Ordering Tile Online is not as scary as you think and it's easy with Build Direct to get what you want and save a ton of money. BuildDirect provided the tile for this beautiful bathroom renovation.
I've been dying to redo our main floor bathroom since we moved into our home. It's the one most used by our family and also serves as our guest room when friends stay with us. Two months ago we discovered a slow leak in our dishwasher when the hardwood floors in our kitchen started to buckle. Once we realized what a process fixing all this would be we decided to dig in and redo the bathroom floors as well. Not having a lot of time and wanting to save as much money as possible I contacted BuildDirect, the world's largest online marketplace for heavyweight home improvement items. Their home marketplace connects you directly with suppliers so you can save the middle man cost and often save up to half the price found at big box stores.
You might think ordering tile online would be scary but BuildDirect makes it easy by allowing you to compare items side by side online and they will overnight you five samples for free! There's no need to go to a million different places when you can just have the samples delivered right to your doorstep.
Let's take a look at how this bathroom looked before. The flooring was 4×4 white tile with white grout. Our home is over 25 years old and when we moved in the grout was brown. No matter what I tried and I mean I tried everything from straight bleach to a steamer to every commercial cleaner I could find. It just created even uglier blotchy grout.
The vanity was just an average builder grade vanity we painted with a molded marble looking sink and a mirror with no frame.
After looking at my options, I chose a 3×6 Grey Tundra Polished Marble. When it came, it was even more beautiful in person. It had a lot of variation and movement in the tile, and I just knew it would be beautiful when we were done. Ordering tile online was easy and painless and best of all it was quick!
How to Remove and Install Tile
The first step was to get rid of the vanity and toilet and rip up the tile. Using a hammer and a chisel remove the old tile. Our subfloor was in good shape, so we just patched the sub floor where the cabinet had been to even everything out. We let that dry overnight and then vacuumed the floor really well to remove any dirt and debris You want to make sure the tile is installed evenly and prevent bubbling in the thin-set and grout.
Using thin-set mortar and 1/8″ spacers for our grout we set our tiles in a running bond or brick pattern.
Let the thin-set dry overnight. Remove the spacers and grout by troweling the grout over the tile. Wipe away the excess grout with a damp sponge and clean water from your tile. Rinse the sponge often during the cleaning. You may scrape any dried on grout gently but be careful not to scratch the finish. We used Delorean Grey as our grout color. 
Once we cleaned off the excess grout we installed the new toilet and vanity and sealed around the tub and toilet base with clear silicone caulk.
Finally, brush a sealer over the grout and tile to prevent staining and make cleaning much easier in the future. Because this bathroom gets a lot of use, we will re-seal it every 12-18 months.
Right now you can experience BuildDirect with the largest sale in the companies history with savings on kitchen and bath, wood flooring, carpet, vinyl flooring, mouldings and accessories as well as outdoor decking, siding and doors. There are over 900 home improvement products in the sale at up to 56% off. Ordering tile online has never been more affordable.
If you are not quite sure about your design or layout visit the online design center where you can use virtual tools to design your room or call their full support team who are available seven days a week by phone or online chat to answer your questions.
Here is how our new bathroom transformed. I just love looking at it! It's elevated this bathroom to an entirely new level. The new vanity and fixtures which I'll tell you about in another post brought everything together, and now I am no longer embarrassed for our company to see it.
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