In Depth Photos & Gallery

In Depth Photo & Gallery

The following pictures and descriptions are from projects I've completed and had the chance to photograph. I share a little bit of insight on the work and preparation that has gone into them and the vision we were trying to achieve from our initial start. I've also added a slide show towards the bottom of this page with numerous amounts of photos. Some of the photographs are "before and afters", which prove beneficial in the context in which a homeowner perceives a project as overwhelming at the beginning. I tend to shoot pictures with a wide angle lens more often then many to capture a wider spectrum, so a respectable amount of the following photos may appear to be contorted. I assure you, it's only the lens. Enjoy...

This Renovation was a complete bathroom remodel from top to bottom! First off, I need to tell you how wonderful the home owner was. Excellent conversation! No matter what he spoke of, I found myself hanging on his every word. Throughout the duration of this project, I craved his presence in the hopes he would share more of his stories, details of his journeys, his accumulated wisdom and his wide variety of eclectic antiquity. I told him at the beginning, even if he hadn't chose my firm for this renovation, I felt I was already leaving as a better person, in a more enlightened state of mind. He had given me the opportunity to hold an artifact that presumably predates Christianity. For that moment, I felt,... statistically elite???? I can't even begin to describe how my body and mind reacted. It was surreal! Though I wanted to bask in this moment as long as possible and take it all in, the other side of me was thinking, "give it back before you drop it!" Given this merely incomparable transcendent moment, that I thought would

remain unparalleled for the rest of my life,... I also had my first chance to see my unborn eight week old son by ultra sound that very same day. Now, I

can only consider that day, to be inimitably, beyond comparison, one of the greatest, most unique and emotionally charged days of my life thus far.As we conversed back and fourth though numerous emails, I expressed my gratitude for the rare occasion to bear for a brief moment, such an ancient artifact of singularity, (which he digressively countered my appreciation and gratitude, with minimal observation....) "Richard, you have the opportunity to work with rare stones, different types of marble and granite that are as old as the earth itself, most pre-dating any man made object or artifacts everyday..." Yes, they are more recently cut and

polished, but none the less the stone is the same stone. This response had given me a newly, profound, self admiration for my chosen profession. He had given me more self respect and dignified appreciation for my chosen path,... in just a few simple words.

Like I had previously stated, this was a complete renovation. I had ripped out everything all the way down to the studs. I had my plumber come in and rough in all the necessary plumbing needs along with an external floor drain which in turn would make this bathroom a "wet-room", which I'll explain more in detail in a moment. I also met with this Carpenter/Electrician at the specific request of the home owner. He would be the one framing everything, wiring up the entire bathroom and making the final connections to my Nuheat Floor Warming System, along with sheet rocking and compound.

Once everything was everything inspected thoroughly, and everything prepped properly to my satisfaction, I built a custom bench for the shower and secured it into its final place. Once cement boarded, I used Laticrete Hydro-ban, followed by Schluters Kerdi Drain system which had to be modified and customized to fit this custom built shower base. Next I used Kerdi Membrane throughout the entire shower, sealing every possible portion of the interior of the shower, including the niches. Once dry, I began my ascension, but not as simple and swift as you might have thought or have come to expect from R.J. Precision Marble and Tile, not on this job. The owner, his wife and I had loved the veinage in this Statuary Carrara so much, we wanted to display it in such a fashion that would draw you eye to every corner of the entire bathroom. Some times, you have staggered patterns of veinage, which don't get me wrong, if that's what you like, then I have no problem installing it like that, but personally, I like to have the pattern flowing, continuously. It lets your mind wander and gives you a feeling of unencumbered freedom. Where as the bisecting vein pattern, to me, seems to restrict you visually. Either way, once I proposed

this idea to them, they loved it and were eager to see it up and installed. I had to lay out nearly all of the marble 12x12's out on the floor in the garage to personally and meticulously select each onto match up the veins from piece to piece. At first, it seemed overwhelming, but every piece of marble had a place, and I was fortunate enough to be the one to find it for them. It felt as if I was drawing and was capable of manipulating this stone to look however I wanted it to. I spoke early of a vision resembling the similar path of how vines would grow, like ivy grasping on to a timeless structure. We decided

