We made big strides at the beach house this week, logging more than 40 hours of tiling over four days to finally finish nearly all of the tile work.
Like last week’s detailed post on trim, doors, and tile, we created a video to walk through everything that’s happening at the house — including two other non-tile milestones. The video covers the progress in all three bathrooms and the mudroom, along with a few other updates.
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Previously we tiled floors and shower pans on shorter two-day trips, but we knew tackling eight shower walls would demand more time. This trip we brought the kids and the dog along since school hadn’t started yet and we turned the work trip into a little family getaway. A friend kindly offered us a place to stay in town while she was away, so we had somewhere comfortable to sleep without hotel costs. With no babysitting clock ticking, serious tiling finally got done.
While I spent time with the kids and the dog exploring Cape Charles, John logged most of the tiling. We considered splitting up — having him go alone to concentrate — but liked the idea of keeping the family together in case he needed a break (or ice cream deliveries). By Sunday morning we had two bathrooms fully tiled and the third about 90% complete. They’re ready for grout, and soon we’ll be able to set toilets and sinks because we officially have running water hooked up to the house.
Having water is a huge milestone after a long saga of utility work. It feels great to know that when toilets are installed they’ll actually flush — a small but thrilling victory in any renovation.
(We used a basketweave tile for one floor, a slate-like porcelain tile for another, and a long subway wall tile for multiple showers.)
The downstairs bathroom is the most classic of the three, with 9-foot ceilings and oversized 4 x 16″ subway tiles on all three walls. These larger tiles sped the job up compared to traditional 3 x 6″ subway tiles. The upstairs en-suite uses the same wall tile but only covers two walls (the third will be glass), and the shorter ceilings made that shower even quicker to tile. The large white wall tiles pair nicely with a smaller hex pattern floor and will look great once grouted.
Tiling the curb in one shower took a surprising amount of time because it wrapped around two sides and required careful mitering to create clean corners. Instead of using a stone slab for the curb, we continued the wall tile over it and used halved bullnose tiles for a pencil border around the edges. For tricky details like this we sometimes FaceTimed to plan the cuts and layout together.
This room may be our favorite, especially since it will eventually include the original clawfoot tub that belongs here.
The hall bathroom is mostly tiled as well, aside from a small section of one wall and the curb around the shower floor. John ran out of thinset (and energy) so we’ll return in a few days to finish those last bits together.
(This bathroom uses a small hex floor tile, classic subway walls, and a blue patterned accent on the back wall.)
When tiling walls, we left a small gap at the bottom for the final row. You should always set the first visible row on a level reference rather than trusting the floor to be perfectly level. We screw a scrap of wood to the wall on that level line to support the first tiled row; once the upper tiles are set you remove the wood and fit the last row of tile to the floor.
Update: A few readers asked about screwing through a waterproof membrane. We used the Schluter/Kerdi system and sealed the screw holes with Kerdi Fix (similar to silicone). Once it’s dry, you can thinset and tile over it and maintain the waterproof seal.
One accent wall uses 13 x 13″ tiles that contain multiple small patterns — they appear like many smaller tiles but are actually larger squares. Because no two tiles are identical, we planned the layout carefully to avoid repeating the same patterns next to each other and to keep the appearance balanced. Offsetting the tiles row-to-row also helps disguise seams and maintain a cohesive pattern.
This patterned shower looks busy compared to the simpler choices in the other two bathrooms, but once we grout with a low-contrast color the dark lines will be much less prominent. Grout color can dramatically change how visible tile lines are, so we chose subdued grout here to keep the overall look layered without feeling overwhelming.
Grouting won’t be instant or painless, but we’re excited to get to that final step. It may take a few trips to spread grout and remove haze, but we’re close — someday we’ll be done tiling and I’ll likely celebrate loudly.
We also hung the pocket doors in the back bedroom. Some readers asked why we’d hang doors we plan to strip and seal. The reason is practical: we’re finishing the trim throughout the house, and trim can’t be installed around doors until the doors are set. Hanging them now allows the trim and subsequent painting and floor refinishing to move forward. The doors are easy to remove later for sealing and any final work.
Other progress this week included more trim installation and fully installed A/C — though it can’t be turned on just yet for a few technical reasons covered in the video. If you’re excited by the sight of water from a hose bib, that’s in the video too. Small moments like hooking up water feel huge during a renovation.
Psst — if you want to catch up on previous beach house updates, here are earlier posts covering trim and tile, drywall, style inspiration, the house before, and more.
- Original trim, doors, and lots of new tile
- Drywall is up, and it’s glorious!
- Finding a vintage pink stove
- Stuff Sherry bought (way too early)
- The outside’s almost done & the inside’s getting good
- That time our beach house photobombed HGTV
- Walls up, walls down, and a new floor plan
- How we picked the exterior color
- Gathering beach house style inspiration
- Beach house “before” video & floor planning
- Holy seashells, we bought a beach house!
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