REFINISHING TILE

Al Carrell: Okay, so you've found your dream home. It's got everything in the world that you ever wanted. It's also got some stuff you don't want. For example, you go into the bathroom and you see a color of tile that you don't like or maybe an accent tile like this. Well there's a way to take care of this without tearing out the wall, which is very expensive and very messy. Our method is going to be easy; it's going to be clean; it can be a do-it-yourself project and we're going to show you how to do it. You're going to love it. So come on, let's take a look. Believe it or not, we're simply going to paint right over the tile. Artist Jer Giles admits this probably isn't a good solution for shower tile, but it's going to certainly work on a tile in a low traffic, gently used area like this guest bathroom.

Jer Giles: What the clients have asked me to do is to paint this section of tile in the border in the bathroom to go with the tile that's on the floor.

AC: Well Jer, what's the first thing we do to get rid of this stuff?

JG: Well the first thing we're going to do is put out this masking paper and mask off the area that we don't want to paint.

AC: That would be down here...

JG: That's correct.

AC: ...don't want. Next, we spray a coat of flashbond primer on the ceramic tile. This will help the latex paint to adhere to it.

JG: That looks good. It's important to get all the surface covered. Now this will dry and you notice it's not covering the way you would expect it to. But this is just the adhesion that holds the next layer of paint on.

AC: Ah-huh.

JG: So we'll let this dry and then go to the next step.

AC: Next, Jer uses clear latex urethane mixed with highly concentrated colorants, called universal tints, to custom mix paint which is going to coordinate with the terracotta floor.

JG: Want to add a little white to help us cover a little bit. This is just a white tint that I'm adding to the clear. And then since we're matching this or using this terracotta floor as a go-by then I'm going to add a little bit of the venetian red and then I'll add a little bit of the raw sienna, which is a kind of a mustard yellow. Okay, this is a good midtone. Now what I'm going to do is break this color into two more colors. One is going to be a little more yellow. I perceive there's a little more yellow in this floor and one is going to be a little more brown.

AC: Now what's the deal Jer? You couldn't make up your mind which color? You got three of 'em out here.

JG: Well, that's partially the case. But, with the three different colors it gives me a good background to mimic the color that's in the natural tile on the floor. So we're going to do what's called a color scumble. We're going to take these three colors while they're wet with no regard to changing paint brushes or anything and we're going to put out one color on the tile. Now, you'll notice I'm using little figure eight strokes and I'm brushing across the tiles and see, you've got a different color now. I'll work a little of my color in there.

AC: And this is scumbling?

JG: This is called a color scumble.

AC: That used to be a dance when I was in high school. Well, I have to admit, I'm a better dancer than I am a painter, but with a little bit of practice I finally got the hang of this scumbling stuff. Still, our painted tile doesn't quite look like terracotta. Well Jer, now that we've scumbled and it's dry, it looks sort of spotty. What can we do next?

JG: What I've done now Al, is I've mixed up a brown glaze and we'll take that brown glaze and I'll put that out over our area and if you'll take that brush and stipple it to kind of soften my brush strokes there. There you go. See how that softens the edges of all that work?

AC: Yeah.

JG: Okay.

AC: It's beginning to look more like the tile floor now.

JG: That's right. That's right.

AC: Well, there you have it folks. It's a real easy way to go. It's not messy, doesn't cost a lot. We solved the problem and you can do it too.

Contacts:
Jer Giles Artworks - 214-824-1477

Episode 57 1997 - 98 Season

| Kitchen Makeover II | Handicapped Housing | Refinishing Tile | Private Mortgage Insurance |

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