Good morning!!!!

[rswyan]

Rswyan
Enjoy doing your tile.

Yeah ... I'm sure my knees and back will love it ... :laughing:

Seriously though - I'm fortunate that it's a relatively small area. Bigger things await however ...

Many years ago Sophie and I did the Home Depot tile lesson, one Sat an hour or 2. Probably don稚 have anymore. Glad we did, learned a lot.

I can imagine.

1st up was a complete bathroom redo like yours, tear it down to the studs and build back totally different, replacing tub with builtin shower, tiled walls and floor (in black & white) lesson learned - don稚 do white grout in floor.

Right ... :thumbsup:

I won't be using any other grout than CBP's Fusion Pro (in Charcoal) on this job - basically it's a black grout.

Then we redid the kitchen, another tearout. Then a new 2nd bath from scratch when we expanded the upstairs. And that was just our Ga property before moving here where we built both the cottage and house from scratch.

Yikes ... that a snotload of tile laying ...

Makes me hurt just thinking about it ... :laughing:

For me, using the spacers was important.

Used them on the tile I did in the basement ... probably why it turned out as good as it did ... :laughing:

Take your time with your starter row, get it right or tear it out. Also a good laser level.

Hadn't thought about the laser level ... but it's probably a good point, given that I'm encircling the room in tile ... :thumbsup:

I also bought my own tile saw right off.

Would love to have a wet tile saw ... but probably not in the cards at this point ...

Although I recently did look at a YouTube review of the reasonably-priced Harbor Freight 7" (?) saw ... and then another YouTube by the same guy doing a 4-saw shootout ... including the HF unit, a Delta, a RIGID, and one higher-end dustless saw IIRC.

I still remember being in a HF store about 5 years when a guy brought in one of their saws to return it - it was his second - and complaining about getting shocked while using it ... Claimed it wasn't an isolated incident either ... and I looked online and it wasn't. I'd bet their quality has improved somewhat at this point though ... since they haven't been sued out of existence ... :laughing:

Wife knew getting the rental would end up more expensive. As usual, she was right.

Yeah ... we were going over the overall budget the other day, and The Woman questioned why I was spending $100 on a tile cutter (QEP 24" Slimline Professional) ... and said "I remember when you did the tile in the basement and you just rented that tile saw ..."

Well, it was a little bit different circumstances: 1. the job was such that I could actually lay and install all the tile - except for the cut pieces - easily, 2. the rental place, which closed at noon on Sat, allowed you to pick up rental units after 16:00 on Friday and return it Monday morning for the 1 day rate (they have since been acquired by Sunbelt Rental and I have no idea whether they still adhere to that policy or not) and most importantly, No 3. it was summer and there was no problem running the saw outside ... that sure ain't happening' now ... :laughing:

Plus, of course: working at my own pace and not being under the gun of a rental return deadline.

Having said that, since Sunbelt took over our local rental place they have made a serious investment in new equipment and they do have a nice IMER 8" wet saw (that's a very high quality $1500 tool) or a 7" Norton available for $45/day or $100/week.

I do plan on doing the other bathroom ... and the kitchen - if I ever get to it - is going get either hardwood floor or tile ... plus there is a fairly large area of terra cotta colored tile in the basement I'd like to replace ... so there is that.

Just out of curiosity, what saw did you get ?

As for planning, don稚 forget to allow time for the quickset and cleanup.

Yup - will be mixing the quickset in small batches ... to allow for enough time to use it and clean up before it sets. Going to be using CBP's FlexBond.

5 gal buckets and those big yellow sponges.

Yeah ... a three-pak of the big yellow sponges were on the order and are waiting for me to pick them up ... along with some microfiber cleaning cloths. Good point on the buckets though ... I'll grab a few of those when I make the pick up.

Then get ready for new lessons when you grout.
Not the easiest work, but results can be rewarding.

Yup ... it can be pretty cool once you get to a finished, completed product.

Glad you were able to get all your mowing done and thanks for the tips/insights !

 

[rswyan]

BEF,

Hope you get the geo issues sorted out in short order.

No heat/hot water ain't no fun.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Took less than 2 hrs to swap water heater. As soon as I could move the old one with water still in it I got it out, got “new” one in and installed. Ran hose out basement door to drain, got chilly with door cracked open. Will finish draining old one later.
The “new” one is a marathon by rheem, I used previously. I replaced it 10 yrs ago with a GE geospring with a heat pump. Was very economical when the heat pump worked, had it fixed once, then went out again several years ago and been operating as electric only.

Got slight drip on cold water connection, tape barely went around. New one is taller, had to remove blocks I had under old one. Will pick up shorter flex pipes.


Old in front, new one in back.
Nice to have hot water again

 

[Alien]

Had to fix some leaking taps in the yard this morning before it got too hot. Started at 5.00 a.m. Took longer than I thought and needed to make a trip to town for new taps. By the time I finished I had been roasted like a cashew nut. 38.7 degC (about 104 F) No end of this heatwave in sight. Only the 2nd day of summer too!

Just had to replace our HWS as well a couple of weeks ago. Just over $800 for the unit. Last one lasted 7 years which is not too bad. New one has a 10 year guarantee. (we will see)

 

[buckeyefarmer]

electrician is done and did a nice job. Nice to have outlets in garage for my woodworking and not have to use extension cords.
Now if I can only find someone to install the garage door opener, my calls remain unanswered.
70 amp gen powering 50 amp circuit, only thing not powered is electric hot water heater, which was largest consumer other than electric range.

I like the Jack shaft openers. I installed a genie screw drive in my barn while I was recovering from GBS, since wife had hard time opening the door. I had bought the genie years ago for my garage, it never got installed due to low headroom. The Jack shaft ones fixed that problem.
I had to put extra bracing on the screw drive track. It’s already not working right, and I now manually open the door.
My barn is still fed from an extension cord.
My goal is to one day install a 100A panel in barn

 

[buckeyefarmer]

BEF,

Hope you get the geo issues sorted out in short order.

No heat/hot water ain't no fun.

And I didn’t leave work till 730 tonight, preparing for demo to give in the morning. Got home 8:30, ate and had new one working by 11.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Only tile work I’ve done is to make a pad to go under my pellet stove. Hated doing grout. Mixed per direction was very dry, hard to grout.
Pad still looks good.

 

[sodamo]

Thought I’d get a moonshot while you guys sleep


Camera on the iphone 12 Pro max exceeds my talents.

 

[rswyan]

Not good news on the shower pan, RS.

No it certainly wasn't.

Hopefully you can find a way to patch the crack and get a good finish on it.

Yup, hope so too.

Maybe use some of that stuff people put on garage floors?

I'm pretty sure a two-part, 100% solids epoxy could be a decent coating service wise ... assuming I could get the surface adequately prepped.

I have worked with it before - did around a 3000 sq. ft. floor once, many moons ago. Used a self-contained/propelled steel shot blaster with a built-in debris vacuum to prep the surface (concrete)

It is a real treat to work with lemme tell ya ... extremely short pot life, and it needs to be out of the pot and being spread in like two minutes after it has been completely mixed. Very sticky stuff.

OTOH, those new polycuramine coatings seem kinda interesting too ... :thumbsup:

Good luck on your oil pan fabrication and van work.

 

[rswyan]

And I didn’t leave work till 730 tonight, preparing for demo to give in the morning. Got home 8:30, ate and had new one working by 11.

:thumbsup: