Renovation Update 2

Tiles for the Ground Floor Bathroom

Earl and I had an extremely productive morning! We purchased all the tiles needed for the house at Wilcon today along with the baseboards, cornices and the second floor bathroom sink. The items will be delivered on Wednesday.

The tiles above were also chosen by my sister. The floor tile is actually gray with a tinge of brown but in the photo it looks more like brown. The green tile represents the paint color closest to what we're planning for the bathroom walls.

Rabacon started work on the house last Monday, September 6, and Maricel told us that they will be installing the tiles in both bathrooms by next week (thus the need to buy the tiles already).

Cornice & Baseboard

This was one of the cheaper baseboards and cornices we could find. A product of Matimco, PrimeCoat Wood is already pre-coated and pre-sanded for the same price as the unfinished version. The difference is that this finished version is finger jointed (though I'm not sure exactly what that means) and not treated against termites. According to the sales agent at Wilcon if left uncut then no problem as the coating will prevent termites. But once cut, it would be best to apply Solignum to the exposed areas.

But when I sent an email to Matimco regarding the matter, here's their reply (courtesy of Cesar Erfe):

...PCW is not treated with Solignum however, you may brush on Solignum on its surface as well as cut edges. This will give you protection against termites, wood borers and fungal decay. The only problem is that the preservative won't penetrate the wood so in cases of scratches, you will need to retouch.

You'd be happy to know that we have a brand called Matwood that offers baseboards and cornices also. This brand is treated with Solignum using the double-vacuum pressure process that ensures full penetration of the preservative in the Sapwood part of the wood. You will still need to brush on cut edges because hartwoods cannot be penetrated by any treatment regardless of the process. Although the hartwood part of the wood has a natural resistance to the said threats, it will not repell termites. It's better to not have them around. You'd be able to enjoy a 10 year fully backed local warranty with Matwood.

Well, too late as we already bought the materials and we're also cost cutting.

Tile Design for the Ground Floor

My mom didn't like it, my sister didn't like it, and my husband didn't like it. Suffice to say that this tile was subject to a lot of debate.

It was this tile and me against the world.

Unfortunately, I was not too keen on the options they were suggesting because they preferred lighter colored tiles. They think this tile is too dark and "unfinished" (also not sure what my sister meant by that). My perspective was that the lighter the tile, the more we'd have to clean up.

Well, we did agree on one tile design but it was way too out of budget.

Also, I wanted the floor to contrast with the wall - the floor would either have to be lighter or darker than the wall color. If it were lighter, I'd have to return to the cleaning argument. If it was too dark, it would make the small space even smaller. I felt that this was a good mid-way color.

But we will soon find out whether or not I made the right decision.

As to the sink, I wanted a very classic sink and faucet style from HCG (LF352 4" which you can view here). But they were Php 4000 more expensive than the Kohler sink with Englefield faucet combination that we chose instead.

Speaking of substitutions, we changed the wall tile for the second floor bathroom (which you can view here) to Mariwasa Forest Beige 20cm x 30cm. Not only was it cheaper, it also aligns with the measurements of both the border and floor tiles. This arrangement, according to Maricel, is more aesthetically pleasing.

Thanks to the changes, we saved over Php 14,000 which we will use for the lights and bathroom fixtures (the next items on our to-do list).

Notes:

Ground Floor
Sol Ceramica Bynar - 60cm x 60cm

Ground Floor Bathroom
Border - Picasso Mosaic B141-1 - 30cm x 30cm
Wall - Ten Zen 3050 - 30cm x 30cm
Floor - Sol Ceramica Mack Gris - 30cm x 60cm

Second Floor Bathroom Sink
Kohler Pedestal Sink K87001-1-0