that the shower would be the showcase and that we spend our best pieces in there because every corner was visible and we could discard our less desirable pieces underneath the vanity and behind the toilet. I bullnosed the niche pieces and the shower step pieces, along with the seat. Once the shower was complete, I moved out onto the floor. I installed a NuHeat Floor warming system and also Schluter's Ditra Uncoupling system. I also installed Kerdi membrane about three inches up the base of the wall to create some what of a water barrier in the event there is a spill or

flood, which could also be squeegeed into the exterior floor drain I previously mentioned that was installed. Next I installed the carrara in a straight pattern throughout the remainder of the floor and also as a base molding, which I cut and fabricated personally. Once dry, I grouted the entire marble surface and sealed the stone entirely. The home owners chose their own paint colors and shared their weekend together applying numerous coats until they reached their desired results. The carpenter came in and finished up the crown molding, trim and electrical connections. My plumber followed up with all the plumbing trim work. All in all, this has been most favorite project to date. I've been waiting for something like this to really test myself and have my mind operate outside of the box in an artistic fashion. A manner not frequented in this profession....but I think

this is where I excel. This is where my passion lies. It's funny, for as much as I love art, it was Leonardo Di Vinci's quote at the bottom of my business card that brought my perception of this work, to his attention. Something Da Vinci had uttered in the past, caused two people to connect some five hundred years later to construct a piece of art with stone.

"Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art."

- Leonardo Da Vinci

~ R.J. Precision Marble and Tile

(view the entire Kerdi System installationfor this renovation at the bottom of this page)

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Custom Slab Fabrication done by R.J. Precision Marble and Tile

I love working with stone, marble etc., but this project I had a personal passion for. I am in love with this piece. If you are interested in similar custom fabrications, please contact me.

Exclusively by R.J. Precision Marble and Tile

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These home owners were great to work with. They had a style all their own and we just bounce ideas off each other back and forth. The color scheme for the paint turned out to be great, it contrasted the porcelain and complimented it at the same time. These steps lead into the basement, and after refinishing the whole basement, we thought it only fitting to continue up the steps. I had to correct each steps structure to make it a perfect 90 degree angle and each step identical to the last. At last the home owner comes up with this idea to install these little movie theater type halogens within the wood panel shining across the steps. Cherry on the cake!

~ R.J. Precision Marble and Tile

The tile used in this basement was a huge 10x32 inch, extremely durable porcelain. The home owner chose this tile due to the minuscule detail strewed across the surface much similar to that of old vinyl records. The tile itself had some what of a light pillowing shape, yet not a single beveled edge, leaving no room for errors, especially being that the grout joints were going to be less then an 1/8th inch thick, nearly touching, these had to be perfectly level all the way across just like marble or granite would be. My Uncle, whom I worked with for years and taught me a lot of what I know today, used to tell me, "You've got to be able to slide a hockey puck across it..." being that we both had played ice hockey in our day, and could easily relate such a thing as the surface being as smooth as fresh ice. This being the standard I always set out to achieve, I had to roughly level out the basement floor first, being it was only going to be the sub floor and it already being lower over five inches on one side. Next I installed a NuHeat floor warming system. A professional tile contractor is more than qualified to install these, however a licensed electrician is needed to make the final electrical connections to the control unit.

Now if you're unfamiliar with what the NuHeat system is, it's actually an electrical mat used to heat the floor which is ideal in the winter if you live in

the New England area. After that, I leveled the floor again to nearly perfect with the assistance of gravity and then began the installation of the actual porcelain. From here, with nothing but a level, my trowel, and thinset, I set a floor with my hands that came out perfect. We followed up with an un-sanded darker colored grout called "raven" that filled the small joints and made the floor look as if it were one piece. Now it being a basement, aside from the

sliding glass door, there wasn't much natural light entering the room. We came up with the idea to put a Glass Block window through an exterior, load bearing wall. I had my carpenter, whom I've

met a few years back and have had the

pleasure of working with on numerous

occasions now. After proper all the proper

assessment, supports and work,

Tony left me with a perfect opening for a beautiful ten block glass window, which illuminated the room perfectly without the total transparency of a flat glass window.

