| Moroccan - Lodge Bendal - Brief |
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"Hi Gerrit, I hope you are well! We are getting to that time in the project when we need to get our decorative tiles and I was wondering whether you'd be able to give a rough quotation based on square meterage and an image for design intent? We have found the tiles we love but they are all imported. I'd like to do a cost comparison to see which will be more cost effective. There are a few areas, but attached is 1 image for an area. They are built in seats – fully mosaic'd. (horizontal and vertical application – please advise on thickness) Total height per built in seat: 900mm Total width per built in seat: 1700mm Total depth per built in seat: 500mm There are a total of 4 of these. Attached are a few images: A colour indication off your website – perfect greens. An image of a bathroom – with different shaped & sized tiles. (can you do the fish scale ones, or would you paint that?) I envisage that the tiles will be in 2 sizes at the most, perhaps at 80 x 80mm and a 30 x 30mm. What do you think? I am willing to pay your R&D fee – but before I waste anyone's time I want to get a rough idea if going the custom made route is right. If so, then we'll consult on all the areas (pillars, splash backs to kitchen, inlay to entrance walkway, front of bar counter and frame to built in mirror) Thanks Gerrit – looking forward to hearing from you! Lucy"  LUCY: I am off to Mozambique to have a site meeting over the weekend, so we can chat on Tuesday when I get back as I will have a clearer idea of when the builder needs the tiles and therefore what your deadline is.  LUCY: There are 2 areas where we need your custom design expertise.
  LUCY: Apologies for taking so long to get back to you – we have been considering all details before committing to anything. The ladies approved the costing for the built in benches – however they didn't see the value in spending R20k each on the kitchen tiles considering it's "back of house". So we won't be going with that part of the quote. We will almost certainly be placing the order for the built in seats and will probably add to that order of hand made green tiles for the splash back to the built in bar that is in the same area. I will confirm all of this with you in the week of the 20th October – when we return from our site visit and our total budget has been approved. We can still work on the 40 day quote though. GERRIT: No problem it suits as well, we are busy with a large contemporary Delft style order with South African history as a an image base for our first "non-white" client, a market-segment I wish to capture a small share off! Regarding the kitchen tiles, if they wish to choose a simpler design, the costs could be substantially less for a fully custom handmade and hand painted tile. For a budget of R12500/ kitchen I could still do a hand printed design...have done it before and looks really great, but unfortunately have no images available of that project which was based on Moroccan designs as well. Let me know if this will be an option then we can discuss it further. LUCY: Gerrit – am I understanding you correctly that you'll be able to achieve a very similar look by printing (as opposed hand painting) onto a handmade tile and be able to do the kitchen for about R12 500 each (as opposed to R20k)?  GERRIT: Using creative printing techniques on handmade cast 100 x 100mm or rectangular 200 x 100mm tiles. Your original choice B113 is perfect, not to fine and bold enough to blend greens while swiping the inks, the texture of the tile will present a unique stone like feel. Some others, pattern can be used but with the greens of B113 if those colours would have been your desired choice, for example Border 122/119/161/111/114/117/118 or B112/113/115/109 or ENC 5A/20/29. I did a quick scan and there might be others. I like B113 and your first choice is probably the correct one. LUCY: I have put together a very simple power point presentation showing samples of tiles, fabrics, plans & dimensions etc. I look forward to working with you on this to create a really stunning entrance hall and bar area to these Moroccan villas. As discussed on the phone, we would like to use the cast tiles with printed designs – to keep costs manageable!   LUCY: Please will you send me an invoice for the R4200 so I can pay it immediately and you can get started on the design work and layout as discussed. The ladies have agreed to go ahead and would like to go for option 2 – 100% coverage on pillars, and plain tiles to bar front with 1 row of decorative tiles. At the moment our pillars are 440mm – but the builder has agreed to "beef" them up to whatever we need. We don't want to go too much thicker – 500mm at the most. Can you please give us the exact dimension you require the pillars in order for us to use your standard size tiles and therefore save time and money on not making a customized mould. Looking forward to working with you on this.  GERRIT: For an accurate quote with layouts there will be lay out costs involved, which will be payable upfront, with the layouts only processed after confirmation of this payment. For R4200, 24 hrs, several options will be explored that will have a direct influence on the final cost of the project, as can be seen below. Gillian can provide 1 option in all these brackets or do several designs in the budget of your choice. Let us know.Option 3 plays with bold bands of pattern alternating with plain colours. Considering the present dimensions of 26.5m2 or 2650 tiles, and the Moroccan brief at hand I present you with an estimate costing excl. 14% VAT for the pillars and bar counter/villa:
