Picking out tile wasn’t an easy task. There are so many options and a very wide range in prices. We didn’t have a ton of money to spend on the project, so it was a process trying to find a quality tile that we liked and wouldn’t break the bank. We eventually settled on a glass and stone mosaic combination we found at Lowes. For $5.98/sq foot, it was a pretty good price as our 2nd choice was about double that.
We needed to get 11 tiles to fill the top and had to do some cutting to fill in the top row and the last rows on the edge. Since the tile is manufactured to “interlock” there isn’t a flat edge on the sides and we had to get a tile saw in order to square off both ends. We first looked at renting one, but estimated that it would be about $75-100 depending on how long we wanted to use the saw (4hrs vs 24 hrs). So we turned to Craig’s List again and found a saw for $55. Other supplies that we ended up having to buy included 2 trowels (to spread the mortar), grout float, grout sponge, drill-bit mixing attachment, and spacers.
The day we decided to lay the tile I was working an evening shift (230-11p) so I cut the tile in the morning. Using the tile saw was pretty easy and the blade was still in good condition. It cut through both the glass and stone easily as long as you went slow and there was plenty of water in the blade-well. We had laid the tile out the night before and numbered each tile to match where it would lay on the lid. The planning beforehand really made the cutting easy and I was done in about 15 minutes.
When I got home from work (around 1130p) and with both kids asleep, we mixed our mortar and set off. I was responsible for spreading the mortar and Elise laid the tile behind me. Neither one of us had any previous experience with tiling before, but we each had a read a couple of articles and watched some videos on YouTube, so we had a little bit of an idea of what we were supposed to be doing. It turned out to be a pretty smooth process, except for around the tower. A round tower with rectangular tile made for a little bit of difficulty, but with the extra tile pieces we had left I cut some angles and we made it work as best we could.
We had to let the mortar sit for 24 hours before we could grout, but since there was both stone and glass on our mosaic, it was recommended to us to seal the stone prior to grouting to avoid the grout soaking into the stone. On Day 2 it took about 5 min to brush sealant on the stone tiles and another 24 hours of waiting until we were ready to grout.
On Day 3 we mixed the grout and Elise worked it into the tiles. The tape around the tower was taped only on the top so the grout would be flush against the sides of the tower to hide the plywood beneath. After the grout sat for a bit, it was time to use the sponge and wipe off the excess. Luckily the sponge had a textured side which made the scrubbing easier than expected to remove the stubborn grout from the tiles, but overall it wasn’t too painful of a process for Elise to do.
After the mortar dried for 24 hours, we had to apply another coat of sealant, this time to protect our newly finished grout. I didn’t have much of a clue as to what I was doing, so I just soaked the sponge with sealant and spread it around the tile. I applied 2 coats to make sure I got enough on there and then waited for about 30 minutes prior to wiping the excess off. After that, it was another 24 hours to completely dry and then we could set up the beer lines and finally start drinking.
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