The bricked-in area outside of our master bath will be a great place to design a patio for our cats...otherwise known as a catio. We started with a brainstorming session on ways to improve and transform the area and decided on a mosaic pattern for the concrete floor. (Our next project will be whitewashing the brick walls as you can tell they're very moldy and dirty). Update: We're using pool shock in water mixture for bleaching brick walls and it's working...still in progress, and they aren't yet perfect, but you can see pics if you scroll down.
We began by collecting every piece of leftover tile in the garage and even visited some tile shops where the owners gave us leftover and damaged pieces from their inventory.
We used colored chalk to make swirling designs just as a general outline. This probably isn't necessary, it just depends on the look you want.
After scrubbing down the concrete (the only prep we did), we began by simply placing the tile (without thin-set), being aware of the chalk lines created just to get a sense of the direction we wanted to go. We wanted more of an artsy organic look and we tried to keep it simple. It's important to stay laid back about projects or they don't flow. So...if you start getting stressed, stop doing it for a while.
After tiles were in place, we began applying thin-set mortar from the back brick wall, moving backwards. You don't want to sit where you've just worked, so be aware of your starting place! (Removing any unnessesary cats as you go along)
Grout and thin-set need to be the consistency of brownie batter. That has worked best for us. If it's pancake batter consistency, it's too thin! :) You're welcome.
Adding pics as I go along. Aug 13th-This is the progress we made today.
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