From here you have two options:
For Gillian to proceed with designs please confirm:
Lucy this is the standard way we usually proceed. Ceramics are complicated, and for every action there is a reaction, and this complicates communication with clients. We can do most things you desire, but changing what may feel like a small thing to the client might have a drastic influence when producing the tile. The same glaze on a hand cast tile will present differently on a hand pressed tile and so will the print. We must still encounter a client who is not happy with their chosen option and a frequent reply is that we have delivered far above expectations. I think the above will clear things up a bit, and sorry that my questioning seemed unrelated to some issues, but believe me most people can not relate to the complexities involved when starting a special ceramic project like this.
LUCY: Great. I'll make the payment later – and I'll courier fabric swatches to you tomorrow. What address should we send it to? GERRIT: On confirmation of payment Gillian will proceed with the designs. RE. the colour choices, be so kind to give us some indication of the colours you would like to feature.
LUCY: I'm sending you a parcel overnight with the fabrics for each of the villas. The wall and floor colours are all from Cemcrete – unfortunately I don't have actual samples, but you can look on the internet for the reference. I hope this helps.
GERRIT: Forward the colour ref. for these cemcrete products. I shall collect the cemcrete colour samples from Cemcrete if I do not have it already Please make all effort to get the samples here by tomorrow, then Gillian can process the designs over the weekend.  GILLIAN: THE DESIGNER @ Southern Art Ceramic Design I'm sending you the two options I'm working on to illustrate the two column designs.
a 100mm tile on the faceted side.
(approx. 48mm) tile on the faceted side.
tiles across. You will see two design ideas so far although I still need to fine tune the colouration. I welcome your feedback.  LUCY: This is a wonderful start thank you! I will forward your email to my 1 client for comment and I've got my other client coming here at 1.30pm so I'll get feedback from her too. GILLIAN: Attached are images showing the other designs, the colours I've picked out and a detail for the capital of column. Most of the designs have 3 colours, the greens being the main colour to offset the rich spicy fabrics, with splashes of colours from the red and yellow families, also drawn from the fabrics. You may indicate which colours you best envisage on the design you choose, although this could need to change once you've seen the samples. Making of samples will take up to two weeks, as colours will have to be developed and the printing process has several firings to get the end result. Once we know which design your client wants, Gerrit will process the final quote regarding the benches, floor inlays, bar and columns. Re: Benches, do you want the same border on the backrest as in the image we received, or do you want one of the designs bordering the bar or columns?   LUCY: Thanks Gillian this is looking wonderful – your colour selection is fantastic! I've forward it onto the ladies for their comments – so I'll get back to you as soon as they come back to me – but I will chase them! LUCY: So far option 1 is the winner. We like the border at the base of the bar as shown, however the design of the capitol we're not 100% sure of. I see that you have basically used the "negative" of the border design – maybe it would look better if it was the same? We feel it looks a bit like an Italian pizzeria design (maybe that's just the colours) We love all the colours that you have selected for both clients – can we have actual samples in order to make the final selection? The finished size of our column is still not 100% certain as I told the engineer we needed to chamfer the corners but he had a concern because of the steel reinforcing. Also the dimensions of 440mm was the column without plastering. I know that you are working with standard tile sizes in order to keep the costs down – can you let me know whether A) you have a slightly bigger tile which you can use like a 12mm tile? Or B) how much grouting we could use between tiles that would give us the desired finish size without losing impact on the design? I can't get hold of Gerd right now to get that final dimension but I will email it through straight away – it's easier for you to know exactly what size you can work with. I hope this makes sense and I look forward to paying the deposit and getting the ball rolling. LUCY: I have had confirmation that the finished pillar dimension will be 355mm per side (x4), with a 90mm chamfered edge. I hope this makes sense and that you are able to work with this!  