Over the last month I’ve been getting the tile floor laid in the machine room, entry and closet. It’s still be quite cold most days, so I setup the tile saw indoors with some plastic to catch the water and debris.
I went with a ceramic large-format (12 in. 24 in.) tile, which required a special mortar and special attention to coverage while being laid.
Ryan helped me lay the tile in the machine room, which went down pretty easily, the gaps against the wall on the long sides were a bit too wide.
The spacer system I used also aligns the tiles to each other vertically, ensuring the gaps are even in three dimensions.
I filled the gaps with foam and trimmed it flush.
I went with a charcoal grout, which basically looks black. Not only does this look good with the dark tile, but it blends nicely with the black caulking I’m using everywhere.
Then I installed a small black aluminum trim piece between the floor and the base tile to cover the gap.
Ultimately this trim looks great and was a preferable alternative to ripping up the tile and starting over.
I setup some shelves with storage bins and hooked up a receiver to the speakers in the lobby.
The 5.1 receiver is paired with a separate amp for the in-wall subwoofer.
Will helped me with the entry and closet. We cut every tile and dry-laid with spacers in the entry and closet, then moved the entire layout to the live room.
This time consuming approach would normally be overkill, but with so many angled cuts, it was well worth the time.
This time when we laid it, everything fit perfectly.
I’ll be replacing the threshold at the exterior door for one that is wide enough to overlap the tile.
For the entry, since people will be kicking their shoes off, I went up the wall an extra 12 in.
The wall tiles were attached using flexible glue instead of mortar and traditional spacers instead of a leveling system.
Though it was meant to ad durability, I think it also makes the entry look much fancier.
This 36 in. x 48 in. recycled rubber mat came from a local farm store. I cut it to fit around exact shape of the floor near the exterior door, making for a very durable yet affordable custom door mat.
Finally, I setup some shelves with cleaning supplies in the closet.
The space to the right of the shelves is for a vacuum cleaner, while atop the shelves is an extensive stock of air filters.
Trevor Parscal's Studio 