~ R.J. Precision Marble and Tile

On this project, I had the opportunity to work with designer JoAnn Ceasrine. This was the second bathroom project I had been chosen to do by this home owner, this being the master bath. Together they had selecter

a mixture of frosted glass, transparent glass, glass mosaics and glass decos. The majority of which would be set in a brick joint pattern which you can see here to the left. The main thing with glass tile is the preparation. I always say, "You can't paint a masterpiece without a good canvas." This being said, your glass is "see-through" and any imperfections on your sub-wall are going to be totally visible, right through the glass as if the tile wasn't even there. I can't stress the preparation enough. It's vital when working with glass tile. In this bathroom we chose to extend the smaller 1 x 6 inch glass tiles

from the base of the jacuzzi tub deck all the way to the ceiling. At just the right height, I installed a running border which continued around the majority of the master bath. These greenish, 1x1 inch glass mosaics came on sheet of one foot by one foot, unfortunately the glass decos, being hand made, wouldn't line up correspondingly with the joints of the 1x1 inch glass mosaics due to their minor size differences. I had to pull them off of their sheets in which they came and install them all individually, one by one, spacing them accordingly. Just a testament to the particular attention to detail you can expect from me to make your visions become reality. The shower was position in the corner of the bathroom beneath the start of a vaulted ceiling. First and foremost I needed to pre-pitch the shower floor. By code, if a shower is constructed over any livable area in a house, a pitched, cement basin needs to be installed prior to installing a vinyl pan so that water never sits withing the pan itself. So working its way up, it would be,..pitched cement, vinyl pan and then pitched cement again on top of the vinyl pan. This is the safest way to go. I installed 3 x 10 inch glass subway tile within the shower stall from the floor up to about 6 feet high and leveling off the lines every couple of rows to make sure the grout

joints would all line up perfectly. I built a custom pocket or "niche" in which the home owner can house shampoo, conditioners, etc. I had to pre plan the dimension down to the millimeter, taking in to consideration the thickness of the glass, the cement board and even the thinset, just to ensure the pocket would appear to fit the wall without interrupting the pattern of the tiles above and below. Around that 6 foot mark, I ran a different glass decorative border, which were also hand made. These were a beautiful selection which even had some what of

an iridescent refraction to them when glanced at from different angles. I also installed the hand held shower head by drilling through the glass to attach the bracket unit after the plumber passed on the task, which I don't blame him. Drilling through glass takes time and patience and should only be done by a professional experienced in doing so. Above the glass border I continued with the 1x6 translucent or "frosted" glass subway tile to the ceiling and then

onto the ceiling keeping in mind the grout lines and finished edge where our future glass door would stand. Outside the shower lay a slate floor I installed, composed of

various shades of greens and oranges, which are heated by a Nuheat floor warming system. Overall, this was a gorgeous addition to the master suite, with tranquil colors that not only complimented the waterfront property, but captured the essence of a relaxing retreat from the daily bustle.

~ R.J. Precision Marble and Tile

This bathroom was designed to be some what contemporary and sticking to a European trend of using the large darker tile on the wall within the shower. The walls were existing, which we didn't have the luxury of moving or re-constructing. This being the case we decided that tile should be full on the outer edge and have the cut piece to the back. Usually a bull nosed piece, or cap for that matter would finish the tile along the edge of the shower, but the home owner decided against it, and the finished product came out great.

