Sunday, February 8, 2009

Tiling The Window Sill

My husband and his friend have been replacing a windowsill in my dining room. The old sill had been damaged by the old windows. My old windows would have so much condensation on them that water would be standing on the sill. I tried to keep the water cleaned up on the sills but it was not possible. I could wipe the windows off with thick towels and then in a few minutes they would have condensation on them again. It was a constant battle that I lost. There would be water standing between the two storm windows. Yes, there were two sets of storm windows on each and every window. There was a space between them of about two inches or less. I haven't really measured it.

Friday my husband's friend came over to our house and was sitting outside talking to him. My husband came in the house and started to convince me that his friend and he, or is it him, could take out the old windowsill and replace it with tile. They talked me into it and before I knew what had happened I had committed to a project that has lasted for several days. I had no idea what was involved. I do now. These two guys talked me into going to Home Depot and choosing tile while they got the rest of the items for the project. Guess who paid for it all? Yep, I did. It cost about $88.00 or so. The box of tile was about $30.78 without tax.

When we got back here to the house they started tearing out the old windowsill and part of the old sheet rock that had been damaged too. The sheet rock that was on the sides of the window had gotten moisture in it too because of the condensation. They were going to put tile on the windowsill and the sides of the window casement. I looked at the tile in the house and decided I didn't like the color. It looked more tan color than red. On Saturday I started looking in the phone book for places that sold tile. I went to several stores and I found one that had tiles they were getting rid of. I saw one that I thought might be alright and was a color I really like and I bought it. It cost me less than $5.00. It is made in Italy and called Serenissima Porcellanato Quarry Stone Terra. This is a picture of the tile.









I went to another store to look for more tile. I didn't find what I wanted but they did have artisan tiles. I chose one for a border that looks like the picture below but is in a color to match the Quarry Stone Terra above.

The artisan tile was not cheap. It was $6.50 each piece. The pieces are 3" x 10". I bought five of these and had to go back and get two more to finish the project. These tiles had the name Dune on the back of them.

We used the Quarry Stone Terra pictured above instead of the expensive box of tile I bought at Home Depot. I love the color and it combines well with the my painting of a baby with calla lilies that is hanging near the window and the color of the walls.

[Baby in Calla Lilies. I painted this when a student at Oklahoma City University. The professor didn't like it much. I didn't know how to paint very well. The baby in the painting is made of River Birch Tree bark. The leaves of the Calla Lilies are made of rice paper. The painting was done to honor all the aborted babies. I thought that even the Calla Lilies would hold the babies more and more lovingly than their own mothers or this world. ]

I took photos of the tile project at three different stages. I'll get those developed and upload them to this pots later.

I love the look of the tile instead of the wood windowsill. I wish I had taken more time in the planning stage. That's a joke. I had no time to plan. My husband had wanted to learn to set tile and now he has done a little. The project didn't turn out "perfect" but it is nice. I got rid of an old water warn windowsill and old sheet rock that was moldy. My husband learned something about tileing and it is good even though it isn't perfect. With the new windows and the new windowsill it looks nice. When the paint dries the curtains go back up and they will hide the tiny problems on the very ends of the sill. The problems are just from lack of planning. The problem is because of not buying enough of the artisan tiles to start with and they didn't have the board behind the artisan tiles long enough. They have touched up the ends and hope that when it is dry and sanded it won't be a problem.

If I had enough money I would have had the outside casing of the window or the wall around the window tiled. Oh well. It looks beautiful.

1 comment:

  1. Searcher.... this is an interesting post with all of the details that you gave.Please do post photos of the tiled sill.

    Now about your art work: You know what? You have talent. I have seen your other work and you do have talent. Your professor might not have liked it because of the political message attached to it. I would not hang this painting in my dining room, but I believe that it is very good art.


    ~Lorna

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