@ashira

Been working my butt off for the last few weeks on a large tile mosaic for an outdoor shower. I’m one of those people who learns best when I can be directly hands on, learning as I go, and I have definitely learned *a lot* working on this project. I learned to use a wet saw & cut *a lot* of tile pieces with it. I also learned I do not really like using a wet saw bc I don’t like getting soaked with dirty water spitting up from the saw, so I went old school and smashed the tiles instead. That part took days. At some point I gave my kids hammers and safety glasses and passed that job over to them which was great bc turns out they really love smashing tiles— and what kid wouldn’t?! I knew I did not want to be installing the mosaic piece by piece on the wall so I got some fiber glass mesh, cut appropriately sized strips, labeled them on the back so I’d know which panel went where, and started building the mosaic like a giant puzzle on my kitchen table. That part took days. After I’d build out sixteen 12”x9” panels, it was time to start installing. I knew a little bit about how to install bc I’d worked on a tile mosaic project around 15 years ago with another artist once, but that one was indoors and didn’t need to be waterproof so we had a lot of leeway. Plus it was 15 years ago and I didn’t remember much about the technicalities anyways. I did a lot of research reading up on blogs, product websites, forums, Reddit etc etc. and I also used ChatGPT to help me organize what I found and to talk about ideas I had— like does it make sense to use cake decorating bags for the grout bc I’m using so many different colors? In the end, I hired a tile professional to come work with me for a couple days so I wasn’t doing it all alone, and could make sure I was installing everything correctly given it’s going to be exposed to the elements and will be getting wet. It was definitely the right move. He was knowledgeable and patient w me, plus he gave me tips and showed me some tricks. I learned an absolute *ton* from him. I still have a lot of work to do and it’s nowhere near done, but we did have the city inspection yesterday since the work permit expired tmw and miraculously we passed which is a HUGE relief. Every single part of this project has included a lot of mental labor, a TON of physical labor, and even plenty of emotional labor. There was a lot to figure out with each step in terms of what exactly I needed, where to get what I needed—if what I needed (ok, wanted) was even possible, and then account for sometimes tedious warehouse ordering and then slow shipping times. It was figuring out what to be flexible on when what I wanted for the project was difficult or impossible to find, or cost too much— either in terms of money, bc obviously, or time— bc of the city work permit expiration date. I had to be super flexible in terms of colors and tile style bc 1) this mosaic needs to be UV resistant and good for exposure to rain and shower water, + high heat, direct sun, and mild/SoCal) cold, and 2) the vast majority of readily available tiles are pretty plain and boring— like there’s 5,000 different shades of tan, and gray and white etc. but almost no pinks besides pale pale pale verging on a peachy-beige sort of ‘pink’, and most brights I found were simply not UV resistant. Gluing the tile pieces to the fiber glass mesh took probably 5x the time I thought it was going to take. Installing the tiles and then grouting was extremely physically taxing— esp since I’ve been hand mixing small batches of grout using various amounts and combinations of pearlescent mica pigments, matte cement pigments, and UV resistant glitter to make the large variety of grout colors I’m using. And cleaning grout— don’t even get me started on cleaning grout once it’s applied to the tiles— or what happens when you do not properly clean a section of tiles you just grouted before finally going to sleep at 4am after being up since 8am. It’s not pretty. But thankfully we passed inspection so now there is less of a mad rush to complete it all though I am still pretty anxious (and excited) to get it done. Next up, after I finish all the cement grouted areas, I’ll be figuring out how to use a two part clear epoxy grout for the 1” iridescent glass tiles we installed on the floor and shower bench. Kinda looking forward to it and kinda really not. I could ofc just go w a regular unsanded grout but then I wouldn’t get to learn how to use an epoxy grout and really—what’s the fun in that?? Plus, the epoxy grout will give the iridescent glass tiles a depth of color and sparkle that a regular unsanded grout just won’t, so I’m going for it. If you read all that, your reward is knowing that if you ever need to know anything about installing a waterproof outdoor UV resistant mosaic, and/or about any sort of custom coloring grout— I’m definitely your gal!

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