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~ R.J. Precision Marble and Tile

Another bathroom in which we fully re-modeled all the way down to the studs and replacing the sheet rock, cement board and sub-floor. The Home owner chose a natural limestone to use within the neo-angle shower, along with the ceiling and

bathroom floor. The Floor was a 12 x 12 inch honed limestone set with a clipped corner design pattern of 4 different colored mosaic 1x 1's to tie in the floor with the border that sat atop the tempered, 3 x 6, green hand made ceramic, tile wains-coting around the entire bathroom. The floor was set after only after leveling out the entire bathroom floor, a must when working with natural stone consisting of non-beveled edges. After cutting each tiles 2 apposing corners, I installed them in a straight pattern and placed the little 2 x 2 mosaics down into their own bed or mortar between each one.The shower itself was set on a neo-angle like I had previously stated, which mean it's position in the corner, yet you enter and exit through the center. It's like having a square, except one corner becomes a diagonal and you now have five sides, the new one being the entry way. You can find these pre-molded and crafted basins, at your major hardware stores, such as Home depot or even some of your local plumbing stores. However, if you're looking for a custom fabrication,

we can build what ever type of design. From any angled corners, to curves, to steps and wheelchair accessible showers.

There isn't a thing we can't do for you. I actually took one of the 12 x 12's of limestone and cut it down into four quarter circle shelves for this client just so we could stick with the theme of her bathroom apposed to purchasing ceramic machine made that could never match the beauty of the natural stone that we had throughout the bathroom. I grouted these tile in the shower with a mushroom color un-sanded grout because I had stacked them tight purposely to give them an old Jerusalem style constructed loo, which the home owner and I agreed on would look good, prior to the installation of course. She was really happy with the end result as was I.

~ R.J. Precision Marble and Tile

This was one of our more recent projects that I am very proud of because we had full creative freedom, for this nearly "full" bathroom remodel, within a certain budget of course. Also this being the case, I also wanted to make this tranquil space as eco-friendly as possible, which I'll get into detail as you read on. This bathroom began as a complete rip out with the exception of the tub and select plumbing at the owners request. The original problem was mold build up all within the shower area, tub and ceiling above it. Mold thrives in warm, moist humid areas, and the perfect dwelling would be a bathroom scenario where steam from showers would only supplicate molds presence. Without proper ventilation, a bathroom is the perfect breading ground for this un-healthy, trouble some bacteria. That's why an exhaust fan for this bathroom was our first and foremost "must do" in this renovation. So after the demolition and rip out, we inspected the plumbing and changed anything that needed to be changed. We updated all the electric outlets to GFI's and toggle switches, and we installed a Nutone exhaust fan in the ceiling. Next we insulated the exterior walls which weren't before. This will help with heating in the winter and cooling in the summer for obvious reasons and save you money on your monthly billing charges, not to mention dramatically reducing

four shelves out of one, 12 x 12 white thossos marble tile, which you can view pictures of my process on how I cut, bull- nosed, and polished them, down in the photo gallery at the bottom of this page. It's a multi-step process that takes time, patience and years of practice to get perfect. I proposed an idea of also custom fabricating a radiator cover to mask the unsightly discolor of the old radiator itself and added some of the mosaics from the glass border as a slight detail to the cover and tie it to the rest of the bathroom and its decor. We also re-glazed this old cast iron tub, rejuvenating it's vibrancy and bringing it back to life. (ask about our "glazing" applications to see what we can do for you) When it came time for the floor installation, we wanted to compliment the colored glass boarder, but still keep the clean, bright, reflective feel of the pure white tile, so I introduced this "clipped corner" pattern with the glass installed in the cut vacancy of the 12 x 12's, which I installed on a diagonal. After grouting the entire bathroom and sealing the grout to prevent any staining, we installed the toilet and converted it to a "low-flushing" toilet. The largest consumption of water in anyone's household is their toilet. Every day, Americans flush 4.8 billion gallons of water down the toilet.Reducing the amount of water that your toilet is flushing away will go a long way to saving water in your home and

