Yes, tilechick, you were awesome, I, however, screwed up. I didn't do enough research and now I'm paying the price. If I could figure out how to get the light to shine on the tiles in just the right way so they always looked irridescent there would be no problem, but since I can't, each day has made it harder and harder to even look at them.
So...............now we have ANOTHER plan. My thought was first to somehow pull the tiles off, wash them, put the correct mastik on and re-tile. However, after doing some more research (duh) on the internet, I discovered that's pretty much impossible unless I want to also replace the drywall--which I definitely don't. And anyway, how would I chip out the tiles mixed in with the ceramic tiles above the sink? Dean told me he also had a plan, and this morning I finally asked him for it. I figured his first thought would be to paint some kind of decorative design on the tiles. Imagine my surprise when HIS plan was MY plan. However, by then I had done my research and I knew that wasn't feasible. It just seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. Dean's research told him we'd have a "fair" chance of getting the tiles off without damaging the drywall. "Fair" isn't good enough for me.
By the time I heard Dean's plan, I had a new plan. We'll paint the tiles. Yup, spend $4.49 per tile for glass tiles and then paint them. But it's either that or feel your heart sink to your stomach every time you walk into the kitchen. I knew it could be done because I'd seen it once on a home improvement show.
So we made a trip to Home Depot this morning to read their books. Dean immediately noticed there are no longer benches by the books. I figured maybe it's because they want us to buy them, not read them. We managed to make ourselves comfortable anyway and it didn't take long to discover there's really nothing in the books that tells you how. One book said you could do it but not how to do it. So, then it was a trip to Sherwin Williams where another helpful guy told us the primer is what makes the difference and showed us which primer would work on glass tiles. He even told us to buff the tiles with sandpaper or steel wool first. Once that's finished it's just a matter of painting 95 tiles with the paint of our choice without getting a drop on the grout. Easy, right? Paintguy recommended enamel paint because it would clean the easiest. So now we have paint chips and will, at some point, try and match the paint to the color of the glass tile and instead of having glass, irridescent tiles, we will have smooth, shiny, enamel-painted tiles. Hell, that's life. It could be worse. Abby could have been eaten by some carnivorous bug in Costa Rica but I had an e-mail from her this morning and all's well. Of all the things that can happen in a lifetime to cause a person grief or pain, this really isn't even a blip on the radar.
If any of you who happen to read this have any tips for us before we begin this next new adventure, please don't hesitate to pass them on.
Oh, and Dean will be doing the painting. Just a few tiles at a time. He is much more meticulous than me and he is definitely more patient. I know he's really thrilled to have another project but at least it involves paint so maybe he can pretend like it's "art." :-)◦
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