroom. It worked out though. Emma did a great job with the tile. It was very tricky putting down the tiles because the plywood we used had a bit of a bump in it. We thought it would work out but would have been easier to lay them out with a completely level surface. Emma worked from around 9 am till 10 pm making sure each tile was level with the next. We chose a penny size grout line which made it even harder to get them level. We decided early on that we would take the time to get each one right and level which took longer but was worth it!!

Also, a few days before the tile install I cut the new oak counter that we purchased from Ikea and installed it. Was really cool to go from no counter to finished in one movement. Of course now I see how nice it is for people who put in a slab piece of granite instead of tiles. But then again we weren't about to pay $2500!!!

We still have the back splash to finish but that will hopefully only take a little longer to complete. Also once the tile grout is done we can install the sink and dishwasher!! (It's no installed in the picture...just sitting on the tile).

Here are some recent pictures from the installs.