GILLIAN: Please find the changes to column layout, with addition of suggested 20mm x 100mm strips in plain colour glaze, to finish at 355mm per side of column, with 100mm mitred tile to fit the 90mm chamfered edge. Also showing changes to the capital. I will ultimately need to get the dimensions for the capitals by the production stage. I understand from Gerrit that you will be making colour suggestions off of the image e-mailed to you. Gerrit will send a separate e-mail with the quotes. LUCY: Hi Gillian this is looking good. Can I have an estimate of the financial damage for the extra 20mm tile? GERRIT: The strips will be the most cost advantageous and will add R4320/ villa. I am still waiting for the costing on the bigger tile's prototype costing from our moldmaker, but it seems to be a lot more since I last outsourced to him, and I expect a charge in the region of R16000 +, which equates to a cost of R8000 excl. + per villa extra with the added R12000 excl. for the bigger patterned tiles. A total extra cost of R20000 excl. / villa. Shall I proceed with the final quote based on the strips? LUCY: Yes please! LUCY: Please find attached our comments on the capitol design – can you play with it a bit and see what it looks like? I'm meeting my client again on Thursday which means we should have the colour samples, and it would be great to look at the new design proposal and put colour codes to it.  LUCY: I have met with Dee and she has chosen her style and colours. She is happy with the 20 x 100mm hand cut tile insert – so both ladies are in agreement with our new style. Benches:
Capitol design:
Pillars:
I hope this is clear. I'm meeting Roxi tomorrow and will send through her colour choices then.  LUCY: I have met with Roxi and she has made her choice. She would like to point out that it is imperative that there is contrast in colour intensity – so that it is exciting. The colours we've selected are quite grungy / muted – and so the process of dripping deeper tones of the same colour in while printing is vital. Does that make sense? Base colour: A combination between #2 and # 15 (which was the base colour you had selected for her) She wants the warmth and intensity of #2 + # 17 but the lightness and contrast to the other colours to be like # 15. The triangles in the design to be predominantly # 8 (with hints of darker colours like #20). The 20 x 100mm tile to be #22. The "pink" flower to be #22 with dashes of #4. The green flower to be #20. Roxi is still not happy with her capitol. I spoke to the architect and she said the thickness of the 2 steps to the capitol were 170mm each. This is very inbetween our sizes. Can you work with that and put a row of hand cut tiles above and below the 100mm tile that would sit in the middle – or would you prefer to take the thickness up to 200mm and use 2 tiles. If so – what thickness would we need to include for grout? The capitol also steps up – so do we tile the underside of the step with hand cut tiles? Roxi quite liked the simplified version you sent us (the one that Dee chose) but she doesn't like how the design meets on the corners – not very neat. For her bench she likes most of the green 50mm tiles you supplied – however she has taken out the very fresh lime colours and would like you to introduce the 2 sludgy greens from her pillars. She wants there to be a lot of contrast in the colours / intensity etc. I hope this makes sense. Let me know where to from here. I'm assuming we will get a final layout and an actual sample to sign off before production begins? LUCY: Here is the scan of her colours as well as the drawing of the pillar / capitol. I did a basic sketch of my ideas for the capitol – let me know what you think! Thanks, GERRIT: Yes have started with the bisque production of the 100 x 100mm tiles and will commence with the benches 50 x 50mm on Tuesday. Over the weekend we shall organize around the colours and start testing the colours. Then we shall commence with the actual decorative productions of the final samples for you to OK before the actual glazing and/or printing of the work will begin. All and all I estimate two weeks plus for this phase. Samples you will get ... and with your next project you will be quite comfortable dealing with this ceramic intricacies!! GILLIAN: I worked at solving the capitol designs for Roxi yesterday using the architects dimensions. Could you please clarify for me whether the step up is 30mm in total i.e. 15mm each side, or 30mm each side. 30mm each side This will influence the lenghts of the sides of the capitols, and ultimately the designs, especially if we are to maintain a flow of design. I am attaching the