This week I take an extra day at the house to try and clear my mind from a family tragedy. When we left last weekend we had finished the dry layout of tiles and this weekend the main goal is to patch some holes in the leveling cement and then apply Redgard to the floor. Before working on that, I mark all of the tile sheets and pack them up so we can hopefully easily restore them when we start tiling.

Once everything is cleaned up, I start with patching some of the cracks in the floor. The contractor I hired put down leveling cement, but there were a few spots in the floor where there was a seam that he didn’t properly seal up before pouring the leveling compound. The compound leaked through leaving some gaps. There’s also a sloppy hole near the tub plumbing that I want to clean up.

I buy some patching cement at Lowes and mix up a batch to cover up the gaps. For the first batch I mix up too much and the stuff starts hardening way faster than I can apply it. I should have figured I’m not a wizard with applying cement and made a smaller amount so I end up having to throw out a bunch. I mix up smaller batches and am able to get the gaps filled. I use some mesh tape to help bridge the larger gaps and it seems to hold pretty well.

After the first coat cures. I go back through and put a second one over to level everything up.

I give the cement a few days to cure before moving to the next floor work, so in the meantime I decide to paint the ceiling. I previously bought some clay paint to use on the ceiling to even out the plaster. The raw plaster looks decent enough, but is a little unfinished with streaks from trowel marks and color discrepancies. In the cottage I ended up using limewash which I liked, but it has a definite mottled look that I wasn’t feeling in the bathroom. I wanted a more traditional paint look but also didn’t want to lose the breathability of the plaster or add some VOCs into the mix. I end up finding some clay-based paints from Bioshield. The paint is breathable, no chemicals, and works nicely with plaster.

I’m not sure if clay-based paint is historically accurate in that I think most paint was linseed oil-based, but it goes on relatively easily and I’m able to knock out 2 coats for the ceiling.

Ceiling with clay paint applied. Compare to the walls which are also plaster, but have a little more inconsistency in color.

Cement is still curing so off to some woodwork. There’s plenty of boards to dye and stain, but also want to stain the door molding before the floor tiles go down. I could totally imagine dripping stain on my new tile so let’s get that out of the way before we get the tile in.

After the cement is cured, now it’s on to applying Redgard to the floor. Redgard is a liquid waterproof and anti-crack membrane. This is similar to the sheet membrane I tried but with my disasterous application of that membrane, I decide to try a liquid application. After the NobleSeal membrane was a mess, I looked for some alternatives. The problem is that the bulk of the membranes are not rated for tiles under 2”. I called the company that makes Redgard, along with other membranes, and they recommended the liquid membrane for smaller tiles. The membrane is applied with either a trowel or roller. I go for the roller and am able to get 2 coats down pretty easily.

As I wait for the Redgard to dry, I go back to woodwork and this time I shellac and stain the bathroom door. This comes out looking OK, but is a little light so I may need to apply another coat of stain next weekend.