Thursday, May 20, 2010

Home Project: Day 14

Tuesday we grouted (is that a word) all the tile. I had picked up a book at the library that said that it would take 3 hrs per 100 sq ft to grout. I scoffed at this. After all, I had done this before and I know it wasn't that hard. Read on
My friend , and across the street neighbor, had volunteered to help me wash walls on Tuesday. She graciously allowed me to substitute warm water and rags for sandy grout and a sponge and the two of us grouted all the kitchen while our toddlers took their afternoon naps. We made quick time and it was great getting to know her better as we worked.
After such a pleasant experience earlier in the afternoon, I was confident that Tim and I could finish the rest of the tile by 10 pm, at the latest.
I swear someone stretched out our floor plan and added a few extra hundred square feet of tile. It never ended. I worked that grout into those crack from 7 pm until 10 basically non-stop and still it kept coming. Tim's job was to clean of the tiles and reduce the film covering after an area was sufficiently hardened. This left me to lay all the grout. My forearms hurt just thinking about the sweeping motion. When I close my eyes I can still see tile lines in my head.
Anyhow, around midnight, after a re energizing Slurpee and some corn nuts, I finished grouting the last tile. Barely able to move, I shuffled up the stairs and flopped down on the bed, barely stirring when Tim climbed in next to me 3 hours later after scrubbing all the tiles and cleaning off the tools.
Happy ending: The grout is done. The tile looks great. Abigail was not born the following day.

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