Last December, we changed the look of the focus wall in living room with Asian Paints’ decorative paint as part of their Surprise your Spouse campaign. Now, I’m looking at various options to transform a wall in the dining room for a budget under Rs. 10,000. The partially open wall divides the dining area and the kitchen. I would love to give a fireplace look to the wall with some lanterns and low-seating wooden dining table. The look is fresh in my mind but I’m having trouble deciding on the tiles.

For a fireplace look, the choice is easy if the area is large. Any deep-red brick color should do but I’m skeptical as it would make the small dining room much smaller. While scouting for ideas, I came across these lovely well-lit rooms with a rustic feel in the 2008-2011 BBC Good Homes CD collection (have you seen it?) and Houzz.

After looking at these images, I’m leaning towards a lighter color palette - a mix of silver and grey with a brick pattern to give that rustic look.

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In continuation of yesterday’s discussion on replacing floor tiles in a bathroom, let’s estimate how much it will cost.

For a modest bathroom of size 6 ft * 7 ft, here’s the estimate for replacing tiles:

Labor charges for removing the existing tiles: Rs.15 per sq.ft (Hometown cost)

Renting a machine for tile tile removal: Rs. 500. If you are hiring a individual contractor, then he may charge you for renting the machine needed to remove the tiles.

Tile cost : Roughly around Rs. 1000 - 3600 for 3 boxes of 1*1 feet tiles. The starting price of a good tile is Rs. 22-23 per piece or sq.ft. while the average price of a good anti-skid tile is Rs. 42. 1 sq. ft tiles are available from Rs.22 to Rs. 80. The price goes up for a large tile from Rs.80 to Rs.150. Brands include Kajaria, Bell, Somany, and Nitco to name a few.

Labor cost for installing the tiles: Rs. 40 per sq.ft. The minimum area for laying should be Rs.150 sq.ft for HomeTown.

Time to complete the work : 3-4 days.

Total cost: Under Rs.10,000.

If you’d like to replace the commode as well along with the tiles, then a white CERA one costs around Rs. 6500. For colored ones, the cost increases like Rs.7000 for a cream one. Parryware is at least 10% more expensive than a CERA one.

Q: Can u suggest best ( and least expensive! ) options to do bathroom flooring? In our modest 2BHK home, we can not do many changes, but want better flooring, which is easier to clean, skid-proof and with minimum joints ( i don’t know term ).

This post is in response to Preeti’s question.

Preeti’s situation mirrors most of our issues with bathrooms. Most of our problems with keeping bathrooms clean wouldn’t occur if they were dry all the time. Let’s go back to the basics of bathroom design now. For a bathroom to remain free of moisture, there should be well demarcated areas for the vanity, wash basin, bath area and the commode. If it is a free flowing surface with no segregation and proper sloping for water to flow, then there are little chances for a clean and low-maintenance bathroom.

I’ve often observed that bathroom renovation happens much earlier in most apartments than the remaining parts of the house.

1. Non-porous/Low water absorption : Most Indian bathrooms are wet unlike those in the West. So it’s important to choose tiles that are non-porous in nature with a very low water absorption capacity. The longer the water stays on the tile surface, higher is the tendency for dirt to get absorbed. Since it’s not always possible to immediately wipe clean the moisture, check the water absorption by weight ratio before buying a tile. The recommended number is less than 3%. Most brands publish this as part of the product’s technical specifications.

2. Size:The standard size for floor tiles a few years earlier was 300 mm * 300mm (roughly 1 *1 sq.foot). Which meant more grout area, or the joint between tiles. The gaps between ceramic tiles filled with white cement is what gets dirty the most because of discoloration from dirt. Frequent cleaning with Harpic or a scouring agent like soda/vinegar paste will ensure it remains spotless. But that’s hard work and you don’t want to be holed up in the bathroom all day on a Saturday , right? Notice the number of joints in the picture below? Such bathrooms look great in pictures, but are hard to maintain.

The market is inundated with a wide range of choices of 600 mm *600 mm (roughly 2*2 sq. ft) floor tiles. If you are planning for a bathroom renovation, then I suggest you take a look at this. Nitco, Kajaria, Somany and most leading brands have sizes closer to this dimension. This would mean less grouting area.

Unless you opt for a floor tile with a design or pattern on it, the size of the tile is not dependent on the size of the bathroom. Large tiles with a contrasting design look out of place in a very small bathroom.

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