diagram of 2 steps of the capitols with dimensions as I've used them in the designs. Please let me know what it's to be. Will also need to know if the step up will be at an angle, if so by how many degrees, or will it be at right angles to the column. Right now they are just at right angles – but we could angle it. What do you think will look best? I think the depth of the capitols should remain at 170mm high. The capitol designs in Roxi's colours are based on this height. ok I opened up the original design, shown to right of capitol designs. The bands of red are no longer on the tile, but would be seperate strips above and below. I don't understand?? Included are a couple of other options. Trying to keep it simple while considering the overall design elements. You can decide whether to show it to the ladies or not. Roxi is away for the next week – but I'd love to show her your new capitol ideas. I do need you to explain what you mean by : Base colour: A combination between #2 and # 15 (which was the base colour you had selected for her) She wants the warmth and intensity of #2 + # 17 but the lightness and contrast to the other colours to be like # 15. I don't know how better to explain this? She wants a warm base colour – but for there still to be a substantial difference in colour intensity / tone to the other greens and reds of the design for it to offer relief in the design. It is a little confusing to me! Please excuse my ommition of the green#20 flowers in the design, got carried away with red flowers! I'll correct it. LUCY:
GERRIT: We supply the overruns at less 50%. I will decide at a later stage how many extra will be printed of each print. On volumes like this, even with extraction, the fumes get overwhelming, forcing one to stop printing...so the overruns will vary. 2-3 days road transport for 800kg will be in the region of R7500. But this will be confirmed at a later stage when I request an official quote from the company. How will you transport it from JHB to the lodge? For local orders we wrap all tiles in aerothene and pack it in this case in smaller boxes than usual. We try to keep the weight per box low as to minimize the changes of being dropped. If you like us to add two layers of polystyrene, one layer at the bottom and the other at the top, for safety sake let me know so that I can organize it before December...the cost +/- R750. Did you courier the sample tiles? I expect to have completed the production of the 50 x 50mm tiles for the benches by end next week. If we receive the go-ahead for the colours then these could be glazed the first week of December.  GILLIAN: I've put together a visual representation using Roxi and Dee's colours. Including a diagram of how the chosen Capitol design will look over the 170mm height. I've varied the placements of colours on the various capitol designs, so that you and the client can indicate whether to go for the light version or of the colourful ones. I trust there will be a design amongst these which will work for you all. I personally like the idea of the 'palm frond' (R8), as it picks up the filigree and floral motifs in the fabric, it would end off the tile element with something entirely different; and also ties in with sun, sea and setting. But I realize that this falls outside the brief, and may not satisfy the 'look'. Will wait to hear from you re the chosen design and colour configuration. LUCY: I met with Roxi and she is generally happy with the direction. 1 or 2 comments: She likes your suggested CAP R8. However in the diagram of the column with capitol above – the second / top layer of capitol sides shows the palm frond much smaller. What has happened there? She is a bit concerned that the sage green of the triangles (which make up the square) in the main column design is a little insipid and not a strong enough contrast to the cream of the lattice. Maybe it's not so clear in such a small print out – but please bear it in mind. If you look at Dee's design and your squint your eyes – the design jumps out at you, where as with Roxi's it's not as apparent. Does this make sense? Suggestion to make the green triangles (which make up the squares on edge) slightly darker but not as dark as the flowers. Will we be getting an actual sample of the final design? I think this is vital. We are meeting Dee on Thursday only and will give you her feedback. GILLIAN: I have changed the design to the top palm frond capitol, doing away with the small frond. I have had to stretch the design over the short side, due to the differing tile widths on the long and the short sides of the capitols. The main aim is to maintain symmetry and continuation of the design. Gerrit is currently working on the colours to be printed, and we hope to get the samples off to you by early next week. We will consider your concern re: green triangle when printing, possibly changing intensities if need be. GILLIAN: I've put together a visual representation using Roxi and Dee's colours. Including a diagram of how the chosen Capitol design will look over