Basically, the first day of installation consisted in deciding precisely WHERE the mosaic was going to go in the room (discussion involving 4 different people took 1 hour on this alone). Then we checked out the ideal angle that the fan modules would be laid in.
Then we started drawing lines in the floor and on the mosaic (on the tile tape) to help guide us very precisely for laying it down on cement. (There would be no possible retry for that operation!)
Dry layout, checking orientation of fans
Maurice Renon, installer, drawing guide linesDay 2
“Sounding” consists of basically whacking the tiles with a flat object to make sure they adhere well and evenly, as well as flatly. I feels weird, like you’re spanking it or something, but it’s quite effective at driving out any air bubbles and making sure things are nice and flat!
So, here we are.... In the next few days I will visit Maurice at least once a day to take pictures of the evolving floor. I am sure it will take the rest of the week to do, it’s very slow work because the fans, being truly hand-made, are not quite even and not exactly the same from individual module to module, which is what makes the special---and also what drives installers nuts at the same time!
Maurice makes sure things line up
Maurice smooths the prepared area
Layer of Mapei thinset
Sounding the mosaic
Cleaning up after cementing outside vermiculae
Looking inside past the gates
Here are shots of installation days 3 and 4. I am not really involved any longer, but the guys humour me enough to let me take pictures of them.The more I see it coming along, the more I realize how huge this floor is! Right now it’s got a shiny surface because all the protective tile tape is still on, but once it gets removed (on Saturday) we will see the real tile, and then it gets grouted next week.
All 3 installers
Keith and Maurice, with a BIG floor
1 comment:
That was great work ... I was wondering who the company was that did all the cement work for you (those 3 installers)?
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