La Quinta, California: Four months ago we hired a crew to replace the cracked travertine tiles in our house. The cracks were mostly along three long lines - which we soon learned were where the seams in the concrete slab foundation had been poured 18 years ago... and three random cracks/ugly tiles near the kitchen sink... and don't forget: I Can See The San Andreas Fault From My House. Due to 400 houses being built in this country club (about 18 years ago), the tiles guys are super busy (as you can only imagine) replacing and repairing), so we had to wait our turn. I hired Sergio because I see him working in this development nearly daily on my walk/jogs. He is very personable, and highly recommended.
The crew taped-off every inch of our house. It seemed like a good idea, but with tile-sawing and chipping out the cracked tiles, there was an inch of dust on every surface of our house - even in closed-off rooms where the team did not visit. Seriously. Dust in the desert is a given, but dust during tile renovation comes to a new level - the powder room as an example:
The cracks were along three places. 1) A vast line from Dave's office through the entire living area. 2) From the front of the entry through the bar and then the entire dining area... and then a crack from under my kitchen desk and into the pantry... and randomly two tiles in the kitchen, adjacent to one super ugly tile in the kitchen that had so much "natural" embellishments I thought someone had obviously stepped on a squid every dang time I was in the kitchen.
Now all gone.
The kitchen completely taped-off - including my kitchen desk and the dinette (left). I moved my "office" into the guest room for two days. Dave moved his "office" into Leo and Lucy's room.
indicating tiles to be removed.
Next, the new tiles were grouted and cleaned-up.
Impressive match! The replaced tiles run straight down from the trash can, past the front the the chairs. The work was completed in two days!
Maricela sent a crew to our house to clean this morning. Dave and I tackled the living/dining/family/bar area, and her crew tackled the rest of the house. Five hours later, our house was rid of dust! The living room carpet and furniture (and dining furniture) were "swapped/reversed" to help with sun exposure. Every inch of travertine was vacuumed and mopped.
We are very happy with the four areas of our home where the tile was replaced.
Dinner tonight was a super yummy take on DanDan noodles from Bon Appetit magazine. It is vegan, but no one will ever know. There is a bit of chopping and prep work, though all can all be completed early in the day. Saucy Tofu Noodles With Cucumbers and Chili Crisp is a dish I will be making again... and again. (NOTE: I used an English cucumber.)
We enjoyed this almost as much as we enjoyed the Ducks beating UCLA in overtime.
Until my next update, I remain, your crack-free correspondent.
Hi Terry, The flooring looks beautiful.
Odd questions. What brand refrigerator & freezer is that set? And, do you like it or if you could, would you make any changes to it?