the 170mm height. I've varied the placements of colours on the various capitol designs, so that you and the client can indicate whether to go for the light version or of the colourful ones. I trust there will be a design amongst these which will work for you all. I personally like the idea of the 'palm frond' (R8), as it picks up the filigree and floral motifs in the fabric, it would end off the tile element with something entirely different; and also ties in with sun, sea and setting. But I realize that this falls outside the brief, and may not satisfy the 'look'. Will wait to hear from you re the chosen design and colour configuration. LUCY: I have now met with Dee and she has made a decision based on what you sent me on the 15th November. She likes your design proposal fro the bar counter pedestal. She likes Border D2 for the top of the bench. She like the 3rd from the top design for the capitol (the one with the green background) as the design for both tiers of the capitol. Please confirm that this is all in order. GILLIAN: Please find attached Roxi's chosen design/colours super-imposed on the architects drawing, Dee's designs likewise; and a 3d sketch of Roxi's bench. You'll see that I didn't render/suggest the counter top, as I don't know what material will be used and thus don't want to detract from the tiled surfaces. I hope this helps assuage your clients concerns. GILLIAN: Here are the pillar pattern sample tiles for Roxi and Dee, just out of the kiln.
LUCY: They look wonderful I can't wait to show them and get some feedback! GERRIT: Yes, we will use these for your contract....busy teaching staff to work with this delicate glazes. Note that two other greens must still be mixed in. The pattern tiles, I worked 16 hr days on these buggers, but now I am HAPPY....just a few more tweaks with colour BUT the process works. The previous process with hand painted background was a flop, it actually distracted more than anything else.The images you see are vibrant and will look awesome when installed. The complete design is hand drawn and then digitised for the printing processes. No extra colour tones were used besides double strokes of colour effectively making it a shade darker. My feeling is that this is enough, and capture the simplicity of the peasant feeling without making it to complicated or overworked.. I would like to make Dees green lighter so that the double tonality can come into play, at the moment the pigment is to dense to make any difference with a double or triple pull. The solidity flattens the image, anyway I shall work on this tomorrow. I think Roxi's tiles are superb. I shall wait for feedback and if necessary then adapt and send the final samples of to you. By end this week all the bisque will be ready.Final production is booked for mid Dec ...3-4 weeks. Your packaging is all sorted out, with smaller boxes to minimize the risk of dropping heavy parcels. LUCY: Thank you so much for those samples they look wonderful! I've forwarded the images to Dee and will await her feedback. Roxi liked hers very much but was concerned that there was not enough of the sludgy green in the bench tiles, and not enough brightness in her mosaic tile. We couldn't be sure if it was my printer but the bench looked very bright and the column tiles dull (by comparison). I said that as soon as you put the dark emerald green back into the column tiles – the flower (Gillian said you left it out by mistake) and include some dull green in the bench (perhaps to replace the very minty light green) it will tie together very nicely! Do you agree? The hiccup with my clients (Roxi) husband was over the bar front cladding – and he has decided to do away with the bar front tiles all together. He loves the bench and he loves the column, but I was not able to convince him with the bar front. How does this impact on the cost / order. Are we simply able to remove the cost of the bar front from Roxi's invoice, or will there be a forfeit? I will need to chat to Dee to make sure that she is happy to go with the bar front tiles and will confirm in the morning. Please let me know the implications. P.s. Thanks for all your efforts – I'm certain this installation is going to look spectacular! LUCY: I'm not sure if I mentioned it but please would you flip the capitol tiles for Roxi upside down so that the "green Christmas trees" are upside down and less obvious! I've spoken to Dee and she is happy to stay with the mosaic bar front – which is great news. However she would like to remove the pattern design to the bar front – and just stick with the green mosaic. She's going to have a look at the print outs you've sent us and comment by Thursday. LUCY: Thanks Gerrit – you are very efficient! Hi Alta, Please can you send me the revised drawings of the shaped bar front – in plan & perspective, particularly with dimensions (and to scale). I need to send this onto Gerrit who is making the tiles for Dee's bar front. This is urgent as he is about to start production next week of these tiles. LUCY: The samples have