helping to conserve it generally. With one easy adjustment, you'll save money, water and the environment… one flush at a time. Next we installed the pedestal sink and anchored it to the wood studs and 3/4 inch wood plate we previously installed in the wall prior to sheet rocking and tiling. There's a huge misconception about the sink basin of pedestal sinks. Many home owners believe, and even some inexperienced contractors, that the support for the basin rest solely on the pedestal itself. True the pedestal should be anchored to the floor, and will support some of the sinks weight, but the sink itself must be properly anchored to the wall to ensure there is no movement in the case if the pedestal should move or break the sink has a better chance of remaining in place and preventing the plumbing from being damaged or cracked from the sink if it falls. All amenities are properly installed in accordance with state and regulatory building codes when installed by R.J. Precision Marble and Tile. We never take short cuts when it comes to the safety and longevity of your home. After the sink was installed, we went ahead, primed and painted the "Mold Tough" Sheetrock with an "off-shore-mist" latex based paint from Behr. We wanted the color to compliment the room, add elevated color to contrast the lover white color, yet still allow the nature of the

space to remain light, clean and feel spacious. Once the smaller necessities, such as the towel bar, toilet paper holder and cabinet were installed, we installed the mirror and decorated the bathroom with slight accents such as aroma diffusers, a simple corked vinegar jar filled with bath crystals, a small bamboo plant and some rolled washcloths to add a distinct essence to this completed renovation. I'm extremely pleased with this project and am grateful to have the opportunity to arbitrate this bathrooms eco-friendly direction.

~ R.J. Precision Marble and Tile

This project was something that was brought to me at the last second. I received a random call and was wondering what my schedule was like for the upcoming couple of days and would I be able to fit in a back-splash.

I usually require actually seeing the job in person, prior to committing to the work, due to the simple fact, you truly don't know what you're in for without seeing it first hand. But because of the urgency in timing, and myself wanting to help out a friend in a bind, we swapped measurements and costs over the phone, and of course, R.J. Precision Marble and Tile was there when I said we would be. I could only imagine what this Ivory glass mosaic was going to look like in person, but I tell you, it was magnificent.

The rich vibrant colors, the wide spectrum of browns and tans, all with the slight hindrance of coppery bronze accents through out the majority of each mosaic. They were beautiful. I knew as soon as

I had seen them, that this project was going to look gorgeous when it was done. True it was a little more work then I had originally thought, but now I wanted this job to be my own. So I get to work.

I began over on a wall that was deemed more of a drink area. There had been brushed aluminum rails installed to house wine glasses on the underneath of this shelf above our backdrop. When working with mosaics, you tend to have the convenience of manipulating each column and grout joint by shrinking or expanding it ever so slightly to ensure you wind up with "full" pieces on each wall. Cuts or fractions of mosaics can tend to be unappealing, especially when they are a part of a main focal point. However sometimes depending on the scenario, there is no plausible solution. At R.J. Precision Marble and Tile, we minimize this risk with our layout

and measurements. The layout is the most important key to the setting procedure. A setter can do a fabulous job, but if his focal points don't match up with his or her layout, then what good is it? My uncle taught me that, "Layout is the most important." and he's right! You need to visualize what the floor, wall, or pattern is going to look like when it's done, BEFORE you do it. Through the lay-out, math, geometry, and calculations, R.J. Precision Marble and Tile can pretty much have the whole project mapped out for you from the start. There's no guess work with us. Home owner Jason and his wife had originally purchased this glass, down in Manhattan during their early stages of this renovation. They had a numerous amount of boxes full of these mosaics. Upon going through each one and reaching the last box, I noticed that the last box was filled with

mosaics that were all a shade lighter. Same name, same serial and skew number, just a shade off. Noticeably different, we could do nothing with these mosaics and agreed that we would need to find the correct colored mosaics we originally set out to install. I take the box of slightly different colored mosaics back to the retail store where they were purchased just to find that all of the mosaics that are there now are the similar colors to the mosaics we were trying to exchange. Upon realizing that these are actually just different "dye-lots" similar to the justification of a

