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VanTiki Bathroom Project! |
VanTiki
Grand Member (5 years) 
Joined: Nov 25, 2005
Posts: 908
From: Hawaii
|  Posted: 2007-07-30 6:31 pm Permalink
Aloha All -
I thought you may want a peek at out soon-to-begin major bathroom renovation project. We've settled on a "nautical Tiki" theme and are set to start construction in 3 weeks (or so).
A bit of background: The VanTiki house is a very old, small house. Well, old by , VanTiki standards. It was build in 1950 in a raised plantation style. We picked it up as a bank Kailua in 2001 and while structurally sound, it looked pretty bad. We've been slowly fixing it up, and the bathroom is next up on the hawaii' project list. I'll post some "before" shots once we begin swinging hammers.
The project: The house is a 1 bathroom house with a toilet and shower (well - there is a weird quasi bath - about 3 and a half feet square and a foot deep that makes up the bottom of the shower). We will be ripping out the old shower and turning it into a closet, putting in a new corner shower, putting in a new sink, and tiling the entire b-room (except the ceiling). We picked out a river rock floor tile, and a tan 18" field tile for the walls. To foreclosure things up a bit we are adding a band of ol tiles around the entire bathroom. Yep - looks like I gotta press 160 of these guys in the next week to get them done in time! Ya-tiki!
The tile surfaces:
I am a tile pressing machine:
I'll post more shots as the project unfolds!
Henrik "VanTiki"
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hewey
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 14, 2004
Posts: 4270
From: Sydney, Australia
| Posted: 2007-07-30 8:30 pm Permalink
Make sure you post plenty of before, during and after shots 
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Tiki Zen
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 15, 2007
Posts: 352
From: Too far from the beach Bowling Green, KY
| Posted: 2007-07-31 07:17 am Permalink
I dig the tile - tell us more about pressing them! I've laid tile, but my budget is limited to what they have at Lowes or Home Depot. I'd love to come up with some cool ones like you have.
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frostiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 14, 2006
Posts: 434
From: Mobile, AL
| Posted: 2007-07-31 11:36 am Permalink
You're not done yet? It's been well over a half hour. Everything on HGTV gets done in a half hour.
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kingstiedye
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 05, 2005
Posts: 1229
From: sackatomato
| Posted: 2007-07-31 12:06 pm Permalink
i can't wait to see your new bathroom, henrik. the tiles are so cool.
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VampiressRN
Grand Member (5 years)
Joined: Nov 23, 2006
Posts: 5089
From: Sin City Lincoln Hills (NorCal)
| Posted: 2007-07-31 9:21 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2007-07-31 11:36, frostiki wrote:
You're not done yet? It's been well over a half hour. Everything on HGTV gets done in a half hour.
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This is exciting...I am looking forward to the transformation. 
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 "Oh waiter, another cocktail please!!!"
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Haole'akamai
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 07, 2005
Posts: 2269
From: The Polynesian Port of NOLA
| Posted: 2007-08-01 09:26 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2007-07-31 07:17, Tiki Zen wrote:
I dig the tile - tell us more about pressing them! I've laid tile, but my budget is limited to what they have at Lowes or Home Depot. I'd love to come up with some cool ones like you have.
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Yeah, I'm also very interested. We're looking to make a patio, but are sorely disappointed in local tile design. These would be terribly cool.
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-Catherine Aird
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danlovestikis
Grand Member (8 years) 
Joined: Jun 17, 2002
Posts: 3569 | Posted: 2007-08-02 06:39 am Permalink
Tiki Tiles, those are so cool. Wendy
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VanTiki
Grand Member (5 years)
Joined: Nov 25, 2005
Posts: 908
From: Hawaii
| Posted: 2007-08-12 7:50 pm Permalink
So much awesome support! As many have expressed interest in the ceramic tile process - I took a bunch of shots as I spent an exciting Sunday pressing bathroom tiles!
First off, the clay. I am using a nice white cone 6 clay body from Laguna clay:
To waste as little clay as possible, I take a 25lb bag and whomp away on it until it has stretched out a bit and is roughly the same size as the tiles I am pressing. Here you see the stretched out 25lbs next to a standard bag of clay.
I then slice up the clay like a loaf of bread using a handy-dandy clay cutter thingamabob.
The slices are neatly stacked and bagged to keep them from drying out too quickly
I then prep the plaster tile molds - brushing out any clay dust or particles. I have more info on making these molds on the separate Tiki Tile thread.
