Home DIY

Photo story time! It's no Diable's flat, but it was difficult, time-consuming and I am very pleased with the result and want to show off.

When we bought this house we decided to replace the knackered stripwood flooring with decent quality reclaimed pine. Late in the day we decided that despite its humble origins as a stable building we were going to put Victorian style tiles in the entrance hall. We ordered tiles from London Mosaic, but as our builders were a bit crap we decided to fire them and do this job ourselves.

For 6 months this plastic sheet has been our hallway floor.

covering this unpromising floor of half concrete half rickety floorboards. Bonus action shot of me removing some to clear the crap from underneath and screw them down:

Then after attacking the concrete with an angle grinder and some self levelling, and removing the skirting boards:

I could fix this OSB down to give me a) the right height, and b) a stable level base:

The tiles come prearranged on sticky sheets which make laying out the pattern easier, but some were in the wrong place:

But it all came together. First the field:


and then the border. The black ones were full size and needed cutting to size with an angle grinder. The border tiles were the only ones which needed spacing (1mm) - the field was done by eye.

Time to rip that plastic off and grout:

Then cut new skirting boards:

And finished!