arrived – well done and thank you – I think they look fantastic! I think we have ARRIVED!! I will get back to you tomorrow afternoon once I've met with the ladies with confirmation hopefully! My invoicing details are the same as before: Lucy Eaton Corder Consulting, 136 Tenth street, Parkmore, Sandton, 2196. Attached is the revised plan of the shaped bar front for Dee. I hope it doesn't have a big impact on the qty. How do you supply the tiles to us for installation? Will they be placed on a backing in bigger sheets of say 300 x 300mm or something manageable for the builders to apply? The builder is wanting some information on the application / installation / grout requirements etc. Please send that through when you get a chance. I'm not relocating to Mauritius – it's my assistant Sanchia. I am merely hoping to get some projects there as a result of her being there, and travel across occasionally to do site visits. How nice! GERRIT: With Roxis green stars the template perished and I had to scratch in around the star to clean up, please note that this will not feature in the final tiles, just some crises management....with your fabric background you possibly could relate to this! We are reregistering every 30 tiles to keep the handmade dynamic alive...no exposed screens! We are firing the last bisque kiln tomorrow...just waiting for the OK. I need your invoice details and VAT No. for the final payment and invoicing. We will adapt the tiles if needed re. bar front as soon as we receive the changes. LUCY: On the whole the ladies love their tiles, I just have a few comments (as always!)
We would like to know if we can buy a few of the over runs at 50% as you mentioned before. We might like to use them in the pool and in the decorative ponds. Can you tell me what the price is for the 100mm decorative tile, and the 50mm plain. What sort of qty's to you have over at the end? I will settle your invoice early next week – I'm on my way out for the weekend and will only be back on Tuesday. GERRIT: For Roxi, I willa kill the bull...as I have mentioned the printing template perished while printing hers...so do not worry..I shall have most of the white alive and kicking! The bench colours are no problem and I shall note the quantities. RE. overruns, +/- 30% ... depending on risk creeping in when least expected. 50 x 50 @ 4.93incl, 100 x 100 @ 36.63incl., let me know quantities of the tiles you are interested, and if possible, I shall endeavour to deliver on their request. Can we proceed with final production on Monday? LUCY: Yes please proceed with production. I will get hold of the ladies with regards to the tile price and let you know the qtys. Is the 35% you referred to the percentage of over runs, or the price? If the price, is the price you quoted including or excluding the 30% discount.
LUCY: We only picked up 3 distinct colour differences. If there were 6 I think you can use all 6 but bare in mind the colours and tones she liked and keep it proportionate – if that makes sense….??? LUCY: Thanks Gerrit – will pay this in the morning. Can you give me an indication of installation procedures and how you supply the tiles? The builder who will be doing this for us is wanting to know as I'm sure he's wanting to factor in the installation price in to the client. GERRIT: RE. overruns, +/- 30% ... depending on risk creeping in when least expected, but I hope to limit the overproduction to maks. 30%, but if they need a few more I can increase this but they must not be greedy at the prices below!, meaning that I will not overproduce by 100% and still provide at the prices below !!! 50 x 50 @ R4.93incl, is the price after 50%. 100 x 100 @ R36.63incl,is the price after 50%. I shall send through the present invoice and we can settle the overrun quantities separately. LUCY: Thanks Gerrit. We will not abuse the system – lets wait and see what you have left over on the over runs and then we can buy those up or / and place an additional order. Still waiting for the qty's from the architect. GERRIT: The container is booked for the 3rd of March for delivery 3-4 working days thereafter. Who must I invoice for the amount of R3862.99. This amount incl. insurance for loss only to the value of R200 000.00. At point of delivery Danie must have at least two people ready to offload within a timespan of 30 minutes. The boxes will be colour coded for each of the two villas, with text showing Dee and Roxi to seperate the tiles futher. LUCY: Well done & thanks! Invoice to Danie at Parallel Marketing. Danie please give Gerrit your details. GERRIT: The container is booked and paid for, collection the 3rd and delivery at your premises next Friday the 6th or Monday the 10th. For tracking: Your collection ref is 468904 And contact at PX is: EUGENE MUNNIK SENIOR ADMIN OFFICIAL PX BELLVILLE TEL 021 940 2715 FAX 086 654 6171 / 086 536 6009 EMAIL
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GILLIAN: This was a lovely project in which we pride ourselves in the finished result. We trust that the end result will be stunning.
