A look into the future

Wow! It's been a while since I posted. February 18 to be exact. So I've done a couple of jobs recently that have involved materials not commonly used in homes these days. ...but they will be in the near future. The one is an 18x18 porcelain tile installed for a shower surround. Most people, at least in the Milwaukee area, use smaller tiles. However larger format tiles are on the rise in popularity and are showcased in magazines as commonly as 12x12's. The second photo shows a 12x24 tile. An awesome sized tile. Very unique. But, only unique now. So get on your horse and have it installed before it becomes common.
Please excuse the lack luster photo taking ability I've shown here. We'll post some better ones at the end of the job.

Note to installers: In the second photo you'll notice a pice of Custom Building Products new wall backerboard Easyboard. The Easyboard was used in the shower and I'll write more about that later. This entry is getting long enough as it is.

Note to installers and designers: The tile layout landed with a couple of the tiles at the living area which were a very small size. 2" to be exact. We didn't want to offset the tile layout to compensate for that. Instead we cut a couple pcs. of tile to create a threshold. It worked out excellent and the pics of the finished job will be even better.

Marble Coffee Table Grouted

Here's a much better picture of this unique table. In a couple days it can be sealed and then it's ready to perform a lifetime's worth of duty.
Legs? What type do you think should be installed? Leave a comment. Thanks!

Marble Coffee Table

The material used in my latest table design is marble. The marble came on mesh backed 1 foot square sheets. In order to avoid a patterned look the sheets were cut into individual lines and placed on the table offset from one another.
After grouting and sealing this table should trump all other coffee tables on the block.

The End Result

Here's a picture of the table on it's stand and a picture of a table needing some legs. If a client were to like the smaller table I would discuss different options of legs with them taking into account the rest of their homes surroundings. These truly are customized to an individuals taste and style.

Cleaned up

Forgive the backdrop, it's hard to find the right spot to take a picture quickly.
So here's a better picture of the finished table top along with a picture of a smaller end table that is also made out of glass.
And in case you were wondering I do work with more than just glass for my tables.

Grouting the table

This picture shows the first of the grout installed on the table. Now you can see that this is a pretty modern looking table. The two different shades of color from the two different glass tiles really make this table a true original.
Glass tiles need to be spaced at least 1/8" apart from each other. These tiles are irregular and so when the closest points of two tiles meet the other edges of those pcs. may veer away from one another leaving a gap larger than 1/8". In this case you would need to use a sanded grout b/c the grout lines are larger than 1/8". However, the glass is too soft and will scratch from the sand in the grout.
The owner was aware of this beforehand and is only using the table for the placement of non-movable objects like a lamp or coasters. All with felt padding of course.
We used non-sanded grout and will be applying a second coat to make up for shrinkage of the first. Another option would be to use an additive with the grout. Commonly a latex additive. We'll get the table cleaned up tomorrow and have another picture up soon.

Sides

I should mention the that the tile in the previous photo is 4"x12" glass.
This photo shows the sides of the table being installed.