marble or stone being different due to the fact it was extracted from the same quarry just at a different time and or depth, and it being classified as the "same stone", the "lot-number" may be different. So it's utterly important that you check for this when deciding on your stone, marble, granite. Ask if your retailer's samples are of their current lot. Because if not, you may purchase something with the intent

of the samples look, and the same material be slightly different. Long story short, this Ivory Glass Mosaic didn't have any "Dye-Lot" numbers on the packaging. Even if I called a certain retail store, all they could really tell me was if they carried the Ivory Glass Mosaic or not. Not which color or dye lot it actually was. Huge impasse! Like I said before in not so many words, I wanted this project to look its best. So I set out on a conquest to find these particular mosaics. The mosaics were from a previous dye lot and I had to find a retail store that still had them currently in stock by personally visiting each one to match them up. Talk about chasing the dragon. After numerous

hours spilled over into days, I found something comparable to the original color mosaics we both liked at this retail store up in Stratford, CT. Now also realizing that there must have been multiple dye lots of this product and we would never stumble upon an exact match unless we owned a DeLorean. Not to mention, no response from the manufacturer of the mosaics, after numerous calls put in by myself and the home owner in the hopes of locating similar dye lots or even to suggest a possible resolution. (Still to this day, no response, can't beat that customer service!), I knew I would have to blend them in by mixing small amounts of each sheet in with each other to give them a unified look.

The following morning, when Jason answers the door for me and sees what I had unearthed from my epic voyage, comparable only to the "Odysseus Odyssey", his face lights up with a smile from ear to ear and calls me a life saver. Which to me, just to know that I made him that happy and he was that grateful was enough in itself to remind me why, I do the things I do and run my business the way I run it.

Jason knew how much I wanted this project to look beautiful, as he did also. Unlike some contractors who might not really care what your project might look like in the end, because they don't have to look at it from "their" house, R.J. Precision Marble and Tile always wants your project to look its best! That's why I went that extra step, brought it to a different level, and made it more personal, with no presumable notions of being reimbursed for my time. These pictures, the ecstatic gratitude from Jason and sheer complacency I feel after completing this project, is worth so much more than any dollar amount could ever achieve.

~R.J. Precision Marble and Tile

This project was a master bathroom complete with double vanity, full mirrored sliding glass closet doors and a beautiful shower design. The home owner had selected a 6 x 6 inch porcelean tile that resembeled a tumbled limestone look. I started off in the shower installing the 6 x 6's in a straight pattern up until about eye level where I took some of the shower floor tile selected and cut it down into rows of 3. I ran those around the perimeter and then cut the 6 x 6 on a diagonal and installed them from there to the ceiling. These tiles often come with a bullnose or "cap" peice, or are offered. Sometimes they can be fabricated on the job site permitting the tile is a similar color throughout it's entire body. Most companies will offer their finished material in this fashion, but if you are not sure, it is a wise idea to ask the manufacturer before you base your whole bathroom design on a particular tile that may not fit your excpectations or needs. Your layout is the most important thing when trying to achieve your overall look. We had 2 focal points that would play important roles in our layout. Once decided, we installed our shelves on the way up, leaving appropriate spacing for our later contour cutting to accomidate our custom shelves cut out of a slab of Durango marble. When tiling to an adjacent wall and the adjacent wall itself, it is so important that you

have what I like to call a "mirror image" when installing tile on a diagonal. I've seen so many jobs where the installer has installed, say "a half" on one wall and where the tile joins on the adjacent wall, it's a completely different size, leaving non-corresponding grout joints. The reveal for these shower fixtures and controls were so minescule that every cut had to be exact down to the 1/16th. If you're not familiar with the tape measure, they're the littlest ones on there. However, the time frame on this job was so small because the home owner was leaving for Europe in a few days, so I needed to work quickly, but as always, diligently. Like my Grandfather has forever imbedded in my brain, "....measure twice, cut once." This motto will prove its worth when your wet saw is set up down a few flights of stairs, and you're guessing at each cut. Up and down, up and down, you're better off measuring 3 times! Once the wall tile was installed, and the correct shower pan pitch was cemented,I installed the Durango Slabs. The seat, step and slab for the top of the knee wall all were set with a slight pitch to ensure water water would not pool or sit on any of them. Yes, you can "waterproof" your shower, but water cut its way into the Grand Canyon.....Every percaution needs to be addressed when properly installing any bathroom tile or amentity. Water is a