Notes on contents, suggestions for installation etc. Please forward all relevant information to the person in charge. LUCY: Thanks for all this Gillian, can you recommend a grout colour for this installation? Your website suggests off white – would you say this is appropriate for both Dee & Roxi. Your urgent response to this would be much appreciated! GILLIAN: This recipe will pick up the off white of the areas in the printed tiles, thus enhancing the pattern. N.B. Mix dry ingredients together. Test this recipe before grouting in case you want to adjust the tone of colour. Grouting We recommend this mixture for a good off-white colour: 2 parts Tylon WHITE + 2 parts Tylon IVORY + 1/2 part Tylon LIGHT GREY Replacing the water with Tylon Bond-it will seal the grout and make it more stain resistant. Sanded grout is generally used for grout lines over 1/8 inch wide, and is recommended for most handmade tiles. Always test a sample of tile before grouting- dark grout may stain light glazes, and light grout may stain dark glazes . GERRIT: We were just discussing the installation, and think that a Tylon Mid Grey Grout will be best for the benches and bar counter. The original recipe will still be our choice for the pillars though. LUCY: Thanks for this. It is a tremendous help. We just have one big problem on the benches. As you know these benches are situated on the big curved walls. Now the installation instructions assumes that the benches are straight and flat but it reality these benches follow the curve of the walls. This means that the tiles on the flat surface of the bench will open up as you tile from the front of the bench to the back. If we install as it is now we will probably start off with a 2mm spacing between the tiles and end up with a 20-25mm grouting space between the tiles where the flat surface meets the wall. This is not an easy one but we need to think of a solution asap. Let me know what you think. Regards, Help!!!!! Please see the email below and let me have your suggestions. I thought you had the plan which showed the benches on a curve?! GILLIAN: No we didn't receive a plan showing the benches on a curved wall. But we don't think this should present a problem for the tilers. Attached is a possible changes to the placement of the seat tiles.
LUCY: Thanks Gillian. I've passed it onto the builder – will keep in touch. I can't believe I left out such an important detail like the curve – but anyway – lets work with what we've got, thanks for your quick response! LUCY: I hope this email finds you well. Roxi's villa tile installation has turned out SUPERBLY!!! She is thrilled to bits and pieces. However we are 2 tiles short! 1 for the capital and 1 for the base of the pillar. See pictures attached! Well done and thanks so much – we will be sure to send you images once installation is complete! Please let me know how you will be sending the tiles and when we can expect them. Roxi is going up on Tuesday – any chance we can get an overnight delivery???? LUCY: For the life of me I can't find the picture that shows the tile at the top that is missing – but it is one of the "Christmas trees". Please will you send it overnight with Postnet to Eldoraigne postnet in Pretoria. Because of the public holidays it'll need to be there tomorrow. Please!!!! Her name is Roxi McCormick – and you can email me the tracking number as soon as you've sent it.  LUCY: Dee's tiles are now in and look absolutely fantastic! But you won't believe it – she's missing 1 tile on the capitol! Please would you postnet it up to us a.s.a.p. in order for us to have it completed next week! Please send it to the Benmore Postnet and give us the tracking number! Thanks so much, and as soon as I have pictures to send you I will! LUCY: All went well and it looks fantastic! Here are a few pics! We still needed to hang some art so the benches look a bit bare but wonderful! Cheers, Lucy Thank you! As soon as I have some decent ones I'll send them again – but here are a few from the bedrooms. I think we achieved a very relaxed / nomadic North African yet comfortable interior!   |