My parents had a rental property in Irvine, and I moved there with my cousin temporarily until I found a full time position. The condo had a nice backyard, but the grill area was unfinished. I thought it would be a nice opportunity to liven up this unfinished area with a mosaic.
I did some quick mockups in photoshop. One idea was to convey sky and grass, the other idea was a more basic blue.
I started the process by replacing the rotten plywood with fresh sheets. Then I used cement board as a mounting surface for the tiles. I did some research and found a great place in San Diego that sold broken tile in some very nice colors. Navy blue looked very sharp.
The installation process was fun, but a little challenging. It involved quickset cement, and being able fit tiles in appropriate places.
I did have to modify some tiles to make it the right size.
After the tiles were put up, grout was added. Once the grout dried, it was scrubbed away to reveal the mosaic design.
A few weeks after the mosaic was installed, the Irvine HOA notified me about some upcoming updates to the property. They told me that this mosaic was interfering with their updates. The HOA is difficult to deal with, so I complied and had to take the mosaic down. I was a little upset at first, but I did try something new,
and learned a new skill that I’ll apply in the future.