powerful force and prove detremental if not respected. With R.J. Precision Marble and Tile,

you can rest assure that your installation is meeting all state, and home improvement codes, set fourth by the state of CT. The shower floor was a checkered marble pattern that matched both the wall tile and the durango marble slabs. Once grouted, I believed this was such a strong look that added depth and character to the shower unit. With this next pictur you can see the slight pitch that was given to seat to allow water to run off it. The fabricators of the glass doors are aware of this needed spec and will usually address this at no additional charge, however, the

notches that need to be made around slabs or any over hangs, usually tend to cost a pretty penny. Just letting you as the consumer know, for when you decide to remodel or are gathering prices for your next remodel. A door stopper will also be a very imortant, small tool, or hardware that depending on the layout of your bathroom, will prevent your your door from opening too far and colliding with anything else in your bathroom and result in a disaster. This bathroom was a prime candidate.Again with the mosaics on the shower floor, the spacing is so imortant. The smallest imperfection on one side of the pattern can cause major misalignment o the other side. Take your time and map it out dry. It will all pay off in the end, just look at how perfect these came out. Or you could just save yourself the time and aggrivation and hire R.J. Precision Marble and Tile toinstall it for you. Once outside the shower, I installed a 12 x 12 similar porcelan

on the exterior floor in a straight pattern.

The great thing about this floors layout

was the fact that there was huge wall to wall closet mirrored doors that gave the illusion that the room was twice as big. So as you know mirrors tell the truth, and if my grout lines weren't straight and every tile installed square, the mirror was going to reveal it. Every row I installed, I checked and squared it up. The results were oustanding. The room looks like it goes on and the floor continues into the illusion the mirror had given us. The porcelean floor ran throughout the bathroom and into a private area where a toilet occupied the space for

a little privacy. I tiled the walls in

a waynes cotting fashion and ran

the border I had cut out of the mosaics around the perimeter about

4 feet high and then finished it off with some bullnosed pieces. After all the tile was installed and we decided on a particular grout color, I grouted the entire shower stall, floor and exterior floor. All with the same color on the same day. Not that it was a great feat, but more or less accentuating the important procedure of grouting everything at

the same time, because different climates, temperature changes and and forced drying can alter the grouts color while its being installed. It's important to grout a bathrooms fluent color all in the same day to limit the amount of shade varying. All and all this bathroom turned out to

be one of my favorite projects. The home owner offered great conversation and shared stories of his eclectic art collection. I truly enjoyed the time spent on this project and look forward to hopefully having the chance of working with him in the future.

~ R.J. Precision Marble and Tile

This back-splash was started off with becoming 3 x 6 carrara marble installed in a subway fashion. After a fairly long time of contemplation, the home owners decided to go with an actual brick installed in its place. I have to admit, at first, I was skeptical. They had told me via our "R.J. Precision Marble and Tile" facebook page, that they decided they wanted this brick they had seen, and would this be ok? Now, I don't usually install "brick" per-say, however, this being an old friend and that I had already invested time into this project,I wanted to help them out. Plus I know they weren't going to find a better price than mine. Not to

mention, my grandfathers brother

was a brick layer and thought maybe I'd take a crack at it, just so we had something common to chat about next time we run into each other. Rumor has it, he makes the best meatballs around. Anyway, I know this is slightly different from the actual process that regular, good old fashion red bricks are set, but it did give me a little bit of insight as to what brick layers might have encompassed. First off, I bonded these to the wall. Traditional brick layers stack and build upwards. Second, I gave the home

owners their choice of grout color, which we decided together that Laticrete's "Buttercream" would work perfectly with the feel they were trying to capture in this updated version of a country style kitchen. The spacing worked out perfectly for our joints and it left

us with full pieces from top to bottom. After everything was set, I sealed the backsplash. Personally I feel this was a must with the brick. Mainly because it's so porous. But with this sealer any meat or marinara sauce is going to slide right off!