I place a slice of clay into the mold and press it in with my fingers. This can be the tricky stage when dealing with very high-relief tiles (like the skull tiles), but this design is fairly low-key.
I place a piece of canvas over the clay and then an oak square that will act as the "Plunger" when I press the tile. The canvas keeps the clay from sticking to the wood.
I stick the prepped mold into my tile press
and I pull the lever! I dunno how much pressure I put on the tiles - but I actually do a chin-up for ever tile I press (lifting myself off the floor). Very dramatic stuff
here you see a freshly pressed tile with the excess clay oozing out around the wood plunger block.
All 4 zig-zag tile molds freshly pressed with the canvas and blocks removed
I cut away the excess clay with a wire cutter, then scrape the tile flush using a wood tool
The mold is set aside for a minute or two to allow the moisture to get sucked out of the clay and into the plaster mold. As the water leaved the clay, the tile shrinks. When I can see a gap between the tile edge and the mold, the tile is ready to be released. I flip the mold over and slam it down on a set of raised blocks - and if all goes well the clay tile drops out! (once again, very dramatic!)
At this stage I clean up any air bubbles or bad edges on the tile, then I set it on the rack to dry. Here you see one 25lb bag of clay transformed into tiki tiles:
Ta da! Now - I wanna be sure to give credit to tile artist and author Frank Giorgino and his amazing book Handmade Tile. If you ever want to "press your own" - his is the book to get. I've got a mini-library of tile books, and his is the best by far!
I'll post more bathroom photos soon. We are set to demo the existing bathroom this Wednesday. Good Times!
Henrik "VanTiki"
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hewey
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 14, 2004
Posts: 4270
From: Sydney, Australia
| Posted: 2007-08-12 8:24 pm Permalink
Great post Van! very interesting
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Tiki Zen
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 15, 2007
Posts: 352
From: Too far from the beach Bowling Green, KY
| Posted: 2007-08-13 09:48 am Permalink
Wow - a ton of work to produce those tiles, but the quality shows. This has dashed my hopes of making my own - unless you can stamp them out of Play-Doh.
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kingstiedye
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 05, 2005
Posts: 1229
From: sackatomato
| Posted: 2007-08-13 12:34 pm Permalink
wow henrik, this is one of my favorite posts ever. mahalo for the pics and narrative.
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Paipo
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 22, 2006
Posts: 1886
From: Aotearoa / NZ
| Posted: 2007-08-13 3:36 pm Permalink
You always do such a great job of documenting your process, which I really appreciate. It takes time to put together posts like that.
Cheers! 
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Queen Kamehameha
Grand Member (7 years) 
Joined: Oct 21, 2003
Posts: 1370
From: So Cal
| Posted: 2007-08-13 4:34 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2007-08-13 15:36, Paipo wrote:
You always do such a great job of documenting your process, which I really appreciate. It takes time to put together posts like that.
Cheers!
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Agreed +1, so many great step by steps make it possible for the rest of us to even try. thank you
Amy
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VanTiki
Grand Member (5 years)
Joined: Nov 25, 2005
Posts: 908
From: Hawaii
| Posted: 2007-08-13 4:39 pm Permalink
Aloha All - first up - responses to the kind comments:
Hewey - Mahalo! Your support is greatly appreciated - it keeps my sore muscles moving
Tiki Zen - yep - it is a lot of work, and I am only half way done! Still gotta fire, glaze, and fire these guys. I really enjoy it, though - feels wonderfully old-school. Tiles have been made this way for thousands of years.
Kingstiedie - wow! A compliment and a half! I'll keep adding to the post as the process (and project) continue.
Paipo - thank you so much - it is a bit of extra effort documenting the process - but it is great to share because that is how ideas get better! I was going crazy washing my hands every time I needed to pick up the camera yesterday
Now for the update - wanted to show a shot of the Rapidly Shrinking Tiles - here they are a day after pressing. Keep in mind I had these all mashed together on the rack yesterday. This is how they looked this morning:
So weird to see all the gaps between tiles! They clay shrinks about 10% while drying, and another 2% when firing. I may press a few more this afternoon - I will be spending tomorrows "tiki Studio" time making ceramic shower shelves for our shampoo, soap, and stuff). Not sure just yet how they are going to fit together - should be interesting! The skull tiles you see drying are to test a new bright red cone 6 glaze I am very excited about.
Mahalo for looking -
Henrik "VanTiki"
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