Tile for the win!

Last week was wonderful!  
Our entire main floor is being tiled, and it was almost completely done in that one week! ...

The guys came in, set up a workstation and got to work on Monday.  If it had not been for a minor change made to the plan, they would have been finished by Friday.  As is, they are finishing up just a couple days into this week.

Before the tile was laid down, there was a base coat put down over the Gypcrete.  This helps the tile bind with the floor.
Let me tell you, this tile is gorgeous, even dirty.  We are so very much looking forward to seeing this after everything is cleaned up.

I was amazed how efficient and skilled these guys were.  They handled all the tiny rooms in a row (guest bathroom, laundry, master closet, master bath) incredibly quickly and extremely well done.  All the little corners and cuts are smooth and exact.

The reason the entire floor is tile is three-fold.
First, the tile, and Gypcrete under it, will act as thermal mass.  As the sun shines in on it, the tiles will warm up, and retain that warmth.
After the sun goes down, it will slowly release that heat.  

This is expected to save us a fair amount of energy, it also gives us a more comfortable way of heating than forced air.  Forced air will dry out the air as well as heat it.

Second, our radiant heat tubes (which are down in the Gypcrete under the tile, work better through tile than they would if the floor were wood, or carpet.

Third, tile is much healthier.  All sorts of allergens, dust and other things can sink into and reside in carpet.  Tile floored houses are much better for allergy sufferers (yours truly).

In addition, we have pegs in our master bedroom now to support some floating shelves above the desk area.  These were fun, as I didn't realize they were going in as I didn't want to walk over the tile until it had been grouted and set.  All of a sudden, boom! there they were:)

And then downstairs...
Downstairs we now have drywall!  The blue drywall is the same sound deadening drywall used upstairs in our bedroom.  
​The tile supporting drywall in the shower downstairs has been installed, as has the shower pan.

This week we will have our final approval meeting for our cabinets upstairs and measurements will be taken for our master closet.
In addition, we have a final design meeting for our solar pv panels and battery system.  
It should be another fun week!