The tile installation process began the Wednesday after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 23rd. I knew that it was only going to be prep work due to the unlevel, cracking surface of the "basketball court". Here is a a flashback to what it looked like before:
After the first day of prep work, thinks were looking like this:
Honestly, I was a little surprised at how little got completed on the first day of work but since I had seen their work before, I wasn't concerned. Day two brought an end to the preparation stage of work.
Since Friday began the tile laying, we had to move all the tile into this area Thursday night. We stacked it inside the gate so that they could work there way out. Friday, I came home from work early to check on the progress. This is what I found...
I know its hard to see with the shadows from the house but very little was done. I got home from work before 2 and the workers had already left for the day. We weren't sure if they were planning on showing up on Saturday or not but they arrived exactly at 9 am to continue laying the tile. They did get a bit further this day.
At this point, I went ahead and paid them for the prep work and also picked out a grout. We chose a darker grout similar to the tone running throughout the tile.
Monday morning, they arrived for their 5th day or work at 8 am. I thought for sure they would finish laying tile and was surprised to find they didn't.
He did tell me that he needed my gate removed by the following day, Tuesday, so that he could completely finish. So that night after work, my dad came over to help me remove the gate (Tim was tutoring). Tuesday morning they arrived at 8am. I told them to make sure they did not cover my gate holes with tile and they promised to be finished by the end of the day.
Well that didn't happen. They called me around 11 and said their supplier gave them the wrong color grout and that they needed to go to Home Depot to pick out something else. I thought I would be coming home to a finished job but I arrived home to a partially grouted patio. I am not sure what the original grout looked like but I really like what they selected.
They did end up finishing around noon on Wednesday. I met them that evening to pay them and was given instructions not to walk on the tile for at least a day. Although it took them much longer than I expected, I am in LOVE with the finished product!
The patio is just under 640 sq feet and we bought just enough to cover cuts and leave us with a box and half left over. The tile was very reasonable priced (.99 cent sq foot) and the installers charged us 1.50 sq foot to install plus all materials. It definitely wasn't cheap but was much more reasonable than pavers. It's really hard to believe it is the same area. Here is a little side-by-side for comparison.
That before and after is totally worth the price in my book!
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