~R.J. Precision Marble and Tile

This home owner had prepped everything himself on this bathroom renovation. When I had first arrived for his initial estimate, he had already began to install Schluters Kerdi membrane on the walls over the sheet rock he had also installed. Personally, I wouldn't have recommended using sheetrock in a shower unit, no matter what the case, Schluter or not. But, Schluter does boast that their product will turn any surface water proof when installed correctly, which I've used and agree, their product is great and works for some applications, but isn't suitable for all. Like for this application the home owner insisted on having "sheetrock" on the ceiling and covering it with the Kerdi membrane then installing the marble, hanging from it. A lot of weight forced to rely on sheetrock if you ask me, however as long as the kerdi does it's job, it will be fine. I do want to say, this home owner did a better job prepping everything then some of the jobs I've arrived on and had to work with. A few things I would have done differently, but all in all, I was very surprised. The home owners wanted to install a brick "staggard" pattern out of 6x12's. One problem, the marble they had selected wasn't readily available in 6x12's. So I cut them down from the 12x12's and gave them all

factory edges. I also fabricated polished bullnose pieces to trim out the perimeter of the shower area which took nearly a whole day of work just to tweak the material to what the home owner desired. Not too many other guys out there capable nor willing to do that for the price I did. The pockets or "niches" as some would call them were set installed 1/4"out of level, so when I had

gotten to them and was going to run my "level" grout joint across, the pockets would have been noticeably, incorrectly out of level. So I had to pad one

down with the marble and pad the other up, just to bring them back to level and so the grout lines and stone ran perfectly parallel to the pockets top and bottom. I also mitered the corners of the marble pieces to give it a cleaner look. Not something the home owner asked for, just something that I thought would look better with the two contrasting colored stones installed in the pockets

themselves. Those came out great once they were finished. Once The walls and ceiling were tiled all with corresponding joint, (another thing most guys aren't doing),I installed the shower floor, curb slab, and riser on the curb itself on top of the already, "home owner installed" 2x4's and Kerdi membrane. I also installed Schluters Ditra drain which I thought looked great also. Excellent choice. The

The seat was cut from the slab the shower curb was, and also from the same quarry as the exterior floor stone was. After the shower was set I moved on to the exterior

After The floor was installed I installed a door sadle that was cut of the same stone to act as the threshold for the room. Once everything was set and grout fully cured, I sealed everything to ensure a safe barrier with the intent to prevent any possible staining from water or natural minerals in the water or even from anything else that could possibly stain this material. All in all, I personally was very proud of this installation. In the end, the home owner had suggested a few things that would actually help my business and in turn I am very grateful and happy to have met such an extraordinary craving to be a "Do it Yourself-er". Everyday you learn something new, or at least you learn how to do it right. Thank you for the rare opportunity to educate another and vise versa.

floor, which was already prepped with Schulters Ditra uncoupling system, installed by the home owner. I installed the stone in a straight pattern taking into consideration the focal points of the entire bathroom. Making sure my best pieces were right where the eye's gaze is naturally drawn when entering the bathroom. I also made sure the floor was installed as smooth as glass and was asked to personally select the grout colors that I believed would be suitable and look the best for this application.

~ R.J. Precision Marble and Tile

~~~~~~~~~~ Gallery ~~~~~~~~~~

This a little slide show of past work I've done. If it hasn't already started it's presentation, you can click on the play button that will appear at the bottom/center of the large picture when you drag your mouse across it. Some pictures are "before and afters." Enjoy.

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This is a set of progressive pictures through a complete rip-out and re-build excluding the existing tub, which we "re-glazed". Click on the thumbnails to view larger picture.

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Kerdi Shower Membrane and Kerdi Drain

installation

by R.J. Precision Marble and Tile (step by step)

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