Matters at hand

How long can one avoid dealing with the matter at hand. Tiling times are here again!
We have two projects at hand. The first and more involved is tiling the bathroom floor and walls. This will take considerably longer than originally planned because the "mistri" will first have to level the floor and walls to create a "base". In a new construction this is relatively easier. In our case we had removed existing floor and wall tiles. We thought that would be all but once we dug more problems came tumbling down.We found out that we will have to change all inside plumbing from galvanized iron (rusts every few years-ours had rusted) to plastic pipes (supposed to last longer), then we had to get the electrical connections rewired (mirror mirror on the wall, which bathroom has the best lighting of all!!) and then we had the drain re-configured (yeah, whats a few more dig abouts while we are at it!). If we had dug anymore we would have hit oil, I swear!
All this poking and prodding has made the walls and floor surfaces pretty...eh...lunar.
The base will be done today( fingers and toes crossed) using cement, sand and concrete.

Our other project is supposed to be more straight forward. We want to get vitrified tiles laid on balcony floors which have the traditional marble chip floors as of now. Unlike bathroom tiles, these don't require a traditional cement base. These will be stuck on the existing floor using a "special chemical cement". Until a few years ago this "special chemical cement" had to be mixed with a "special chemical liquid" to make a paste that would then be used to stick the tiles .
We will be using a new variety that can be mixed with regular tap water. What exactly is this chemical? I'll let you know as soon as I find out. Until then I am as gung ho as the "special chemical cement" people and endorse their proud claim on the packing.

NY Times on Grout

Its an epidemic...people around the world are falling on their knees. Check out this article in today's NY Times about cleaning grout-

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/garden/03fix.html?_r=1&ref=garden&oref=slogin

Tiles on my mind

While we are at it (and while I am still obsessed with it) I thought I would deviate from tiling nightmares into tile dreams.
The absolutely fantastic Spanish Tiles with moorish influences and Mediterranean colors are an unbeatable kaleidoscope of colors and designs. The aquamarines and yellows are great in bathrooms, kitchen and my favorite, steps.

You can find a more detailed history of Spanish ceramics here.
Closer home similar Arabesque tiles are found in many mughal monuments. Chini Ka Rauza is the tomb of Allama Afzal Khan, Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan's prime minister and gets its name from the colorful tiles (chini) that cover the walls of the tomb. Blue, green and yellow glazed tiles embellish this medieval mausoleum in Agra.
Not too far from Agra, one can find the traditional Jaipur tiles ( I am told one can find them around Delhi's Janpath too). I don't see a whole wall of these , but maybe a few accents here and there.
And then again, there are those southern beauties-Attangudi Tiles
To quote an article in The Hindu

"Long before even mosaic tiles became fashionable, the people of a little village called Attangudi in Tamil Nadu had perfected the art of making decorative cement floor tiles. These tiles needed no special machines and not even baking, as the ingredient used was not clay, but sand and cement. Just bare hands, a clean glass, and a mould were enough. Certain designs didn't even need the mould."

(Read the complete article here.)


The Hindu article mentions that Attangudi tiles come at a rate of approx. Rs 25/square foot, which is a lot lower than the Rs. 35/square foot that I am paying for the run of the mill Kajaria variety!!
Then again the unfortunate truth is that the traditional though prettier, cheaper and more eco friendly is less accessible than the mass produced more expensive variety.

Does anyone know where can one source Attangudi Tiles from?

"Tiles" and Tribulations

I don't know how they did it!
All I am doing is a simple but much needed renovation and am cross eyed and bow legged from all the effort. I don't know how my parents got a whole dang house built from scratch. Its a bathroom makeover and a few other fixes and it is going to take foreverrrr plus two days!

Now on to more pertinent and useful facts. You may think that all bathroom tiles are being designed by moonlighting set designers from Indian TV soaps but if you are persistent and willing to go the extra mile ( specifically to Jagat Puri Sanitary and Tiles Market in East Delhi), you are likely to find what you are looking for.

Tiles are expensive, though you may get a good deal if you ask for "seconds"...then again these will not last you that long and several in the box maybe chipped and cracked, which makes the whole "seconds and thus cheap" issue redundant.

The bigger the wall tiles, the lesser the grout between them making them easier to clean. Same goes for tiles with "texture", less texture the better, though some designs can be hard to resist! The standard bathroom wall tile sizes are 10 x 13 inches and 18x 12 inches. There are square ones too but then we go back to that old grout and If that wasn't a concern I would love to get this!

Same may not true though for floor tiles, which need to have some texture so you wouldn't slip and break your fannydolittle. Your karigar needs to create a slant in the bathroom floor so the water will drain in the direction of, well the drain. This is a highly specialised skill. Once the slant in the floor is determined (and it is well within your rights to ask him to demonstrate its efficacy), the person who will lay the tiles will slice and grind the tiles to adhere to the aforementioned slant. SO, in this case, the smaller the tiles the easier the lay (ha ha!) and fewer slices of tiles.