Bob enters the Rowley Victorian through the new Pella French doors into the Mashers' remodeled mudroom. It has a new closet with solid-core, cherry-veneer Woodport doors, tile floors, and a taupe finish on the walls. The remodeled bath has hand-made Trikeenan field and decorative tiles that complement the monochromatic color theme throughout. Roman shades from Smith & Noble provide privacy and accent colors for the new space.

Bob meets with Roger who is installing floor tiles over a mortar bed in the bathroom.

The Porcelanosa oversized tiles are fully installed in the main living space of the Punta Gorda home. Bob looks at the color and the finish, which are unusual in a Florida home, but very soothing. The metallic-look tiles are darker than the light walls and bright light that flood the space, absorbing the brightness and calming and cooling the space.

Bob meets Larry, the tile contractor, who is installing floor tiles in the bathroom. Larry starts out by putting down an under-layment, letting it dry then snapping chalk reference lines to insure the grout line remain parallel to the vanity and shower. Larry gives a tip on where to start tiling a bathroom to lessen the likelihood of tile failure and water damage. Larry�s assistant, Leo, then cuts the tile using a diamond tipped water-cooled, tile saw. Bob comes back to Larry who then nips the tile to the specifications and lays it.

Bob and Bob Ingram discuss the Rover Tile that is going into the master bath and children's bathroom. The tile is a combination of ninety five percent marble chips plus Venetian glass and polyester resin which has been ground down to a smooth surface. Because the Rover Tile is manmade the color can be controlled. Some of the colors such as the blue that Bob points out have added chemicals that make them more vivid. Several of them resemble natural marble while others look like Terrazzo. Some also use larger chunks of marble and glass for a more unusual look. Kubik Black has been chosen for the children's bath and a white color for the master bath.

Old flooring can be easily removed to make way for new flooring. Follow the preparation steps to save on cleanup time.

Bob Vila meets with Nick Tagios from New York-based Tagios Tile and Marble as Tagios prepares to put down a traditionally installed marble floor. Prior to Bob joining him for the flooring installation, Tagios laid felt paper and and a diamond mesh lath over the subfloor. The small rigid mesh provides perfect keying of the Portland cement and sand dry mix base for the tiles. Tagios expertly levels and sets each piece of marble tile in a running bond pattern. Tagios packs the underlayment by tamping the top of the tile with a makeshift tool created from a sawed off striking hammer. He a leaves one-sixteenth-inch gap between each tile (about the width of his trowel), and will finish the job with a white grout. The marble tile in this installation has been highly polished and requires no sealant.

The existing basement floor was a cold concrete slab that will now have ceramic tile floor installed over radiant heat mats. Bob talks with Kevin Murray from NuHeat Inc. about the electrical radiant heating pads. The pads go underneath the tile and can reach a temperature of about 92 degrees. Using the pads to heat a room uses about the same amount of electricity lighting the room. The pads plug into a programmable thermostat so the heating can be set to come on at regular times during the day. Murray then demostrates how the pad is installed. First, it is dry-fitted to the floor and set to fit the general area. The pad is then affixed to the floor using an adhesive mud. After the mud has been put on the concrete and the pad set in place, a float is used to press it down. The pad is made of a porous polycarbon fabric. After all the pads are put in place, the tile setter can put in the mastic and tile. Mike Blangiardi from Portsmouth Quality Flooring set and grouted the tile after letting the thinset sit for 24 hours. The homeowners selected a DalTile ceramic tile for the laundry and bathroom area. The homeowners should wait another 24 hours once the grout is complete before using the room.

Homeowner and contractor Nick Beasley walks Bob through the progress to date in the master and kids bath, including leveling the floors, building partition walls, and installing cementitious board for the wall and floor tiles. Beasley explains how they discovered inadequate framing for the windows when they removed the wallboard on the exterior wall. They reframed the wall with a header, making it structurally sound, and prepared to install matching windows. Beasley shows how to open up the building wrap and prepare a watertight window installation. He begins by cutting the building wrap down the middle, to the two bottom corners, then across the top. He staples the paper back and trims the excess away. He then uses Pella's waterproof self-adhesive tape along the bottom sill and up six inches on each side. He doubles up the bottom pieces and lets the exterior section extend 1/2 inch so that water will flow to the exterior and away from the house. He explains that it's important to work from the bottom up when waterproofing a window so that any water that gets in will run down and away, not getting caught behind any flap as it runs. Beasley opens up the nailing flange and roughs in the window before checking it for level and plumb. They shim the window at the bottom, middle, and top before checking again for level and plumb, and nailing it into place. They finish the installation with low-expansion insulation foam to fill the voids around the window. Beasley stresses that it's important to use low-expansion foam so that it won't expand too much and push te window out of plumb or cause difficulty for window operation. Cordell Burton is then back with Bob to review the Pella Architect Series windows the Beasleys selected for their 1895 home. These two-over-one wood interior and aluminum-clad exterior windows are Energy Star rated for high efficiency and feature replica-style hardware. They are constructed of double-pane low-e glass and are argon-filled for maximum energy efficiency.

Bob talks with Nick Beasley, owner of the Melrose home, about the layout of the home before and after remodeling. The house previously featured a half-bathroom off the master bedroom and a full bathroom off the hallway, so the layout was reversed during remodeling. Beasley reviews some of the work that had to be done for this including demolition, replacing the old plumbing, reframing, and re-leveling the floor. New Pella two-over-one windows were installed in the master bathroom, which are in keeping with this older home. Bob reviews the installation of the Corian tub deck in the master bathroom, which was custom made using a digital template. Appropriate colors were then chosen for the bathroom to create flow to the master bedroom. Because of the layout of the bathroom, a half-wall was installed at one end of the bathtub. Bob reviews how Classic Glass of Stoneham, Mass., worked with the tile to install the glass and mount the curtain rod for the bathtub. Bellacor lighting fixtures were selected to complement the home's character and style. A pedestal sink was installed and a beautiful hexagon tile floor helps unify the whole room. Beasley demonstrates how the new window shades can be raised from either the top or the bottom.