The Front Entry

Time takes its toll on all things. In this case it has taken its toll on the grout between the tiles in the front entry.

The tile was clearly not original. In fact, it matched the tile outside on the front porch. We know that's not original either.

The tile wasn't terrible, but then we've always had a rug that covered most of it.

The grout was starting to get bad though. Especially around the edge near the door. It was pretty well cracked and some pieces were missing. The edge that touches the outside undergoes a lot of stress with the changing temperatures throughout the year.

After some discussion and realizing that re-grouting wasn't really the way to go, we decided on total replacement.

Getting this right was important because its the first thing people see when they enter the house. Ergo I was not going to do it myself. So we called up Nate, who'd done work in the master bath and kitchen.

In order to remove the old tile, the radiator had to be removed. As a prerequisite, the radiator system had to be drained...

Then all the tile could be removed, followed by the mud bed.

One of the sub-floor's boards broke during the demolition, so that got repaired along the way as well.

The next day the new mud bed went in.

Then Nate had a long day installing the isolation membrane, followed by the tile. I think it took a little longer than he anticipated.

It took a fair amount of research to find something we liked that fit in the space, but still evoked some level of historical appropriateness.

We ended up with this arabesque pattern.

There's a bit of variation in the marble, so it's not a stark, harsh white.

The thin frames that surround the arabesque pieces have a mirror-like quality to them. As a result, the tone changes depending on your perspective and the light as it reflects what is beyond, whether it is the door, wainscoting, walls, ceiling, or side-lights.

Nate has one more trip to put the last coat of sealer on.

Then I can touch up the paint around the bottom edge of the wainscoting before calling it done.